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Is your Leaky Gut making you sick and fat?

By January 19, 2016November 1st, 2021No Comments4 min read
What’s impacting women’s healthcare is a shift in the gut flora.

23 million Americans suffer from autoimmune diseases and this shift in gut bacteria is one of the major causes. It is also the cause of the rise of obesity in the United States and the formation of belly fat follows the same course.

Do you know if your chronic disease is caused by leaky gut syndrome? Chances are it is if you’re taking chronic pain medications and unnecessary antibiotics, which lead to antibiotic – resistant bugs. A leaky gut occurs when the cells lining the walls of the small intestine are permeable to pathogens because the lining of the intestine is weakens. These germs or toxins that are normally eliminated in our waste are now able to enter into the blood stream. When these pathogens or toxins enter the blood stream after being absorbed from the gut it begins a cascade of problems that lead to an inflammatory response.   The inflammation then disrupts normal cellular behavior and the immune system responds and goes into action mode and begins to create antibodies against it’s own tissue. This chronic overstimulation of the immune system leads to chronic inflammation and disease.

A proinflammatory environment triggers the immune system to produce antibodies and this begins a cascade of events inside the body. This proinflammatory state is created from fluctuation from hormonal changes, particularly a decrease in progesterone and estrogen, poor diet, digestive conditions like constipation, low digestive enzymes (occur when your gallbladder is removed) and poor gut motility. These things contribute to intense permeability of the gut leading to leaky gut syndrome. Other influencers include stress and environmental factors such as pesticides and herbicides.

Weakening of the gut lining is further compromised with the chronic use of pain medication like over the counter NSAIDS, prescription pain medications, antibiotics, and antivirals used over an extended period of time. Most patients will present to their healthcare provider with GI complaints and as a result may be given GI medications like acid reducing medications and this further damages to the GI track.  Diets high in processed foods and GMO’s, pesticide laden foods, molds, yeast, bacteria an increase intake of refined sugars, caffeine and alcohol all influence the gut lining and contribute to Leaky Gut Syndrome. It takes many years to develop this syndrome but slowly damage is accruing and resulting in chronic diseases and autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune diseases that result from a leaky gut include allergies, alopecia, chronic fatigue, chrone’s disease depression, diabetes, fibromyalgia, food allergies heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, sjogrens syndrome and vasculitis.

To keep this simple, the immune system fights off disease by producing antibodies. These antibodies attach to any organ system in the body, which triggers the destruction of tissue and organs, and create an inflammatory response. Over time the body’s natural defense to this stimulus is overburdened. The disease that occurs depends on the area in the body where the inflammatory response occurs. In the joints it creates rheumatoid arthritis, if inflammation sets up in the skin it creates eczema or other skin disorders, in the brain it results in chronic fatigue, in the lungs asthma, in the colon Crohn’s disease or perhaps irritable bowel syndrome and so forth.

Unless the gut lining is repaired the body cannot begin to repair the damage and a balanced immune system is the key to health and wellness.

The solution is to first heal the gut lining from inflammation and leaking and improve the absorption of healthy nutrients through the gut.

Eliminate triggers like GMO’s in your diet and process foods. Repopulate the gut with good bacteria that is supposed to be there with the use of probiotics. GI affects testing is available in the office, schedule your appointment today.

What affects Bacteria in your body?

What you eat 

As you age

Chronic medications

Your lifestyle

Where you live 

Breast-fed vs bottle fed

Pets in the home is helpful

Born by cesarean section or vagginal

The most powerful influence on your microbiome is your diet and you can support your micro biome with prebiotics and probiotics.

Probiotics:     stimulates the growth of microorganisms, especially those with beneficial properties (such as those of the intestinal flora).

Prebiotics:       fibers found in foods that feed the probiotics

Eat foods that are alive not cooked, not nutrient deficient foods. Eat more cultured and fermented foods.

Probiotic rich foods:

Olives 

Cheese

Wine

Yogurt

Sauerkraut

Pickles

Uncultured vinegar 

Kambucha

Kefir

Kim Chi

Raw unprocessed honey

Black tea

Prebiotic rich foods:

  • Ginger
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Asparagus
  • Beans
  • Eggplant

 

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