Causes of Leaky Gut Syndrome / Intestinal Permeability

• Chronic stress
  
• Intestinal infections
  
• Small intestine bacterial overgrowth
  
• Environmental contaminants
  
• Excess alcohol
  
• Poor diet
  
• NSAIDS and other medications
  

Health care practitioners who diagnose this syndrome explain that intestinal inflammation which may originate from intestinal dysbiosis or other sources of irritation, widens the junctions between the cells of the intestinal lining, allowing endotoxins and incompletely digested particles to be partially absorbed. These are targeted by antibodies, forming immune complexes which cause a semi-infectious state and can be carried by the bloodstream to distant sites where they may stimulate the release of cytokines. Low grade fever, transient gut pain, and a sense of inability to absorb nutrients are some reported symptoms in otherwise undiagnosed patients

The lining of the intestines is a barrier that normally only allows properly digested fats, proteins, and starches pass through and enter the bloodstream. It allows substances to pass in several ways.

Chloride, potassium, magnesium, sodium and free fatty acids diffuse through intestinal cells. Amino acids, fatty acids, glucose, minerals, and vitamins also cross through cells, but they do it by another mechanism called active transport.

There's a third way substances can pass through. The spaces in between the cells that line the intestines are normally sealed. These tight junctions are called desmosomes. When the intestinal lining becomes irritated, the junctions loosen and allow unwanted larger molecules in the intestines to pass through into the blood. These unwanted substances are seen by the immune system as foreign (because they aren't normally present in blood). This triggers an antibody reaction.

When the intestinal lining becomes further damaged, even larger substances, such as disease-causing bacteria, undigested food particles, and toxins, pass directly through the damaged cells. Again, the immune system is alarmed and antibodies and substances called cytokines are realeased. Cytokines alert white blood cells to fight the particles. This fight produces oxidants, which cause irritation and inflammation throughout the body

In the digestive tract, when food does not pass quickly, the proteins turn putrid and rot, fats become rancid, and carbohydrates ferment. The importance of periodic enemas or colonics is predicated on the fact that humans are instinctively cultured to clean their exteriors (that includes hairs, teeth, nails and body) regularly but to neglect their interiors. When the colon is cleaned, the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder are relived of a lot of toxins.

Surgeons and gastroenterologists do not impress the significance of hardened fecal matter on their patients because they are not trained to know the consequences of these mucoid plaques. Until they mix with fecal matter, they are indistinguishable from that of a healthy person during endoscopy.

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Increased intestinal permeability begins with inflammation and irritation to the lining of the digestive tract. Over time, the intestinal lining begins to wear and break down. This forms large gaps between your intestinal cells which then allow toxins, pathogens, and undigested food particles to enter your bloodstream.

Soon after, your liver becomes overloaded with toxins. Your immune system becomes impaired after being continuously assaulted by unwanted substances. Your hormonal system becomes fatigued after trying to keep up with both the stress of the intestinal permeability along with the stress of everyday life. Your body is just not designed to handle this chronic stress properly as there is no time to properly rest and repair.

This leads to the development of many common conditions including:

Common Symptoms and Conditions of Leaky Gut Syndrome

• chronic fatigue
• depression
• asthma
• food allergies
• chronic sinusitis
• eczema
• headaches
• migraines
• irritable bowel syndrome
• inflammatory bowel disease
• Candida
• fibromyalgia
• joint pain
• arthritis
• autoimmune disease

The underlying problem of must be properly treated with a Leaky Gut Syndrome treatment protocol. This involves the use of a leaky gut diet, lifestyle improvements, and gut healing supplements.

If not, the problem continues and only gets worse. Your health will continue to decline and newer and more severe symptoms will begin to present themselves. All too often, we try to medicate and mask our symptoms without asking what is causing them in the first place. This approach may offer temporary symptomatic relief but the underlying problem still exists.

Leaky Gut Syndrome is not something to be taken lightly. Once it progresses to autoimmune disease, then the autoimmune can’t always be reversed. Get serious about your health and this condition that unknowingly affects millions of innocent people. This is why I’ve created this Leaky Gut Cure program to increase awareness of Leaky Gut Syndrome and reach as many people as possible so you don’t have to suffer from leaky gut any longer.

