What is Leaky Gut?

Intestinal permeability, AKA “leaky gut”, happens when the junctions between the cells of the intestinal lining open up and let through things like undigested food particles, bacteria, and other foreign invaders into the bloodstream.

What are the symptoms?

There are no clear-cut symptoms to look for with a leaky gut. However, when there is dysfunction with the stomach, the gallbladder, or the pancreatic enzyme output, there is a very good probability that there is the presence of intestinal permeability.₁ Digestion is a north-to-south process. It’s vitally important to establish good digestion in the northern part first. When there is dysfunction in the northern part of digestion, it can cause a cascade of dysfunction further down the line in the digestive system. To learn more about where digestion starts, read this blog article.

What are the results of a leaky gut?

The cells of your gut lining are usually held together with tight junctions which help to keep what is allowed and not allowed into the body. However, when the tight junctions become inflamed, they loosen up, allowing undigested particles and toxins to go through. The body sees those particles as invaders, causing an antibody reaction. This brings about inflammation that affects the whole body. This results in many uncomfortable symptoms and even disease.₂

Your immune system

Seventy to eighty percent of your immune system is found in your gut! Making sure to have a healthy and robust microbiome assures that you have a healthy immune system. Part of supporting optimal gut health is becoming aware of what things can damage it.

What can cause damage?

• Chronic stress. Stress downregulates digestion and has been shown to decrease the bacterial diversity in your gut.₃
• Medications. Birth control pills, overuse of antibiotics, PPIs, and prolonged use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), can throw off the microbiota’s diversity and balance.
• Standard American Diet (SAD). A diet high in processed foods and excessive amounts of sugar can cause damage to the intestinal lining. Processed foods lack nutrients and fiber, including lots of food additives, inflammatory seed oils (like canola, corn, cottonseed, sunflower, grapeseed, soybean, safflower, and rice bran), and often high amounts of sugar. These foods encourage inflammation and can promote the overgrowth of yeast and pathogenic bacteria.
• Overconsumption of alcohol. Alcohol can encourage dysbiosis and the tight junctions in the gut to loosen up.
• Dysbiosis. The presence of dysbiosis, or an imbalance of helpful and harmful bacteria in the microbiome, can lead to a leaky gut. It’s important that opportunistic bacteria do not outnumber beneficial bacteria.
• Lack of variety of foods and fiber. A low variety of nutrients from fruit and vegetables, as well as very little fiber, can affect the amount and diversity of beneficial gut bacteria, as well as encourage constipation.
• High endurance exercise. Vigorous endurance training can increase intestinal permeability.₄
• Gut infections. Bacterial pathogens, parasites, and overgrowth of yeast can cause inflammation, a downregulated immune system, decreased digestive dysfunction, and reduced diversity in the gut.
• Dysfunctional digestion. When your food isn’t properly broken down and digested, it results in inflammation and damage to the gut’s cell lining. Optimal digestion requires adequate stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes, and bile to break down food into absorbable parts.
• Low protein in your diet. Protein is needed in order to create stomach acid, and stomach acid is needed in order to break down our food, especially animal proteins. It’s a symbiotic relationship.

There is a lot you can do to start healing the gut! Let’s look at some powerful strategies.

Gut Healing Game Plan

• Stress management. Slow, deep breathing helps to turn on your parasympathetic nervous system which is powerful for helping with digestion and absorption. ₅ Other ways to decrease stress: spending time in community, journaling, getting outside, and gentle to moderate movement or exercise.
• Chew. Chewing your food to an applesauce consistency helps to break down your food well so that it can be better absorbed. This simple activity helps decrease a cascade of other digestive woes from happening further down the digestive tract, like bloating and gas, constipation, and heartburn.
• Get variety in your diet. Your beneficial gut bugs love the variety! Today, the average person eats only 17 to 20 foods. Before agriculture, people ate 300 to 1000 different foods. Start with adding a different or new vegetable or fruit each week.
• Eat probiotic foods. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that help increase the balance of bacteria in the gut. Sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, and yogurt are some great options to include.
• Avoid snacking if possible. Your gut needs a break from digesting to rest, repair, and heal. To avoid frequent snacking, balance your plate with good quality protein (animal protein especially), healthy fat, and whole food carbohydrates. This will help keep you satiated and with the energy, you need to avoid snacking for 3 to 4 hours. The amounts of each are bio-individual and vary according to different factors, including pregnancy, age, and activity level.
• Prioritize sleep. Fragmented sleep and reduced sleep have been linked with an imbalance in the gut microbiome.
• Give your liver some TLC. Liver health is essential when it comes to digestion. The liver is responsible for filtering your nutrients after they have been digested and absorbed by your bloodstream. The liver is also responsible for creating bile, a digestive secretion that is vital for digestion. Without bile, we miss out on important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. To support your liver, eat bitter foods, limit alcohol, eat a nutrient-dense diet, and reduce toxin exposure.
• Identify trigger foods. By identifying and removing foods that are causing inflammation to your gut lining, as well as identifying and addressing the root causes of leaky gut, you can effectively heal. I offer the MRT Food Sensitivity Test which tests 176 foods and chemicals and is the most reliable food sensitivity test currently on the market. It boasts a 94.5% sensitivity rating compared to other common food sensitivity tests.
• For chronic gut issues, consider doing a GI MAP. This stool test provides lots of valuable information about your GI health, including bacterial or viral pathogens, parasites, worms, H-pylori, normal bacteria, opportunistic bacteria, possible autoimmune triggers, yeast or fungal overgrowth, inflammatory markers, and immune markers. This test can help cut to the chase in uncovering blocking factors to health.

Recap

To recap, having a leaky gut can be a debilitating place to be, but there are powerful things you can do to heal your gut and improve your overall health. Identifying the root causes of dysfunction is key. There are many steps you can take to support a healthy gut, including managing stress, supporting digestion from north to south, supplying your body with a variety of foods and probiotic foods, allowing time for your gut to heal in between meals, prioritizing sleep and liver health, identifying food triggers and blocking factors to healing.

References

1. Restorative Wellness Solutions. Digestion Anatomy and Physiology. [PDF file]. 2020. P 18.
2. Mu, Q., Kirby, J., Reilly, C.M., & Luo, X. M. (2017).  Leaky Gut As a Danger Signal for Autoimmune Diseases.  Frontiers in immunology, 8, 598.  
3. Karl, J. P., Hatch, A. M., Arcidiacono, S. M., Pearce, S. C., Pantoja-Feliciano, I. G., Doherty, L. A. & Soares, J. W. (2018).  Effects of Psychological, Environmental and Physical Stressors on the Gut Microbiota.  Frontiers in microbiology, 9, 2013. 
4. Ribeiro, F. M., Petriz, B., Marques, G., Kamilla, L. H., and Franco, O. L. (2021).  Is There an Exercise-Intensity Threshold Capable of Avoiding the Leaky Gut?. Frontiers in nutrition, 8, 627289.
5. Hamasaki H. (2020). Effects of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Health: A Narrative Review. Medicines (Basel, Switzerland), 7(10), 65.