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Leaky Gut Syndrome is a common gastrointestinal problem that has been gathering a lot of attention lately because research continues to link it to a number of other health issues and diseases. The SAD (Standard American Diet), stress, toxic overload and bacterial imbalance people battle has certainly contributed to the epidemic of leaky gut syndrome symptoms that now affects millions of people globally.

Unexplained Symptoms?

Have you been doing everything you can to feel well, but are still frustrated by your lack of results? Regardless of what modality you implement – healthy diet, exercise, mindset, relaxation techniques – does nothing seem to offer relief?

Perhaps you feel:

  • Itchy
  • Foggy
  • Anxious
  • Exhausted
  • Heavy
  • Moody
  • Achy
  • Bloated…

Maybe even all of the above!

And, more concerningly, does it seem like you’re unable to get any traction in feeling better?

If so, the source of your woes may lie somewhere unexpected…

In your gut!

Between 70-80% of your immune response resides in your gut, so it stands to reason that an unhealthy gut can translate to an unhealthy you. One of the main physiological signs that something’s intestinally amiss occurs when the delicate lining of your gut gets compromised – A condition known as Leaky Gut. Leaky Gut is the root cause of dozens of health problems and stubborn symptoms… Even ones that seem completely unrelated!

The key to feeling better – and finally getting some positive wellness momentum – starts with supporting your gut and patching up the leaks

Leaky Gut Explained

Leaky gut (“intestinal hyperpermeability”) disorder is caused by intestinal tight junction malfunction.

Your gut is lined with a protective barrier that lets only friendly substances into your bloodstream. And keeps unwanted substances out! This feature is called selective permeability. The gut barrier is made up of cells that form tight junctions (like interlocking fingers). And those cells get extra protection from a thick layer of mucus (the mucosal layer) that shields them against attackers. When everything is working the right way, the gut barrier allows bloodstream access to only a select few beneficial particles. That’s how nutrients pass through your gut and into your bloodstream.

But sometimes troublemakers – like infections or certain medications – chip away at the mucus shield and bust those tight junctions wide open, poking micro tears in the barrier, which results in the gut “leak.”

And when you have a leaky gut, unwanted substances like pathogens, toxins, and undigested food particles can sneak through into the bloodstream, where they absolutely don’t belong. Once those particles enter your circulation, they can cause all sorts of damage anywhere in your body.

What Makes Your Gut Leak

The world we live in is full of threats to the gut barrier. That’s why millions of people struggle with leaky gut… even if they don’t realize it!
 
Some of these threats we can try to avoid. Others (like environmental toxins) are nearly impossible to escape completely. All of them can take a toll on your gut barrier, and trigger a leaky gut.
 
Threats to your gut barrier include:
  • Pesticides, like glyphosate
  • 24/7 stress
  • Inflammatory foods (such as gluten and dairy)
  • High sugar diets
  • Gut infections (including food poisoning and candida overgrowth)
  • Dysbiosis (when bad bacteria in your gut outnumber beneficial bacteria)
  • Medications (like antibiotics and NSAIDs)
  • Intestinal parasites (more common that you’d think)
  • Heavy metals
  • BPA and other chemicals found in plastics

And, according to the National Health Services, the following conditions and treatments can also damage your intestinal lining:

  • Celiac disease
  • Chemotherapy
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • Complicated surgery
  • Cystic fibrosis
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Immunosuppressants
  • Inflammatory bowel diseases – such as Crohn’s disease
  • Intestinal infection (salmonella, norovirus and giardiasis)
  • Radiotherapy to the abdomen
  • Sepsis
  • Type 1 diabetes

Representing the chief obstacle within the paracellular pathways between intestinal epithelial cells, disturbance of the constricted junctions opens the door for pollutants to be released into the blood.

According to the Norwegian journal Acta Paediatrica, this process “is implicated in the pathogenesis of several acute and chronic pediatric disease entities that are likely to have their origin during infancy.”

Leaky gut has specifically been linked to these childhood disorders:

Unfortunately, this is just a partial listing of the many things that can harm your gut barrier, and leave you suffering with leaky gut.