Proper Leaky Gut Syndrome Treatment

The first step in proper treatment is to determine the primary sources of inflammation that are damaging your intestinal lining. These sources include: food allergies, Candida, fungus, parasites, and many common medications such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Once these major sources are identified, they can be removed. You can think of it like this. You are essentially putting out the fire that has been burning inside your digestive tract for a long time. This alone will help provide drastic relief from your symptoms.

Once the fire is out the second step of proper treatment can become effective. This step is to restore balance to the digestive organs while supporting the hormonal system. This includes the use of a proper leaky gut diet and stress reduction. The diet serves to help restore balance and function to the digestive tract while removing the excessive toxic load off of the liver. Supplements are also used to improve the function of the digestive system and sometimes for hormonal support and regulation. This helps to get the body out of constant stress and back to proper function and balance.

The third step of proper treatment involves restoring balance to the gut flora. This can only be accomplished now that you have created the proper environment that allows the beneficial bacteria to thrive. This is important because these beneficial bacteria act to police your digestive tract to keep the harmful parasites, bacteria, yeast, and fungi out. They also play an integral role in further aiding in the digestion and absorption of food as well as proper bowel function. But still, all of the damage and large leaking cell gaps caused by intestinal inflammation must still be healed.

Now that the gut flora has been restored, the fourth and final step of proper Leaky Gut Syndrome treatment can take place. This involves providing the digestive tract with the necessary building blocks for complete repair. This is accomplished using the right supplements. These supplements act to accelerate the process of healing leaky gut by stimulating the natural cell repair process. As a result, the large cell gaps form back into their original tight gaps and the mucosal barrier becomes restored

To learn moore about the immune system To learn moore on detoxification To learn moore about acid reflux  and heart burn To learn moore about inflamation How to use herbal remedies Auto immune diseases Allergies Irritable bowel symdrome Water Cures Enzymes and disease

Symptoms of Leaky gut syndrome / Intestinal permeability
Symptoms include: abdominal pain, asthma, chronic joint pain, chronic muscle pain, confusion, fuzzy or foggy thinking, gas, indigestion, mood swings, nervousness, poor immunity, recurrent vaginal infections, skin rashes, diarrhea, bed-wetting, recurrent bladder infections, poor memory, shortness of breath, constipation, bloating, aggressive behavior, anxiety, fatigue, feeling toxic.

Leaky gut syndrome is associated with the following conditions:

• Autoimmune disease
  
• Celiac disease
  
• Crohn's disease
  
• Environmental illness
  
• Hives
  
• Acne
  
• Allergies
  
• Inflammatory joint disease / arthritis
  
• Intestinal infections
  
• Pancreatic insufficiency
  
• Ulcerative colitis
  
• Giardia
  
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
  
• Eczema
  
• Psoriasis
  
• Food allergies and sensitivities
  
• Liver dysfunction
  
• Rheumatoid arthritis
  
• Irritable bowel syndrome
  

Why is fiber significant?

Stick to Whole Foods on Your Leaky Gut Diet

Your leaky gut diet should consist primarily of fresh meat and vegetables with the addition of limited whole grains, nuts, seeds, and fresh fruits. Animal protein is a must. Stay away from processed and packaged foods that contain lots of fillers and hidden ingredients that may be driving your symptoms or conditions.

 Adjust Your Food Ratios

We are all genetically and ethnically different. Some of us do better with higher protein and others with higher carbohydrates in our diet. Some do best with an equal balance. You want to find your optimal food ratio. Don’t worry, it sounds harder than it really is.

Start by testing both ends of the spectrum. Start with a meal of primarily meat and less vegetables. How did you feel afterwards? Then on the next day, try a meal with mostly vegetables, some meat, and a small amount of grains. How did you feel afterwards? Take the food ratio that you felt best with and then fine tune it from there. After you fine tune, you now have your proper food ratios that you should stick for all the meals.

