Leaky gut (intestine permeable) syndrome insidious and dangerous problem. In this article, I examined the causes, symptoms and treatment methods of leaky gut syndrome.
There is a very important subject that I have been planning to write for a long time but I expect to complete the studies about it. It’s leaky gut, so it’s permeable or leaky bowel syndrome!
I think that I have to prepare the article now, although there is a lot of questions about this issue recently and I see that the false claims about leaky gut are being discussed more.
What is the leaky gut that paves the way for many diseases? I will answer the question and will address the symptoms and causes of leaky gut syndrome, and talk about treatment protocols.
What is Leaky Gut?
The most important part of your digestive system is your intestines. Because the intestines are the point where the nutrients continue to break down and almost all are absorbed.
The absorption process in your intestines proceeds quite simply. Your bowel cells are lined up adjacent to the filter. During this sequence, your intestinal cells stay tightly interconnected by tight junctions.
This tight arrangement allows only digested nutrients, liquids, small, harmless substances such as vitamins and minerals to pass through your intestines into your blood.
Here is leaky gut syndrome related to the permeability of your intestinal wall. If the tight connection between the cells in your intestines is broken, undesirable substances such as harmful organisms and toxins can pass into your blood.
These unwanted harmful components cause many different problems at many different points in your body. I will also talk about the damages caused by the increase in permeability in the following parts of the article.
Why does intestinal permeability increase?
Leaky gut (permeable bowel) syndrome is caused by the breakdown of tight connections in the intestinal cells.
So why is this connection broken?
There are many different theories about this, but our mechanism is clear. Inflammation!
Inflammation is the answer to the defense system in your body. If your defense system detects a harmful cell, toxin or organism at some point, it sends the defensive cells to that area. These cells attack them to neutralize harmful components.
The same goes for the bowel wall.
If your intestines are constantly in contact with substances such as allergens (lectin and gluten), such factors as constant inflammation stress occurs or the order of beneficial bacteria in your intestines changes, your cells begin to stay under pressure.
This pressure causes deterioration in the structure of the cells and a decrease in function. In the long run, the problems I mentioned cause an increase in permeability in your intestinal wall.
A protein called zonulin maintains the tight connections between your intestinal cells. Decreased or excessive increase in zonulin protein loosens the connections in your intestines and increases permeability.
Symptoms of Leaky gut syndrome
I want to start with the symptoms first. Because starting the article after weighing yourself will seriously facilitate our progress.
Symptoms of Leaky gut syndrome can be listed as follows.
1. Food allergies
We now have more frequent food allergies. A significant portion of this allergy is due to leaky gut syndrome, which is now more common in the community.
Allergy development is as follows. When the transition in your intestines is broken, many different nutrients and toxins enter your body that can cause allergies. This goes way beyond a simple allergy. This is because allergens that pass directly into your body and produce continuous stimuli produce reactions that never go away.
2. Autoimmune diseases
Autoimmune diseases, in short, means that your body’s defense system elements attack your own cells. Of the common autoimmune diseases, type-1 diabetes can be listed as hasimato thyroiditis.
In Leaky gut syndrome, we know that gluten and toxins passing into the blood increases the level of zonulin protein I mentioned earlier. I have to say that the increased zonulin level makes it difficult to recognize your own cells by the defense cells in the body.
In fact, studies have shown that zonulin level is 42% higher in type-1 diabetes patients.
So zonulin equals autoimmune diseases!
3. Skin diseases
Many diseases in your body show signs of changes in your skin. In particular, we know that many problems in the digestive system are directly related to many dermatological conditions.
If you have problems such as psoriasis, acne and eczema, you should consider bowel permeability before serious medical treatment.
4. Neurological diseases
Your brain and intestinal health are directly linked. Because the absorption of nutrients, the level of many different hormones, intestinal and brain health are of common interest.
Therefore, many of the common neurological diseases (especially autism and hyperactivity disorder) may be directly associated with leaky gut syndrome.
Unfortunately, the symptoms do not stop there. Other symptoms of leaky gut syndrome
Vitamin deficiencies,
Fibromyalgia,
Digestive problems (constipation and diarrhea),
Irritable bowel syndrome,
Chronic fatigue,
Excess weight and difficulty in losing weight,
Untreated depression and anxiety,
Continuous headache and migraine,
can be sorted as.
As you can see, the symptoms of permeable bowel syndrome can sometimes appear as illnesses and I see that these diseases are resistant to treatment.
The reason is very simple, because the real reason is not eliminated!
Therefore, it is enough to have the disease or symptoms mentioned above to suspect permeable bowel syndrome.
Leaky gut permeable bowel syndrome causes
We now agree that Leaky gut syndrome is a bad condition. But I still haven’t told you the reasons.
Actually, that’s the point! Because knowing the reasons means preventing the situation.
Leaky gut permeable bowel syndrome causes;
Excessive sugar consumption can cause leaky gut syndrome. Because sugar (especially fructose) disrupts the environment in your intestines and increases permeability.
Vitamin deficiency prevents the cells in the intestinal wall to function correctly. Especially Vitamin D, A, B12 and zinc deficiency increases intestinal permeability.
Inflammation damages your intestinal cells. Because of constant inflammation, your intestinal cells are attacked by the defense system. Specifically, lectin and gluten (which I will discuss in more detail later) will cause severe inflammation and increase intestinal permeability.
Damage to the intestinal flora causes your own intestinal cells to become vulnerable. Because useful bacteria in your intestines form the first line of defense.
