LEAKY GUT: CAUSES, EFFECTS AND TREATMENT

Have you ever heard of leaky gut? It’s just like how the name suggests leaking of the gut. As we all know there is small intestine and large intestine and in leaky gut what happens is that the intestinal lining becomes weak and the chemicals starts to pass through them into the bloodstream. This condition is called as leaky gut syndrome. In other words, due to decrease in the thickness of the intestinal lining, instead of passing properly, the chemicals in the intestine leak into the blood.

ROLE OF ZONULIN IN LEAKY GUT

Zonulin is a protein that serves the function of the gate in the intestinal wall. An important way to detect leaky gut is by analysing the stool for zonulin. Zonulin will be present in stools with people having leaky gut syndrome. Zonulin regulates the intestinal barrier. Tight junctions form a selective barrier so as to control the passing of contents from intestine to bloodstream. Zonulin modulates the opening and closing of these tight junctions. Normal range of zonulin is 22.3 to 161.1 ng/ml. High levels of zonulin may indicate the presence of increased intestinal permeability. Studies have shown that in people with autoimmune diseases or chronic inflammatory disease the level of zonulin is high.

Leaky gut - the importance of the barrier wall

Image Source: https://embracingnutrition.co.uk/leaky-gut-the-importance-of-the-barrier-wall/

WHAT CAN CAUSE LEAKY GUT?

  • Refined Sugar: Increase in sugar supply to the intestine can reduce the beneficial bacteria and an increase in pathological bacteria, meaning the one that can cause disease. Dysbiosis happens and this can lead to impairment of the intestinal mucosal barrier and alteration in the intestinal permeability leading to leaky gut.
  • Dairy Products
  • Gluten
  • Medications like antibiotics, pain killers etc.. are involved in the intestinal lumen damage. Antibiotics kill good bacteria as well, so associated damage can be seen.
  • Pesticides used in crops can also serve as a factor.
  • Infections

HOW LEAKY GUT AFFECTS OUR BODY?

  • Frequent headaches, cold, sinus problems.
  • Depression, Anxiety, hyperactive behaviour
  • Skin issues like acne, eczema, rosacea, psoriasis
  • Always tired
  • Body pain, Fibromyalgia
  • Autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, type I diabetes…
  • Alternating between constipation and diarrhoea, IBD
  • Thyroid problems like Hashimoto’s, Hypothyroidism, Grave’s Disease

TREATING LEAKY GUT

Leaky gut is caused by something, meaning it has an underlying cause. So what we can primarily do is to treat the cause. It has shown that targeting the treatment independently to improve the intestinal lining has done no benefit to these diseases or let alone improve the intestinal permeability. Some things that can be notes is that

  • Avoiding gluten in people who don’t respond well to them like in case of Celiac Disease.
  • Avoiding dairy products in patients who are lactose intolerant.
  • Incorporating all necessary nutrients and vitamins, a balanced diet.
  • Avoid sugars and artificial sweeteners, beverages and other products that contain high amount of sugar.
  • Regular exercise or practicing certain yoga posture aids in digestion.
  • Some other tips like getting regular sleep, finding healthy ways to decrease stress, stopping the use of antibiotics unless prescribed medically and putting an end to smoking and drinking not only helps in gut health but always benefits the whole body in many ways.

Second brain is another name for gut and we know why is it so. Keep your gut happy and almost immediately we can start to see the benefit it brings to us.

Written by Gayathri Gopinadh

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