Leaky Gut Syndrome – What A Mess

I have been trying to figure out the exact cause of this condition for a long time. I now realize why it was so difficult to crack the code. There are many causes of this increasingly common gastrointestinal problem. It is the result of a GI tract that has been attacked by numerous vagaries of modern living.

Poor quality food as well as a severely restricted diet. Our ancestors ate a much wider variety of foods. One example is in the 1920’s they ate as many as 30 different berries and 10-15 types of nuts. And they ate the whole food. We only get what is left over after it is processed to death. Our body needs the unique nutrients that are contained in those foods.

A chemical saturated environment: everything we ingest and touch is laced with chemicals that have many altering effects on our own biochemistry. The explosion over the last 20 years of new synthetic antibiotics is everywhere, including our food and water supply, and all of our health and beauty and toiletry products. We are a bacteria phobic culture.

Because of the unavoidable facts above, we are falling apart. We have become a walking semi-food/semi-hemical blob staggering around. We are a culture whose immunity is so weak we can’t stop things from growing on us and in us (give me more antibiotics in my antiperspirants, mouthwash, tooth pastes, and household cleaners please!) Because of this we can’t properly heal and maintain the integrity of our bodily tissues.

Hence, Leaky Gut Syndrome. Why the term ‘syndrome?’ That is used because there are many contributing causes as stated above. We have holes in the wall of our stomach. Because of this undigested food particles as well as preservatives and whatever else we swallow pass unprocessed directly into the blood stream causing our immune system to freak out and to set off all kinds of alarms = food allergies / intolerances.

There is a long list of other symptoms such as malnutrition, fatigue, skin issues, learning issues, pain syndromes, headaches, high cholesterol, sugar management, all types of allergies - you name it! Do you have one of those kids that seems to react to everything? Why do we need peanut-free zones all of a sudden?

We have sprung a leak at the top of the biochemical assembly line, the gut, where it all begins. The complicated part is figuring out what causes this and how to live with it.

The easier part is healing it. Supplements and herbs are what we need to heal this. This can require quite simple nutrients, but we must know how to dispense them and what ones to use (typically ones that are predigested so as to not stress this broken system and set off the alarms.)

Leaky Gut Syndrome

This is one strange condition. It is hard to pin down if it is even legit. It is definitely not an inflammatory bowel condition such as IBS, colitis or Crohn’s. It has a zillion symptoms attributed to it. It has the largest number of hits on Google for any of the gastrointestinal problems. Apparently, everyone is looking for it.

One of the most common side effects that leaky gut is blamed for is food allergies. This seems to be linked somehow to the issues of gluten and lactose intolerances. Somehow these are all supposed to be linked.

The most prominent concept is that one has large holes in their stomach and undigested food particles pass through and go directly into the bloodstream and then the immune system freaks out thinking they are some type of pathogenic enemy and triggers all kinds of immune responses such as rashes-headaches and sneezing. These are just a few of the long lists.

How did those holes supposedly get there? One theory is that there was a chronic yeast infection that spread all over the GI tract and with it’s roots burrowed holes in the stomach or small intestine.

If I were to give my 2 cents worth it would be this—through a prior use of antibiotics the mucosal lining that protects the stomach wall is destroyed leaving it exposed to our harsh digestive enzymes that eat holes in it.

Ultimately there are too many questions-contingencies and unknowns for me to be certain what exactly leaky gut is–or if it even is -but then again it must be—because everyone keeps telling me they have it. Maybe if there were more of it going around I would recognize it when I saw it.