Stress causes an increase in the zonulin protein, which I mentioned earlier, which causes leaky gut syndrome. Therefore, long-term stress increases intestinal permeability.
can be sorted as. In addition, continuous painkillers (especially the NSAID group) and excessive alcohol consumption may cause permeable bowel syndrome.
Leaky gut permeable bowel syndrome test
I explained the symptoms and causes of Leaky gut. You may want to have a test if you have some of the symptoms or if you are experiencing leaky gut syndrome.
But how?
First of all, these tests are not applied in public hospitals. Because for some reason we are trying to treat the complaints, not the real reason. Therefore, pharmaceutical companies make a profit, and the state can easily get out of it.
So if you suspect leaky gut syndrome, you need to find a place to take the tests I’m talking about. There are two tests I recommend.
1. Lactulose and mannitol test:
This test is less preferred and old fashioned. Because sometimes the tests do not give a “clear sonuç result.
The mechanism is that you are being asked to consume lactulose and mannitol. These two molecules are indigestible and do not pass through the intestinal wall. After consuming these substances, your urine is removed and checked for lactulose and mannitol.
If you have lactulose and mannitol in your urine, we understand that your intestines are very permeable and easily pass through these large molecules.
2. Blood zonulin test:
A test that gives a clearer result but is difficult for our country. As I mentioned before, increase or decrease of zonulin protein in blood causes leaky gut syndrome.
The test helps us look at your blood zonulin levels and diagnose the disease directly.
Other test methods,
To examine the profile of intestinal bacteria by fecal analysis,
Testing the IgG levels produced by your body as a result of allergies to food,
Screening deficiencies of vitamins, minerals and organic acids,
can be sorted as. But these methods are generally indirect methods, so they do not lead us directly to diagnosis. Therefore, they were listed as methods that I did not prefer very much in the clinic.
Treatment of leaky gut permeable bowel syndrome
Each treatment has a certain principle but essentially contains similar mechanisms. Leaky gut syndrome has a similar mechanism.
We first start treatment by removing the disease-causing effects. Then by feeding correctly, we prevent the disease from recurring and as a final step, we accelerate the body to repair itself.
So how?
Below I’ve listed what you need to do step by step.
1. Eliminate the causes:
The first step is to remove situations that cause leaky gut syndrome from your life. Because trying to be treated without getting rid of reasons is like inflating a hole balloon.
Reduce carbohydrate consumption. Because almost all of the nutrients that disrupt your intestinal flora and increase permeability contain sugar. My advice is to start with a low-carb diet.
Do not consume gluten and lectin. Gluten, wheat, barley, rye, such as many foods and damage the intestinal wall is a nutrient. The sensitivity of gluten, which is found in a part of the society, plays a serious role in the formation of leaky gut. Lectin is found in many foods such as dried legumes, processed milk and potatoes, wheat and damages the intestinal wall just like gluten. So remove gluten and lectin from your life.
The most important step of this treatment!
Consume natural foods. Because unnatural foods are exposed to too many pesticides, heavy metals and similar harmful components. Thus, unnatural nutrients have the potential to further damage the intestinal wall. In addition, the lectin content of unnatural foods is much higher.
Natural nutrition is based on very simple principles. There’s no need for atomic physics. Choose organic products, don’t consume packed food and be very careful when choosing meat or fish.
Reduce stress. Stress can cause permeable bowel syndrome, especially when it becomes continuous. Because constant stress triggers inflammation and destruction mechanisms. Simple breathing exercises, meditation can protect you from stress.
Avoid toxins and medicines. Do not use antibiotics for every sore throat, painkillers for every headache. This habit is one of the most important factors that break your bowel.
2. The right diet for treatment:
The second step should be to bring the right nutrients into your life for the treatment of leaky gut syndrome.
Consume bone water. Bone juice accelerates the repair of cells in the intestinal wall with the collagen and valuable amino acids it contains. My advice is to consume bone water at least two days a week.
Consume fiber foods. The best thing to do to feed your intestinal bacteria is to consume fiber. Remember, healthy intestinal bacteria mean a healthy body.
Consume probiotic foods. Natural probiotic foods (such as kefir, sauerkraut, kombu tea) that you make at home will help strengthen your intestinal bacteria.
The germination. I know you can’t take the legumes, barley and wheat directly out of your life. So we need to find a way to consume seed foods and the solution is simple.
Germination before eating nutrients will reduce the gluten and lectin content of the seed and increase nutrients.
Consume the right oils. You need to increase fat consumption while reducing carbohydrate intake. Therefore, the choice of oil is very important. My advice is extra virgin olive oil in terms of being natural and nutmeg rich in medium chain fatty acids because it nourishes your intestinal cells.
3. and 4. Repair your intestine and supplement it with probiotics:
In the third and fourth steps, you should try to repair the intestinal wall cells, where you no longer harm them and offer the right nutrients for healing.
Take glutamine supplements. Because glutamine reduces inflammation on the intestine and helps your cells create their own protection system. Two grams of glutamine per day will suffice.
Go to licorice supplements. Because licorice reduces stomach acid secretion and cortisol release, which is the most important indicator of stress. This helps us to treat intestinal permeability seriously. 300 mg consumption per day will suffice.
Take a probiotic supplement. Your bowel bacteria are very important to prevent recurrence of leaky gut syndrome and to quickly repair your bowel cells. My advice is to consume probiotic products with the right bacterial composition (20 billion bacteria per day).
Now you have all the important points about leaky gut syndrome.
So what do you think about permeable bowel syndrome? Don’t forget to share it with me.
