Many people do not realize the importance of maintaining a health digestive tract - ignoring digestive issues and believing that it is just a normal part of life. As this is true to some extent, many people dismiss digestive concerns and never try to figure out what is causing their discomfort. For a long while I thought that regularly having stomach aches was something that everyone else experienced in the same way I did. When you get used to feeling a certain way, it is hard to realize that you really do not feel well until you resolve whatever has been causing the issue. Often times, when a person says they feel "fine" this means that they have grown accustomed to not feeling well.
Going back to an idea I mentioned in my previous post, around 80% of your body's immunity resides in the gut. This is due to the fact that the digestive tract is responsible for absorbing nutrients from food and also keeping toxins from entering the bloodstream.
A great deal of current medicine practice is approached in a reductionist manner. For instance, if you have eczema, you are given a cream to rub on your skin. If you have chronic fatigue, you get medication. So on and so forth. Understanding the interconnectedness of every system in your body is extremely important in addressing any health concern. Just because a particular area of your body aches, does not mean that is where the underlying issue lies.
From my personal standpoint, I believe that the first step in balancing almost any health ailment should be to look at the health of the digestive tract. If the digestive tract is not functioning well, important nutrients will not be absorbed - making the immune system weaken, and other potential toxins will be able to enter the body with ease.
Leaky gut is one of the most common issues in the digestive tract. Within the lining of healthy intestines, the cells are held together by what are known as tight junctions. Essentially, tight junctions are the gatekeepers that allow or block particles from entering the gut to move into the body’s circulation. When the integrity of the intestinal lining is compromised, particles begin to “leak” through these cells and their junctions, and pass into the bloodstream or lymphatic system. Anything from digested chunks of food, waste, toxins, microbes, and even antigens and pathogens may enter your blood stream. Essentially, your digestive tract becomes like a pair of jeans that have been worn everyday and begin to develop holes and rips.
In the case of the leaky gut, when the particles leak into your bloodstream your immune system senses that something is wrong and stimulates the inflammatory response. Leaky gut and inflammation have a chicken and egg relationship. Inflammation causes leaky gut and leaky gut furthers inflammation. Leaky gut and inflammation also have many of the same causes. This means that by reducing inflammation we are helping to heal leaky gut and by healing leaky gut we are helping to reduce inflammation.
There are a wide variety of things that may cause inflammation and damage the gut:
- Excess stress
- Alcohol consumption
- Exposure to environmental toxins (pesticides, food additives, pollution)
- Consumption of food allergens or sensitivities
- Hormone imbalances
- Parasites and bacterial overgrowth (candida)
- Antibiotics
- Antacids
- NSAIDS (non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs), aspirin, ibuprofen
- Sugar
- Not chewing your food well enough
- Cigarette smoking
- Low stomach acid
There are many different factors that come into play if the digestive tract needs some repair work. Just because you do not commonly have stomach issues does not mean that your digestive tract is healthy. As I said before, if you have leaky gut, particles that are not regularly allowed outside of the gut may enter the bloodstream. Anything that gets into your bloodstream is capable of being carried throughout your entire body. This means that even though you do not have common digestive issues, leaky gut can still create other symptoms.
Leaky gut also creates a great deal of stress on the liver, which is responsible for processing and neutralizing toxins from the bloodstream. Therefore, the jobs that the liver normally does, such as processing and balancing hormones, will be pushed to the side.
Below are a list of symptoms and ailments related to leaky gut:
- Allergies
- Autoimmune disease
- Celiac disease
- Crohn's disease
- Hives
- Acne
- Depression
- Asthma
- Inflammatory joint disease / arthritis
- Intestinal infections
- Headaches
- Pancreatic insufficiency
- Ulcerative colitis
- Giardia
- Hormonal imbalances
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Eczema
- Psoriasis
- Food allergies and sensitivities
- Liver dysfunction
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Irritable bowel syndrome
In order to heal the gut, there are a few steps we need to take, also known as the four Rs.
1. Remove the offenders: Removing harmful substances, common food allergens (gluten and dairy) reducing stress, and anything else that may damage your digestive tract.
2. Repair: Use dietary choices, supplements, and herbs to seal the cracks.
3. Reinoculate: Give your digestive tract a boost with probiotics and antioxidants.
4. Regulate: Once again, prevention is the best cure. Take care of your body to prevent leaky gut from developing again.
Below is a list of dietary suggestions, supplements, and herbs that are helpful in helping your body repair.
- L-Glutamine (an amino acid, or protein building block)
- Slippery Elm Bark
- Aloe Vera juice
- Milk Thistle
- Marshmallow Root
- Licorice Root
- Dandelion
- Turmeric
- Probiotics
- Omega 3s
If you do not know what many of these supplements are and think that you may have leaky gut, visit your local health food store and talk to someone in the supplement section. They should be able to direct you in a good direction. I also encourage you to do your own research.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need more clarification!
Sources
Olson, Scott.
"Leaky Gut Syndrome: The Hidden Root Cause to Many Digestive
http://www.jigsawhealth.com/resources/leaky-gut-probiotics
Lipski, Elizabeth. Digestive
Wellness. 3. McGraw-Hill , 2005. 88-89. Print.
Ehlrich, Steven. “University of Maryland Medical Center.”
<http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/milk-thistle-000266.html
Pick, Marcelle.
"Leaky gut syndrome — how healing your digestive tract promotes total wellness."
http://www.womentowomen.com/digestionandgihealth/leakygutsyndrome intestinalpermeability
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