Cook Your Veggies

When dealing with intestinal permeability, your digestion is impaired and raw uncooked vegetables can be hard to digest. It is best to cook them thoroughly to help assist your body to properly digest them. In fact, a good leaky gut diet should focus primarily on foods that are easy to digest.

 Stay Away From Common Food Allergies

If you suffer from intestinal permeability, then you also suffer from food allergies. They both go hand in hand and are one of the most commonly overlooked Leaky Gut Syndrome treatment steps. You want to stay away from these foods and other foods that contain them. Often times, avoiding these foods alone is enough to alleviate many of your chronic symptoms. Your leaky gut diet should be designed to eliminate these common food allergies so that you can properly heal and won’t have to avoid them forever.

What You Should Avoid

• Avoid foods that cause the allergies for 4-6 months (under supervision of a qualified practitioner.)

• Avoid sugar, alcohol, vinegar, too much fruit, bread and anything else that allows Candida Albicans to proliferate.

• Cut out packaged, processed and convenience foods which are jam packed full of additives, flavour enhancers, high levels of sugar and salt, hydrogenated fats and other harmful ingredients.

• Avoid dairy products which feed the yeast.

• Avoid fermented products which feed the yeast.

• Avoid caffeine it is at best a temporary stimulant and it can result in early fatigue, hypoglycaemia, excess insulin production, artery deterioration, potentially birth defects. [1]

• Avoid fizzy drinks which alter the pH balance in the stomach and contain additives and artificial sweeteners linked to various health problems including hyperactivity and depression.
  
  
• Avoid dried or canned fruits, which are said to worsen candida infection.

Bowel management and deep tissue cleansing

The greatest challenge our bodies face is the effective removal of wastes and toxins. The colon is where most toxins find their way into general circulation and body tissues through enterohepatic circulation. We cannot start the organ rebuilding process without cleaning the bowel of accumulated caked fecal matter.  Bowel movements are the foundation of any health regimen. If we don't have at least one bowel movement per day, organ degeneration sets in. The human body has not changed much in the past several thousand years. Ironically, our nutrition has changed a lot with increased consumption of processed foods which constitute metabolic challenges to our bodies

According to the International Association of Colon Hydrotherapy, colon hydrotherapy involves the use of purified water to hydrate the waste and the body. (Hydrated bodily fluids are able to carry nutrients and waste more effectively; these fluids include lymph, blood, mucus, intercellular fluid, and extracellular fluid). The removal of these toxic wastes from the lymph and systemic circulation reduces hindrances to healing. Colonic hydrotherapy softens and loosens waste. It is easier for the bowel to evacuate softened, hydrated waste than a hard, dehydrated mass. During a colonic session, water enters the bowel, softening and loosing waste. This creates the reflex for evacuation; the colon evacuates through normal peristalsis. This may be repeated several times during a session, thereby exercising the muscles which make up the colon. As a consequence of malnutrition, our body is stimulated to produce mucous to protect our intestines from the toxins in the food. Toxins are released through the skin, kidneys and liver, but the main route for toxin release is the bowels. This process needs to be assisted from time-to-time or the toxins will be re-absorbed back through the intestinal wall. Food that was meant to pass through the body within 8 – 18 hours are held longer, and the longer they are held, the more putrefactive, toxic, and gaseous they become. When bowel tone and condition are good, we should have a bowel movement after every meal. With multiple layers of mucous, the pancreatic fluids that normally keep the mucoid layers stripped and digested off the colon can’t keep up. With time, the mucous layers build up and harden making the intestines less effective at absorbing food and nutrients. The physical sign of this is the presence of vertical ridges on the little fingernails.

