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| The purpose of a healthy gastro-intestinal tract is to: 1) digest foods into their nutrient components; 2) absorb nutrients for conversion into energy; 3) carry nutrients such as vitamins and minerals, attached to carrier proteins, across the gut lining into the blood stream; 4) play a major part in chemical detoxification; and 5) harbor immunoglobulins, or antibodies, that act as the first line of defense against infection.
Leaky Gut Syndrome is a condition where the gut lining is compromised, such that it becomes hyperpermeable and allows foreign particles and toxins to penetrate the intestines and enter the body systems. This loss of gut integrity causes a wide variety of problems. Inflammation in the gut lining can cause mal-absorption of nutrients, resulting in fatigue and bloating. When large food particles escape from the gut and are absorbed into the body systems, they cause new food allergies. "Symptoms" such as fibromyalgia and arthritis may occur. Carrier proteins are damaged, leading to deficiency symptoms, such as magnesium deficiency-related muscle spasms or copper deficiency-induced high cholesterol. The detox pathways of the gut are compromised; chemicals, instead of being eliminated, may leak into the body, causing chemical sensitivities. The toxins go on to overtax the liver, rendering it less able to handle everyday chemicals.
Likewise, when the gut wall is inflamed, its protective coating of immunoglobulin A is compromised and the body is not capable of fending off bacteria, viruses and candida. They are then able to pass through the gut into the bloodstream and set up infection elsewhere.
Perhaps the worst effect of leaky gut syndrome is the formation of antibodies against the body's own tissues. The normal antibodies from the gut leak into the body, where they are attacked as antigens, training the body's immune system to attack itself. One theory is that this process is the cause of many autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and thyroiditis.
Leaky gut syndrome can be caused by consuming damaging foods or drugs or a combination of both. Long-term dietary patterns known to induce leaky gut syndrome include high sugar, caffeine, soft drinks, and alcohol. A sinister pattern known to cause leaky gut syndrome, while people think it's healthy, is the consumption of fruit juice from concentrates. Drugs that are known to cause leaky gut syndrome include antibiotics that kill the body's probiotic cultures, which are the good bacteria in the intestines. NSAIDS, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and aspirin, have a known side-effect of irritating the stomach and intestinal walls, as well as interfering with E-series prostaglandin production, which weakens gastrointestinal mucus, leaving the gut wall open to acidic and enzymatic attacks.
Treatment of leaky gut syndrome must include three distinct parts: 1) Eliminate the root cause; that is, stop eating the offending foods and stop taking the harmful drugs; 2) Reestablish the ecology of the intestinal tract by eliminating candida fungal overgrowth and rebuilding the beneficial bacteria; and 3) Encourage the gut wall to heal.
A diet that promotes healing would be high in fresh fruits and vegetables and low in animal fats and red meats. Animal proteins can be obtained through eating oily fish, other sea foods, and chicken. Vegetables and fruits high in soft fiber are useful, such as carrots, broccoli, apricots, bananas, cherries and mangoes. Drink filtered and bottled water, herbal teas as a substitute for coffee, tea and chocolate drinks.
Supplements known to support the formation of healthy gut walls are butyrates, deglycerized licorice, and "vitamin U" (cabagin). Low doses of soluble fibers have shown a beneficial effect, while high doses have the opposite effect and add to the irritation. FructoOligoSaccharide (FOS) is an natural food substance with the characteristics of a natural soft fiber that promotes the proliferation of bifidobacteria, a probiotic whose waste products are toxic to candida. Probiotics, the good bacteria, can be taken as a supplement, as well as GLA products such as evening primrose oil and borage oil, which are known to promote production of the E-series prostaglandins. Healing usually takes three months or more.
(c)Copyright 2002 Chip Engelmann
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