There is a lot of controversy about Leaky Gut. Is it a real condition? Is it the underlying cause for so many diseases that currently do not have a known cause? I started to do some research and try to understand what this term Leaky Gut meant and why so many with autoimmune diseases are considering this to be the potential cause.
So what is a Leaky Gut?
“A leaky gut allows the entry of exterior antigens from the gut lumen into the host, which may promote both local and systemic immune responses” (1)
So what does this actually mean?
The lining of your gut becomes damaged and allows undigested food particles, toxic waste products, and bacteria to “leak” through to your bloodstream. These foreign substances can cause an immune response in the body including inflammation. The digestive system is meant to protect your body from these harmful substances, the walls of the intestines act as barriers, controlling what enters the bloodstream and is transported to your organs. In a healthy gut, there are small gaps in the intestinal wall called tight junctions that allow water and nutrients to pass through while blocking the passage of harmful substances. So when these tight junctions (a protein) open up, for many reasons, this may allow bacteria and toxins to pass from the gut into the bloodstream, leaky gut. It is this idea that is thought to cause widespread inflammation and potentially trigger the immune system and autoimmune diseases.
There is lots of research showing that leaky gut does exist, the question is whether or not it is the cause of certain diseases. This is what is being researched.
In a recent study by Desai et al., a low-fiber diet was found to trigger the expansion of mucus-degrading bacteria, the bad bacteria. As a result, the thickness of mucus in your lining is significantly decreased. The thinner mucus and compromised intestinal barrier function, tight junctions become wider, lead to a higher susceptibility to certain pathogens being able to move through your gut lining and into your bloodstream. Moreover, a diet high in saturated fat has been shown to greatly decrease Lactobacillus and increase Oscillibacter, the good bacteria, and these changes were correlated with significantly increased permeability in the colon. It goes to show how the diet affects our body on a cellular level and in more ways that we, the normal human, could know.
There are many symptoms and ailments that people put up with on a daily basis. Too many people accept complacency, thinking that this is how we are supposed to feel. I can tell you, that with a few small changes you can feel different, have energy and no longer live with the symptoms that too many of us just accept as normal.
Here are a few of them:
- Chronic diarrhea, constipation, gas or bloating
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Poor immune system, always being the one to catch the cold or stomach bug
- Headaches, brain fog, memory loss
- Excessive fatigue
- Skin rashes and problems such as acne, eczema or rosacea
- Cravings for sugar or carbs
- Arthritis or joint pain
- Depression, anxiety, ADD, ADHD
- Autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, celiac disease or Crohn’s
After four months of researching this topic to the nth degree :), I have begun to realize that your health begins in the gut. It is your gut that takes the nutrients from your food, filters out the pathogens, the toxins, and flushes them through your body. If it can not flush out the toxins then your body produces an immune response to fight the pathogen. If you can keep this to a minimum then your body can do so appropriately, when your body no longer filters effectively then your body is always in a fight or flight mode. This is seen as the eczema, bloating, tiredness etc.
Through all of my reading, I have found that there are some very simple things we can do every day to heal our gut, keep it healthy and in return help us have a healthy immune system.
- Limit your refined carb intake (Harmful bacteria thrive on sugar)
- Increase your daily Fiber (this feeds healthy bacteria)
- Take a Probiotic (replaces the good bacteria)
- Take a digestive enzyme (helps us break down our food)
- WATER, WATER, WATER
After learning that these 5 simple steps could help heal my gut and help reduce symptoms of my autoimmune disease and my family’s daily symptoms of bloating etc. I started to look into probiotics, this seemed easy as I know they are widespread. I started to look into what brands were good, reputable, as I did not want to waste my money. I found a few Functional Medicine doctors in the United States, Dr. Amy Meyers being one of them. I started to read her research and look into the products that she has produced. I realized that it was really expensive for a Canadian to purchase her ‘Leaky Gut’ program. So I did more research and started to compare to Dr. Amy Meyers products as a gold standard. After lots of research, I found that the Young Living product was similar and I found that they have a Seed to Seal guarantee. I trust that they do not have any fillers, toxins or chemicals and have the highest quality of ingredients to have success.
This is what has started our family to start using Young Living and learning about all the other benefits of oils that have significantly helped our family’s general health and well being. I will keep posting about Young Living’s products and how our family uses them and the changes we feel and see.
References:
- Mu, Q., & Kirby, J.(2017). Leaky Gut As a Danger Signal for Autoimmune Diseases. Front Immunol, 8(598). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5440529/
- Desai MS, Seekatz AM, Koropatkin NM, Kamada N, Hickey CA, Wolter M, et al. A dietary fiber-deprived gut microbiota degrades the colonic mucus barrier and enhances pathogen susceptibility. Cell(2016) 167(5):1339–53. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5131798/
Wherever it Points 