How To Address Leaky Gut Syndrome
Thankfully, leaky gut syndrome is a problem that can be addressed with simple changes to your diet and lifestyle. To heal leaky gut syndrome, all you need to do is:
Increase Gut Bacteria With more gut bacteria, your body is better able to break down the food you eat into normal-sized particles. To increase gut bacteria, try taking probiotics, foods that contain live bacteria. These foods include Kimchi, kefir, probiotic yogurts, sauerkraut, and kombucha. Anything fermented will encourage the production of healthy gut bacteria, leading to a better intestinal flora balance.
Remove Inflammation-Causing Foods If there are foods causing negative reactions in your gut, get rid of them from your diet! Foods like soy, milk, fish, nuts, shellfish, eggs, and gluten can all cause problems if you have food sensitivities, so test each one carefully before permitting it in your diet. If you are sensitive to any food, cut it out!
But those arent the only foods that cause inflammation. Anything fried, deep fried, overly fatty, rich in trans fats and hydrogenated oils, and/or loaded with artificial ingredients can also contribute to intestinal inflammation. Go back to the basics and eat a natural diet free of these inflammatory foods.
Increase Fiber Intake Gut bacteria feed on fiber, and a high-fiber diet will encourage healthier intestinal function and reduce inflammation. Make sure to get plenty of both soluble and insoluble fiber in your diet!
How To Start Healing
From eating gluten just one time, it can take almost 6 months to bring down autoimmune-inflammation antibodies. This is a big deal! There are multiple factors that can influence gut health such as inflammatory foods, stress, and medications therefore a lot needs to be considered when it comes into healing the digestive system. While I usually see monthly improvements in my patients it takes a full two years before dramatic and sustainable changes happen. It takes the average adult gut between 18 to 24 months to completely heal. Remember, this is a journey, not a race. It took years to get to this point of destruction and will also take time to repair.
Around 80 percent of your immune system is located in your gut. It only makes sense then that by healing your gut could bring relief to food sensitivities. Now, that doesnt mean that every person and every food sensitivity will be completely healed forever but it doesnt have to be a life sentence!
1. Get lab work done
To begin the healing process, its important to find your baseline. If you think food sensitivities are a problem for you, labs will help determine both the cause and specific sensitivity. This will allow you to make sure youre addressing everything necessary for healing. Here are the just a few of the labs that I run for patients at my functional medicine clinic:
2. Try an elimination diet
3. Make sure to rotate your food
4. Amp up your gut healing
Types Of Sinus Problems
Most sinus sufferers typically deal with a variety of nasal ailments that are triggered by the following:
- Allergic Rhinitis For some, chronic allergies are a way of life. Not only do they have hay fever, they struggle with sensitivity to dust, pollen, mold, pet dander, and everything else under the sun.
- Postnasal Drip Food and environmental allergies often lead to an annoying condition called postnasal drip. Mucous is thick and collects at the back of your throat in layers. You may find yourself constantly clearing your throat or sucking the snot out and swallowing hard to get it down.
- Overactive Sinuses Overactive sinuses are another common cause of sinus problems. It doesnt seem to matter what you do, your nose is running or mucous is draining into the back of your throat. Overactive sinuses can be triggered by anything and often seem to be worse after eating or when just waking in the morning.
- Chronic Sinus Infections Chronic sinus infections are an issue for many people. Symptoms include pressure and pain in the sinus area, stuffed nose, green or brown discharge from the nose, and postnasal drip.
- Chronic Sinusitis Chronic sinusitis means the sinus passages are nearly always inflamed and it may be difficult if not impossible to breathe through either nostril.
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Sleep Disturbances Or Constant Fatigue
An unhealthy gut may contribute to sleep disturbances such as insomnia or poor sleep, and therefore lead to chronic fatigue. The majority of the bodys serotonin, a hormone that affects mood and sleep, is produced in the gut. So gut damage can impair your ability to sleep well. Some sleep disturbances have also been linked to risk for fibromyalgia.