As our digestive processes become sluggish, food starts to putrefy in the colon and as more toxins accumulate we have imbalanced gut flora and overgrowth of yeast. As the colon becomes impacted with dry putrefactive waste, its shape and function are affected in various ways. It may stretch like a balloon in certain areas, or develop something called “diverticula” (pouches on the intestinal wall which may become infected), or fall down upon itself (prolapsed colon). All of these colon malformations greatly impair the large intestine’s ability to function, which in turn places severe strain on the digestive organs and glands and affects nutrient assimilation and absorption. The colon is the body’s “sewer system”, and if not treated properly can accumulate toxic poisons, which are absorbed into the bloodstream. This in turn can cause many degenerative diseases. The muscular walls of the gut weaken and lose tone, leading to a pot belly, prolapses, diverticulitis, polyps, colitis, and smelly gas problems. Ultimately these lead to primarily colon cancer, cancers in other parts of the body from the resulting toxemia, cardiovascular diseases, pancreatic insufficiencies like diabetes, autoimmune diseases and all forms of organ degenerations. This is why naturopaths believe the colon is the second brain and life begins in the colon and death starts from the colon.

With malnutrition, small bowel pockets, a prolapsed (fallen) transverse colon, and diverticuli accumulate, causing illnesses like low-back pain, menstrual irregularity, ovarian cysts, constipation, bladder problems, heart palpitations, hemorrhoids, tipped uterus, and prostate irregularities. These problem leads to an impacted and constipated colon, and we often use laxatives which further perpetuates the problem. Laxatives cause repeated artificial stimulation of the bowels and destroys their natural emptying reflex, so that they will no longer move without artificial stimulants. The laxative habit begins innocently enough with the correct belief that bowels should move every day, however, laxatives will cause the evacuation of several days’ worth of stool in a single movement. 

Bowel movements  

Healthy bowel movement is one or two movements of average size in a day. Every other day or once or twice a week, bowel movements can be detrimental because the bowel contents release toxins back into the body through the mucous membranes of the gut. The key to good health is to keep toxins and wastes moving. They should never be allowed to establish themselves in the body. This is what detoxification and bowel waste management is all about.

There is usually a time of day when bowel movements are more likely to occur. In anticipation of this time, the person should participate in activities that stimulate a normal bowel movement. It is also important for the patient to recognize the urge to defecate and to respond right away to that urge. The longer stool sits in the rectum, the more water the rectum will absorb from it, making it harder and more difficult to pass. This can make toxins to be re-absorbed back into the body and cause the problems we want to avoid.

Just getting up in the morning triggers the movement of the large intestine. The stomach also sends a signal when it expands after a meal. This gastrocolic reflex is the reason many people, and especially children, need to go to the bathroom soon after eating. The reflex gets weaker with age, which is one source of constipation problems and the reason why good and consistent bowel habits are helpful. This is why adults need to make conscious efforts to practice health bowel management.

Regular bowel movements require consumption of large amounts of liquids and bulk foods. A person should drink two to three quarts of liquids every day. Bulk comes from unprocessed foods. Oat bran, wheat bran, brown rice, green vegetables, apples, and pears are a few examples of high residue, high-fiber foods. We can also benefit from adding bulk preparations of psyllium. For some people, psyllium will cause extreme amounts of gas, but the addition of flax seeds (eaten without chewing) and bran will help. And one single 8-ounce cup of organic coffee in the morning may help people get a regular bowel movement.

Inside a healthy lower intestine are billions of beneficial intestinal bacteria or microflora. These bacteria are of the lactobacillus acidophilus and lactobacillus bifidus strains and were transferred by breast-feeding into our intestines as newborn infants.  The body uses

L. acidophilus and L. bifidus in the final stages of digestion, reproducing themselves as necessary to keep in total harmony with the body.  When we indulge in unhealthy dietary habits, the good bacteria can’t keep up; bad bacteria overpopulate the gut to give a gut flora imbalance, resulting in organ degenerations like cancer 

Testing
The standard test for leaky gut syndrome is the mannitol and lactulose test. Both are water soluble molecules that the body can't use. Mannitol is easily absorbed by people with healthy intestinal linings. Lactulose is a larger molecule and is only slightly absorbed. A person drinks a solution contain both mannitol and lactulose. Urine is collected for six hours and the amount present in urine reflects how much was absorbed by the body. A healthy test shows high levels of mannitol and low levels of lactulose. If high levels of both molecules are found, it indicates a leaky gut condition. If low levels of both molecules are found, it indicatioes general malabsorption of all nutrients.

