Leaky gut — TRINE KRISTIANSEN

What is leaky gut?

“All Disease Begins in The Gut.” - Hippocrates.

Leaky gut syndrome is a rapidly growing condition that millions of people are struggling with and don’t even know about. Leading health experts suggest that this digestive condition affects more than 80 percent of the population and one of the things that happens when so many people has it, is that it becomes the new normal. But just because digestive issues and high levels of inflammation, like the condition leads to and can be caused by, are common, does not make it "normal". It's a condition that can be healed and not something you are supposed to live with.

Leaky gut is a condition of increased intestinal permeability. The inside of the bowel is lined by a single layer of cells that make up the mucosal barrier. This barrier, or your gut lining, works as a barrier between the "outside" and the "inside" of your body. Your intestinal tract are considered "outside", as food are not considered inside of your body before it's absorbed through your gut wall. This barrier is effective at absorbing nutrients, but prevents harmful substances to pass through. In other words, in the case of leaky gut, the barrier becomes less effective as the defence army that protects the inside of your gut wall becomes weakened and the cells and gut lining which is supposed to be tight and act as a barrier, becomes more open, ‘holey’ and inflamed, allowing a greater amount of substances that should not ordinarily be allowed, such as undigested food particles, bacteria, toxins and other materials, to leak through the gut wall and into the bloodstream and travel throughout the body. When these toxins enter your bloodstream, your immune system may recognize these ‘foreign invaders’ as pathogens (disease) - attacks them and begin to fight them off by creating inflammation.

Chronic inflammation is one of the primary dangers of having leaky gut syndrome. Not only does systemic inflammation prevent your body from being able to heal and repair itself naturally, but it’s also a silent and deadly contributor to the most chronic illnesses and diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and inflammatory bowel diseases like Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's. Leaky gut has also been linked to autism, fibromyalgia, obesity and cancer.

Leaky gut syndrome has been treated by the integrative and functional-medicine community for years. But now, more of mainstream medicine is acknowledging it, too. The understanding of the importance of our microbiome is one of the things that has changed the view on the condition of leaky gut, as the discovery that human health and behavior are profoundly influenced by a huge population of microorganisms living in our guts.

What causes leaky gut?

Modern life is hard on your gut. Your entire digestive tract can be affected by stress, processed foods, alcohol, medications and bacteria. Other irritants include toxins, hormonal and microbiome imbalances and mineral deficiencies. Given how common such irritants have become in our lives, it’s not surprising that problems like leaky gut are widespread. Experts even claims that "these days, virtually everybody’s gut leaks to some degree.”

The good news is that the cells of the intestinal lining replace themselves every three to six days. This means that, given the proper support, your gut can repair itself.

Poor eating habits

A diet that includes inflammatory foods such as grains, refined sugar and carbs, refined oils, synthetic food additives and conventional dairy products. Keep in mind that gluten is the number one cause of inflammation and leaky gut. Mineral imbalances and/or deficiencies also contribute to a poor digestion and a leaky gut, which is why nutritious foods are important elements when healing the gut.

Stress

While your diet can play a crucial role in causing inflammation, food isn’t the only cause. High stress levels can also cause chronic inflammation by weakening your immune system, and therefore greatly increase the risk of leaky gut. Stress hormones move our body from "rest and digest" to a "fight-or-flight" response which shuts down the digestion and all its functions, and there has also been evidence to suggest that gut microbiota may respond directly to stress-related signals.

When your stressed, and find yourself in the state of "fight-or-flight" your stomach acid production also gets turned off. That's why stress lowers your production of stomach acid, and low stomach acid contributes to a leaky gut as when you aren’t producing enough stomach acid, you can’t properly digest and absorb the nutrients in the food that you eat.

Toxins

If you live on earth, you’re going to be exposed to toxins every single day. It’s inevitable. While we can reduce our exposure to toxins by using chemical-free beauty and cleaning products and eating organic whenever possible, there’s no way to completely avoid environmental pollution or the heavy metals lingering in our water, air and food supply. And when these toxins enter your body, they can damage your gut.

Your body has a natural defense against said toxins, which is the liver. Your liver works day in and day out to safely eliminate toxins that can damage your health. However, when you’re constantly exposed to toxins, your liver ends up being overworked, after all, it’s responsible for dozens other jobs, not even counting detoxification. When your liver slows down, it also slows down the rest of your digestive system. That's why you cannot treat your gut, without also treating your liver. They go hand in hand.

Medications

The use of antibiotics, oral contraceptives and other medications are one of the greatest contributors to leaky gut and factors that can deplete your body’s natural flora of good bacteria as well as many nutrients which further contribute to leaky gut and inflammation.

What is the symptoms of leaky gut?

Bloating
IBS
Chronic fatigue
Joint pain
Muscle pain
Food sensitivities
Thyroid conditions
Digestive problems
Weight gain or weight loss
Difficulties losing weight (despite eating healthy)
Skin issues such as acne, eczema, psoriasis
Candida overgrowth
Autoimmune disease, including Hashimoto’s, Crohn's and Ulcertaive colitis
Depression and anxiety
Hormonal imbalances, including PMS and estrogen dominance
Nutrient deficiencies
Migraines
Brain fog

How to treat leaky gut

The diet plays a huge role when it comes to treating leaky gut, but so does supporting your liver function and keeping your blood sugar levels stabile, and not to mention; your lifestyle. I would recommend eliminating dairy, gluten and sugar first thing, as this has the most profound impact for most people.

The 'five Rs' are the foundation of the protocol I use:

1. Remove - food and factors that damage (trigger foods, pathogens like candida, stress, antibiotics)

2. Replace -with factors that are missing. Add back the essential ingredients for proper digestion and absorption such as HCL, digestive enzymes, apple cider vinegar, bitters and lemon.

Taking a stomach acid supplement like HCL is good to help increase your stomach acid production, aid in digestion and improve nutrient absorption. However, it’s also important to consider why you have low stomach acid in the first place. Many diet and lifestyle factors can contribute to low stomach acid production, such as frequent antibiotic use, alcohol consumption, mineral deficiencies, a vegetarian diet and chronic stress. A lighter alternative to supplementing with HCL is using apple cider vinegar or bitters, which both help stimulate stomach acid production to help you better digest and absorb nutrients from the food you eat. Read more about stomach acid here.

3. Reinoculate - the natural gut flora with pro- and prebiotics. It’s critical to restore beneficial bacteria to reestablish a healthy balance of good bacteria. (Fermented foods, probiotics and sources of prebiotics like kale, onion, asparagus and garlic)

4. Repair - with nutrient dense and healing foods, needed to heal the gut lining and the digestion as a whole. (Bone broth, collagen, coconut products like this, healthy fats like avocado, coconut oil and ghee, sprouts, herbs and herb tea, celery juice, fermented foods, ginger, turmeric, gelatin, kelp, natural vitamin C (no ascorbic acid), organ meats, eggs, wild caught fish, grass-fed beef, dark leafy greens.)

5. Rebalance - focusing on lasting lifestyle changes. (Stress, sleep, exercise)

Work with me: This protocol are only meant to give you a overview and pint point you where to start, it's not individualized nor specific, so if you feel like you need consultation in this process (where to start, what kinds of supplementation, diet changes and stress management etc) feel free to contact me so we can talk and discuss your problems and concerns, and see if that is something I can help you with.