Food Allergies Vs Sensitivities
There are so many types of food out there that vary in form, taste, color and substance, and most are good for us. While most people can digest their food just fine, there are others who struggle with a food allergy or food sensitivity that keep them from enjoying the foods that they like to eat. However, a food allergy is not the same as a sensitivity , nor do they develop themselves in similar ways. A food allergy is a distinct immune reaction to Immunoglobulin E and it often affects multiple organs in the body. Food allergies are typically more dangerous than intolerances since they often cause anaphylaxis, which is a life-threatening allergic reaction to food, insect bites and even medication. A food allergy can cause swelling of the tongue or throat, difficulty breathing and/or speaking, wheezing, dizziness and paleness. On the other hand, a food sensitivity is a distinct immune reaction to Immunoglobulin G and is a delayed reaction after eating certain foods. With a food sensitivity, you can typically eat small amounts of problematic foods without having an issue. Symptoms of food sensitivities include diarrhea, sweating, hives, itching, vomiting, headaches, rapid breathing, bloating and face and/or chest tightness. Anaphylaxis is exclusive to food allergies and not sensitivities, but both food reactions can cause similar symptoms in some people.
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How To Identify Sensitivities
The best way to identify sensitive foods and chemicals is with the Mediator Release Test . MRT does 2 extremely important things:
The best individually prescribed eating plan is LEAP under the guidance of a fully trained Certified LEAP Therapist or other practitioner experienced with the LEAP protocols. The reason is because no other approach is as easy to follow and no other approach decreases diet-induced inflammation as fast as LEAP.
Find out if food sensitivities are a part of your lingering health problems.
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Signs You Have A Leaky Gut And How To Heal It
Updated on / by Addison
If youre not feeling well on a consistent basis and are experiencing a wide variety of symptoms that seemingly have little to do with one another, then you might have a condition known as leaky gut syndrome. While the name may sound nasty, what it can do to your body is even worse. That said, the biggest problem with leaky gut is the fact that it can be very hard to diagnose. This is because it can cause so many different symptoms, and these symptoms may seem like indicators of other illnesses.
Leaky gut syndrome can be caused by a variety of factors and conditions in your body. One of these is when the lining of your small intestines becomes damaged and undigested food leaks into your abdominal cavity. This can lead to bacteria and other toxic body waste getting into your bloodstream which then causes a variety of health problems that can seem unrelated. In some cases this is caused by medications such as aspirin, antibiotics, or steroids that irritate the lining of your intestines and their protective mucus layer.
Leaky gut can also happen when your body reacts poorly to the food you eat. Soy, gluten, and even dairy products can be treated as invaders by your body and an immune response will be triggered. This immune response can then lead to problems such as diarrhea, joint pain, chronic fatigue, and more.
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The Third Layer Of Gut Lining
The third and innermost layer inside your gut lining is where your friendly resident gut microbes live. Your guts contain billions of microbes over 1 kg worth. These microbes include bacteria as well as other types of friendly microbes.
This layer of gut microbiota has two major functions to help promote a healthy gut lining:
- They crowd out bad bacteria by taking up space and eating the good food .
- They help to regulate the digestion and absorption of nutrients to nourish the first-layer enterocytes. One of the types of beneficial compounds they produce
- is called short-chain fatty acids . These are considered to be anti-inflammatory and are also used as fuel for the enterocytes.
When the three layers arent working optimally, the tight junctions loosen, and leaks occur. This allows unwanted things to enter into the bodys circulation. In conclusion, this is how your gut health affects your overall health.
Two Causes Of Leaky Gut
The high prevalence of leaky gut is a direct result of our modern lifestyles. While chronic stress, environmental toxins, and gut infections such as Candida overgrowth and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth can damage your gut cell walls, the primary cause of leaky gut is what we eat, particularly inflammatory and toxic foods. Lets take a closer look at these two surprising causes of leaky gut.
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In Summary Leaky Gut Is The Root Of Many Health Issues
Now that you are familiar with all the health issues associated with leaky gut, including common syndromes like chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, IBS, and multiple food and chemical sensitivities, as well as asthma, anxiety, autoimmunity, diabetes, and arthritis, you can probably see why I have included it as one of the three problem networks that affect our health and wellbeing.
Once we understand these problem networks and the wide-ranging effects they can have on our health it means that, instead of feeling stuck by a diagnosis, you can actually take action that can help your body heal.
Because this is such an important issue, I devoted an entire series to Leaky Gut. I cover everything from how to test for it, how to treat it, and how it relates to other common conditions such as IBS, heartburn, depression, weight gain, acid reflux, and autoimmune diseases. You can find the entire series here:
Dr. Donis Series on Leaky Gut: .
Please share your thoughts and questions below or on my social media pages. I love to hear from you and how this information benefits your health. And if youd like to receive my weekly Wellness Wisdom newsletter, with more articles like this, feel free to sign up below.