Stool management

·         Air or bubbles in the stool may indicate that we have a gut or flora imbalance and that gas-producing bacteria are overgrown and competing with the healthier flora.

·         Alternating bouts of diarrhea and constipation may be due to irritable bowel syndrome, food allergies, red meat, spices, sugar, alcohol, stress, lack of fiber, irregular bowel habits. Color: stool is usually the color of the food.

·         Constipation can occur leading to impaction, the presence in the rectum of a mass of feces too large to pass. Fecal impaction is usually the result of poor bowel habits, a diet with too little liquid and roughage, too much protein, and inadequate physical activity.

·         Diarrhea, whether acute or chronic, can disrupt the bowel’s normal rhythm and lead to irregularity. It can mean that your large intestine is not functioning properly. The large intestine is in charge of removing excess water from the feces. Rule outs can include food poisoning, lactose intolerance, anxiety, stress, too many antacids, antibiotics, parasites like  coccidia, balantidia, coccidoidiomycosis or other parasites, viruses, bacteria overgrowth, inflammatory bowel disease, and irritable bowel syndrome. A healthy bowel will take about a quart and a half and condense it down to one cup of stool. That’s pretty amazing!

·         Bright red blood can be a sign of hemorrhoids, colitis, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, colon cancer, or can be caused from impacted stools passing through the rectum, telling us we need to drink more water.

·         Horrible smelling stools—too much protein, flora imbalance.

·         If the stools are black, tarry, and sticky (called melena), this can mean that there is bleeding from the small intestine. These types of stools usually have a distinctive bad odor. If you’ve ever smelled a dog with Parvo, corona, or rotavirus, you know what I mean.

·         Light green stools—too much sugar, fruits, or vegetables and not enough grains or salt (or in the case of animals, too much grass). Mucous can reveal diverticulitis and gut inflammation due to allergies or parasites.

·         Oily or greasy-looking stool that usually floats and can be large can mean that your pancreas or small intestine are not functioning well enough and not releasing enough digestive enzymes. Normal stools are about 1 percent fat. When this percentage increases to about 7 percent, the stool will look oily and greasy. This is called steatorrhea. High-fat meals can cause this to happen but should be temporary.

·         Pale or clay-colored stools can mean that your gallbladder or liver is not working correctly.

·         Pencil thin or ribbon-like stools can mean you have a polyp or growth on the inside of the colon or rectum.

·         If the stool breaks up easily and you can see bits and pieces of the food you ate, maybe you are not chewing your food thoroughly enough. This can cause acid reflux, abdominal bloating and diarrhea.

·         Red or magenta stool can indicate ingestion of beets.

·         Very dark stools can mean too much red wine, too much salt in the diet, and/or not enough vegetables. Blueberries, Pepto Bismol™ (with bismuth in it) and iron pills can also be responsible for dark stool.

·         Normal bowel habits not only improve the quality of life, they help prevent several common diseases, e.g. diverticulitis and fecal impaction. Gall stones, appendicitis, colon cancer, hiatal hernias, diabetes, and heart disease have also been related to the quality of bowel movements and the foods that affect them.

 According to Shé D'Montford, Shambhallah, from Australia ‘The human body "WILL HEAL"... If we get out of our own way and allow it, it heals itself. It is our basic nature. Anybody who tells you other than that is trying to sell you something. No matter what you have been told. Don't give up on yourself and don't buy into the lines like ... ‘oh well you've had a good life'... 'at your age'... and the worst of all ...'there's nothing further I can do, I suggest you finalize your affairs'... How dare anyone tell you to give up! So much in society combines to convince us of the propaganda that some things never get better. It's up to you ... do you want to get better? Make things better? It is human nature to make things better, evolve and grow.”

This site  is intended to provide general information only and is not a substitute for medical evaluation or treatment. All matters regarding health or a particular health situation should be supervised by a licensed health care professional.The author and the publisher shall not be held responsible or liable for any harm or loss allegedly arising, directly or indirectly from any information in this site