How Leaky Gut Causes Whole-Body Problems

Once harmful particles escape through the leaky gut barrier and into your bloodstream, they can travel anywhere in your body to cause problems. Your immune system spots these troublemakers and goes on the attack.
 
That immune response – which almost always involves inflammation – can cause a wide variety of symptoms
 
In fact, a leaky gut can make your immune system so confused that it starts attacking you by accident. That’s why virtually all autoimmune diseases involve a leaky gut.

Any of These Confusing Symptoms Could Point to Leaky Gut

With a leaky gut, you may encounter a number of symptoms that seem completely unrelated. And while they all start in your gut… they don’t stop there

Here are 10 signs that could indicate you’re dealing with a leaky gut:

  1. Gastrointestinal (GI) issues, including bloating, gas, diarrhea, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
  2. Any autoimmune disease, including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, celiac disease, and psoriasis
  3. Allergies and asthma
  4. Depression, anxiety and other mood disorders
  5. Trouble thinking, concentrating, remembering, and learning
  6. Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
  7. Blood sugar issues, including type 1 and type 2 diabetes
  8. Eczema, acne, and other skin conditions 
  9. Insomnia and other sleep disorders
  10. Obesity and difficulty losing weight

Your health advisor may have given you a few different diagnoses, and you may even be receiving treatment. But until the underlying problem – the leaky gut – gets fixed, true healing will always be just out of arm’s reach.

Most Common Co-Morbidities of Leaky Gut

If you think you may have leaky gut syndrome, here are FIVE co-morbidities to talk to your doctor about.

1. Skin Disorders

First defined more than 70 years ago, the connection between the gut and the skin points to a slew of skin irritations, including acne and psoriasis, in people with intestinal hyper-permeability. While many doctors lean on dangerous creams and other drugs to treat these disorders, they can usually be solved by fixing the gut.

2. Mood Disorders (Depression)

Studies, such a one published in the journal Neuro Endocrinology Letters, show that leaky gut can lead to numerous mood disorders. For instance, intestinal hyperpermeability’s inflammatory response features activate the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and other chemicals that induce depression symptoms such as fatigue, gastrointestinal upset, and a variety of so-called “sickness behaviors.”

3. Digestive Disorders

As you’d expect, if your intestines aren’t properly functioning, your digestion will be affected. Such is the case with leaky gut as intestinal permeability has been linked to chronic constipation & microfloral imbalance, which are direct causes of impaired immune function. Researchers discovered that immune cells were disrupted and pathogenic bacteria were allowed to flourish upon prolonged constipation.

For people with intestinal hyperpermeability, the immune system can shift into overdrive when a poisonous assault of toxins is introduced on the bloodstream, dangerously increasing the production of antibodies. This makes them vulnerable to antigens in foods, such as dairy and gluten products.

Leaky gut can also cause various nutritional deficiencies, including deficiencies of vitamin B12, magnesium and other important enzymes that aid in food digestion.

4. Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Hungarian scientists recently found that people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis have links to leaky gut syndrome.  This is because higher gut permeability is usually localized to the colon.

Another study found that the majority of patients with Crohn’s disease also had leaky gut. Furthermore, up to 10% – 20% of their “clinically healthy relatives,” also had leaky gut, which is a sign of genetic connection. Studies show that zinc is effective at tightening up intestinal junctions.

5. Autoimmune Disorders

Being an inflammatory disease by nature, it’s no wonder that so many people with autoimmune conditions suffer from leaky gut syndrome. One specific autoimmune disease that researchers are connecting to gut disorders is Hashimoto’s disease, or “chronic thyroiditis.” (10) Thyroid disease can lead to a host of problems, including weight gain, fatigue, depression and impaired metabolism.

Research conducted on a protein called “zonulin” is key to understanding the link between leaky gut and autoimmune diseases. A 2011 paper published in the journal Physiologic Reviews says,

“Zonulin is the only physiological modulator of intercellular tight junctions described so far that is involved in trafficking of macromolecules and, therefore, in tolerance/immune response balance. When the finely tuned zonulin pathway is deregulated in genetically susceptible individuals, both intestinal and extraintestinal autoimmune, inflammatory, and neoplastic disorders can occur.”