Dr Doni
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Genetic Food Allergies And Intolerance
There are also genetic food allergies and intolerances that can have a significant impact on your immune system, health, and chronic symptoms.
These food allergies and intolerances you cannot get rid of. Whenever you eat these foods, they will affect you negatively. But the good news is that if you maintain a healthy gut then you will actually minimize the effects of these foods if you ever do accidentally eat them once in a while.
But if you eat them regularly then the damage that they cause will most likely put you right back where you started.
What Are The Clinical Signs Of Leaky Gut Syndrome
Most pets with leaky gut syndrome have gastrointestinal signs, such as weight loss, vomiting, flatulence, and soft stools.
However, it is not these gastrointestinal signs that are the primary concern in this condition. Instead, leaky gut syndrome is a concern because it is believed to increase a pets risk of developing a number of diseases that are not directly related to the gastrointestinal tract.
In humans, leaky gut syndrome is associated with inflammatory bowel disease, inflammatory arthritis, inflammatory skin disease, chronic hepatitis, chronic pancreatitis, and chronic fatigue syndrome. It is theorized leaky gut syndrome in humans contributes to inflammation. There is concern that leaky gut syndrome may also lead to inflammatory diseases in pets, meaning that the clinical signs of leaky gut syndrome could include a wide variety of inflammatory conditions.
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The Second Layer Of Gut Lining
The second layer is made up of mucus. This mucus layer provides a physical separation between the outermost enterocyte layer and the microbes and food that are inside the centre, or lumen, of the gut. It also contains special proteins that help fight against invaders. This mucus and its special compounds are produced by the enterocytes.
We want the mucus layer to be nice and thick to provide a better barrier between the one-cell layer of enterocytes and protect them from bad bacteria that can get in there.
FACT: Animal studies show that mice fed a diet low in fibre have thinner mucus barriers.
Other Conditions Related To Leaky Gut
Metabolic syndrome is another disorder linked to increased intestinal permeability. In a study of 363 individuals, higher zonulin levels correlated with higher waist circumference, diastolic blood pressure, and glucose concentrations, as well as a greater likelihood of being overweight or obese and having hyperlipidemia.43 Leaky gut and associated bacterial translocation also have been implicated in Alzheimers disease.44 Postmenopausal women are also at risk of impaired gut barrier function, since estrogen naturally protects the intestinal mucous layer against oxidative damage and reduces intestinal permeability.45 Moreover, low levels of sex steroids in mice have been shown to increase intestinal permeability, which is involved in inflammatory pathways that cause bone loss.46 Nephropathy is another condition associated with intestinal permeability as well as the production of IgA-type antibodies against gliadin, soy, salt-extracted antigens of oat flour , and ovalbumin.47
Likewise, increased intestinal permeability and the resulting translocation of endotoxins into the bloodstream are implicated in migraines.48,49 Given the association between leaky gut and migraines, its not surprising that both IgE-specific food allergies and IgG-mediated food intolerances have been found to aggravate migraine attacks, while an elimination diet reduces headache frequency.50,51
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Types Of Food For Gut Health
Diet and gut health are very closely linked. Avoiding processed foods, high-fat foods, and foods high in refined sugars is extremely important to maintaining a healthy microbiome, as these foods destroy good bacteria and promote growth of damaging bacteria. There are also a number of foods you can eat that actively promote the growth of beneficial bacteria, contributing to your overall health. These foods include:
Tips For Better Gut Health
Taking a probiotic supplement may or may not be the right approach for you. Talk with your doctor to learn more. Meanwhile, here are a few things you can do today to work toward a healthier gut:
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Testing For Leaky Gut
If you want to heal your leaky gut, you first have to know if you have one. Symptoms are often attributed to other conditions. The good news is that there are tests that can determine if you have a leaky gut.
One of the more accurate tests is the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test . This tests the levels of zonulin in your blood, which gives a biomarker of how much intestinal permeability there is. Dr. Alessio Fasanos research showed that gluten triggers the release of zonulin. Zonulin is a chemical that signals the tight junctions of your intestinal wall to open up, creating intestinal permeability, or a leaky gut. Higher than normal levels of zonulin is an indicator of a leaky gut. Optimal levels of zonulin are 22.3 to 161.1 ng/mL.
Another way to test for leaky gut is to find out if you have a food sensitivity. The best way to discover your food sensitivities is to complete an elimination diet. An elimination diet is a short-term eating plan with the goal of pinpointing exactly which foods are causing the uncomfortable, painful, or mysterious symptoms you are experiencing.