What is Leaky Gut Syndrome?

Leaky gut syndrome used to be thought of as only part of "alternative medicine" and not a "real" problem. Today, however, more and more physicians are recognizing this as a growing problem. The technical condition is an increased permeability of the intestinal walls.

The condition refers to a hyper-permeable intestinal wall. Your digestive system is fairly complex. After your food passes from your stomach and into the small intestines, enzymes, and bacteria help to break the foods down to the molecular level. There is a barrier that bacteria, and food do no pass through, and this gives your body time to kill germs, and break your food down. In leaky gut syndrome, the barrier allows larger particles to pass through and into your blood stream. This, of course, causes many problems in your body.

When bacteria, germs, toxins, parasites, and larger food particles make it to the mucosa, the body will tag them with a chemical secretory IgA (SIgA), which attracts macrophages and other white blood cells to consume the toxins. It is not long before this immune response is overwhelmed and depleted.

The liver and lymphatic system which, also become overwhelmed, puts demands on the immune system due to the increase work load of cleaning and removing foreign material.

Eventually your immune response diminishes, more germs, viruses, bacteria, and fungi, multiply, allowing for a chronic state of inflammation and sensitivity. You then become more prone to infections, and more likely to catch every "bug" going around. To make matters worse, many of the foods you eat, suddenly get "tagged" by your immune system as being pathogenic. This may lead to food sensitivity or food allergies over time.

The extra work load put upon your body, due to leaky gut syndrome, can also cause adrenal fatigue. The adrenals produce cortisol. The extra cortisol can cause other problems, but eventually will lead to adrenal fatigue, or adrenal exhaustion.

Leaky gut may be at the root of many disorders, including fibromyalgia, IBS, celiac disease, and food allergies. According to Chinese medicine principles, this one seemingly simple imbalance can cascade to much more serious disorders. The biggest problem I see with leaky gut syndrome (LGS) is not the damage it does, but the fact that the damage goes unnoticed for years.

I frequently hear about such things as:

Acid reflux

Indigestion

Arthritis

Lack of energy

Increase in allergies

High blood pressure

High cholesterol

And many more being blamed on aging, when this may not be so. Take food allergies as an example. You know if you have an immediate reaction to a food, and will try and avoid it, right? What if you found out (through testing ) that you had a food intolerance to several foods you commonly eat.

Would you ignore it?

What would be the result if you did?

There are many foods that you are currently eating, that may illicit an immune reaction in your body. You may not know. In fact, you probably don't know. The reactions are usually slight, but over time, eating foods that inflame your body can have drastic effects. Yes, your body can handle quite a lot, but if you inflame, and are building up toxins faster than you are removing them.... what can be the one and only result?

I hear "well, my diet has kept me going this far!" a lot, and while this is true to an extent, it is also false. If you are guilty of thinking or saying the same thing... first take a look at your health. If you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and arthritis, your diet may have kept you alive, but did it keep you healthy?

This is one big reason for doing a detox cleanse. Your intestinal walls need to be healed, your liver, kidneys and lymphatic system need to be cleansed and invigorated. You do it for your car, why not for your body?

To find out if you suffer from leaky gut syndrome, is a simple process, and its non-invasive. This simple test may help you to correct imbalances before they manifest in a major health problem. This should be done, especially if you suffer from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, digestive problems, food allergies, arthritis, or stress. Yes, stress! Many people will say they don't have to worry about stress, because they are retired, yet, often I find stress related symptoms. Its important to realize that stress is not just mental, it can be physical as well.

So what causes LGS?

There is a lot of speculation on this subject and not a lot of agreement. I personally believe its from a combination of things. Such as:

Antibiotic use

NSAID use

Processed foods

Chemicals in our food

Chlorine in our water

Lack of pro-biotics in our diets

According to Dr Jake Fratkin O.M.D, Pill-popping is the cause of many illnesses Fratkin sees in his practice. Ibuprofen(NSAID) and antibiotics seriously damage the intestinal wall and can cause leaky-gut syndrome. Hormones (such as birth control, pregnazone and thyroid pills) and antacids create the alkaline environment which promotes candida. In turn, candida creates aldahydes, which inhibit the intestines’ ability to neutralize toxins and biosalts. What follows is the downward spiral of immunity collapse. Ninety percent of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is caused by leaky gut, he says. "When the liver is overwhelmed and shunts the toxins into the bloodstream, they are pushed into tissues cells, causing genetic changes," and, ultimately, even cancer, he says.

Rebalancing your intestinal tract, and immune system should be a priority. Treating LGS can sometimes be lengthy, depending on what stage you are in. Keys to treatment are using herbs to heal the intestinal walls, replenish the probiotics in your "gut", reduce the use of non essential drugs, and identify any food allergies you may have. Of course the first step is to identify if you have leaky gut syndrome. Visit our E-Clinic to order your metabolic test, and consultation. Although this seems like a relatively simple disorder, leaky gut syndrome's effects can be far reaching. Correcting this problem can have a positive impact on many areas of your health.