Leaky gut is also called leaky gut syndrome (a collection of symptoms) or intestinal permeability.

What is leaky gut?

The walls of the intestine are semipermeable, like a tightly woven net, allowing some things through and keeping others out. In a healthy digestive system, only glucose, amino acids, fatty acids, and micro-nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream through the walls of the small intestine. In leaky gut syndrome, small molecules of undigested food cross the intestinal barrier and enter the bloodstream. These food molecules do not belong in the bloodstream. This fact is recognized by the immune system, which attacks them.

The body is then in a constant state of readiness to fight the allergens, called sympathetic dominance, or the fight-or-flight reaction. The parasympathetic part of the nervous system, which works when the sympathetic part is not activated, is responsible for digesting food and repairing and restoring body tissues. If the sympathetic part is constantly “on,” digestion, healing and restoration will not take place to the extent necessary for optimal functioning.

Once sensitized in this way, a person can experience an allergic reaction whenever the offending food is eaten. These allergies may be obvious and traceable to a particular food, or they may cause vague symptoms such as fatigue, headache, and asthma. Improving your digestion will often alleviate food allergies.

However, the overstimulated immune system can attack more than unwanted food particles. It can also start attacking your own body’s cells and organs, which can lead to autoimmune disorders such as thyroiditis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, or multiple sclerosis (MS).

Leaky gut can be caused by long branches of yeast burrowing into the intestinal walls. Thus yeast-type symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue, and female yeast infections, leaky gut, and food allergies overlap and cause symptoms throughout the body.

It’s not only undigested food that can get through to the rest of the body. Toxins and microorganisms can also pass through what are essentially larger holes in the intestinal net, and your immune system can attack these as well.

What causes leaky gut?

There are a number of things that can interfere with the proper breakdown of food and contribute to leaky gut. These include:

• Poor diet, especially sugar or those foods that are most likely to be allergenic such as wheat, corn, soy, and dairy.
• Insufficient beneficial bacteria
• Low digestive enzymes
• Insufficient hydrochloric acid (HCl) in the stomach
• Stress; the problem sometimes starts after a major life event
• Toxins, including chemicals in food
• Microorganisms
• Certain medications, especially antibiotics and anti-inflammatories

Allergies both cause and are caused by leaky gut in a self-perpetuating cycle. This cycle effect is also found with celiac disease (gluten intolerance); gluten worsens the leaky gut, which in turn worsens the gluten intolerance.

Beneficial bacteria aid in digestion, and altering that bacterial balance by taking antibiotics can contribute to leaky gut. Metal dental fillings contain mercury, which acts as an antibiotic and can have the same effect.

What kinds of problems can leaky gut cause?

Leaky gut can contribute to:

• Food allergy symptoms, including asthma and rashes
• Intestinal symptoms such as pain, bloat and gas, constipation, and diarrhea
• Fatigue and fibromyalgia
• Mood and mind problems such as irritability, depression, anxiety, or brain fog
• Headache
• Joint pain
• Osteoporosis
• Skin problems such as rashes, acne, rosacea, psoriasis, or eczema
• Weight gain
• Metabolic syndrome, in which sugar is poorly handled by the body (insulin resistance or prediabetes); symptoms include abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, and high triglycerides
• Autoimmune diseases

How can leaky gut be healed?

As with all chronic conditions, the first step is to determine what is causing the problem in your particular case, and address those causes. These can be certain foods that worsen the condition, toxins, or microorganisms. Then add back any digestive components that are missing, insufficient, or unbalanced, such as beneficial bacteria (probiotics) or enzymes. Nutrients from food or supplements can aid in intestinal healing, as can certain herbs. Fiber can help reestablish a good intestinal bacterial balance. Omega-3 oils help to combat associated inflammation.

An elimination diet such as that given at CAM can help by removing those foods that are most likely to be allergenic and toxic.

You can help your digestive process along by chewing food thoroughly or grinding grains in a coffee grinder before cooking and eating.

Stress, whether chronic or caused by a major life event, can keep the nervous system in sympathetic dominance, so intestinal healing is compromised. Take steps to the greatest extent possible to reduce stress in your life.

Practitioners at CAM are experienced in dealing with leaky gut syndrome, and can test for and treat causes such as food sensitivities and parasites.