This hazardous flow is often triggered by grain consumption. In fact, University of Maryland School of Medicine scholars have revealed that gluten “activates zonulin signaling irrespective of the genetic expression of autoimmunity, leading to increased intestinal permeability to macromolecules.”

How to ‘Leak-Proof’ Your Gut

If after reading this article you think leaky gut may be responsible for your health problems, I have two things to say:

  1. Your suffering doesn’t have to continue. There is hope.
  2. Healing leaky gut syndrome is not only possible, but happens all the time.
With a healthy and intact gut barrier, toxins, pathogens, and other harmful substances will remain locked inside your gut where they belong. Keeping your gut barrier healthy involves:
  • Avoiding damaging substances – like gluten, pesticides, and NSAIDs – as much as you can
  • Eating a healthy, GMO-free, whole foods die
  • Addressing gut infections (if you have one)
  • Supporting your protective mucosal layer
  • Keeping your gut junctions tight
  • Maintaining a well-balanced gut microbiome where beneficial (probiotic) bacteria outnumber harmful (pathogenic) bacteria

When it comes to supporting your gut microbiome, high quality, spore probiotics are one of your strongest allies. In addition to crowding out harmful bacteria, specific types of spore probiotics help other beneficial bacteria flourish for a healthy well-balanced gut microbiome.

Here are two spore strains to look out for:

Bacillus clausii

As we’ve learned, one of the chief culprits behind leaky gut is the pervasive use of antibiotics. Bacillus clausii is the only strain of probiotic known to resist damage from a variety of common antibiotics.

Because of its pathogen-fighting power, this strain is the largest selling probiotic in the world (though it’s typically sold as a prescription drug.) Fortunately, it’s now available in the U.S. dietary supplement industry, and has been proven effective in supporting gut health and soothing numerous GI issues (gas, bloating, diarrhea.)

Bacillus coagulans

In a human trial, 90 days of supplementing with Bacillus coagulans resulted in significant improvements in gut health, and major reductions in occasional diarrhea, bloating, abdominal pain, and unusual stool frequency.

Bacillus coagulans is also known for its potent immune supportive activity due to its unique production of lactic acid – specifically the L+ optical isomer of lactic acid. This has been shown to have a profound impact on immune stimulation and digestion, and drives a healthy gut defense.

Live Gut Support

Though probiotics have long been touted as our best gut-optimizing partners, many people find it difficult sourcing a probiotic that actually works. According to research, the body’s naturally harsh stomach acid – which is necessary for digesting all types of foods – kills off 99.99% of the probiotic strains available. That means most probiotic products die long before their active strains get to your intestines.

Shockingly, even the *supposedly* special “live” probiotics found in the refrigerated section are “dead on arrival” when they reach the areas they’re needed most. (This actually makes a lot of sense – If a probiotic can’t survive at room temperature, how can it possibly survive the typical human body temperature of 98.6 degrees?!?)

Bottom line: be sure to purchase LIVE probiotics!

References:

  1. https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/features/leaky-gut-syndrome#1
  2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16092447/
  3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21248165/
  4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038963/
  5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18283240/
  6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16169298/
  7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22179430/
  8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10980980/
  9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20351569/
  10. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16635908/
  11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6790068/
  12. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4246018/
  13. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6313445/
  14. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5988153
  15. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22109896/
  16. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22955358/
  17. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29908580/
  18. https://www.lupus.org/news/the-gutlupus-link-how-gut-bacteria-may-impact-disease-development-and-activity
  19. https://chriskresser.com/got-allergies-your-microbes-could-be-responsible/
  20. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5871166/
  21. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6587489/
  22. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5641835/
  23. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4437570/
  24. https://jneuroinflammation.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12974-020-1705-z
  25. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4637104/
  26. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21382153/
  27. https://nationaleczema.org/leaky-gut/
  28. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6678709/
  29. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6290721/
  30. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6140100/

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