Imagine you are sitting on a screened-in porch on a beautiful day. You can feel the refreshing breeze and sunlight hit your face. Children are running around having a water gun fight and “oops,” some water squirts through the screen and hits you. It’s OK, it’s only water! As long as the mosquitos, black flies and stinging insects can’t get through the screen, you continue enjoying your pleasant day.

However, over the years the elements of nature and other life events may have caused some damage to the sanctuary of your screened in porch. Branches from windy storms may have created holes, or a baseball may have hit in just the right spot, making yet another hole in your screen. Over time, that beautiful porch became less enjoyable as insects, creepy crawlers and an occasional bird have made their way through the holes. As the hustle and bustle of life has taken over, the screen was never fixed. Oh, how you miss the beautiful days of that screened-in porch.

What Is Leaky Gut Syndrome?

Our gastrointestinal system works in a similar fashion to the above analogy. Think of the environment outside the porch like our small intestines, the porch as our bloodstream; and the porch screen separating the two environments is analogous to the lining of our small intestines. The porch screen is like a filter that when functioning properly allows small particles of nutrients and water to appropriately enter the “porch screen” into our bloodstream. However, when there is damage to the porch screen in our guts, and big holes in the lining develop, large particles of undigested food are able to leak through, much like the insects and birds coming through the damaged screen.

This is the beginning of increased intestinal permeability or leaky gut syndrome. Once these particles inappropriately leak into our bloodstream, our immune system goes on high alert, perceives them as foreign invaders and launches an immune response. In addition to undigested food particles, toxins and infectious agents like bacteria can also penetrate the damaged gut lining. This immune response can lead to an increased inflammatory response in the body.

While an inflammatory response to ward off invaders is what our immune system was trained to do, chronic inflammation is never beneficial. Chronic inflammation has been implicated in triggering and worsening a number of diseases. According to Marcelo Campos, MD, writing in the Harvard University November 2021 medical blog, “This [leaky gut] may trigger inflammation and changes in the gut flora [normal bacteria] that could lead to problems within the digestive tract and beyond. The research world is booming today with studies showing that modifications in the intestinal bacteria and inflammation may play a role in the development of several common chronic diseases.”

• While certain diseases such as IBD (Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis) and celiac disease have leaky gut as a known feature, some studies show an association of leaky gut with certain conditions such as:
• autoimmune diseases (lupus, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis)
• IBS caused by SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth)
• chronic fatigue syndrome
• fibromyalgia
• arthritis
• allergies
• asthma
• acne
• obesity
• mental illness

Causes and Prevention of Leaky Gut

Anything that can cause damage to the lining of the small intestines can lead to leaky gut syndrome. Here are some of the biggest offenders and advice on prevention.

Healing a Leaky Gut

Healing a leaky gut often requires a bit of detective work to determine the underlying cause. A skilled practitioner can evaluate your individual circumstances and make recommendations to address the underlying causes, including diet and lifestyle changes, gut-healing supplements and medications when necessary.

If you or a loved one would like to begin taking the steps to address dietary and lifestyle changes to reduce or prevent leaky gut syndrome and its associated conditions, I would love to have the opportunity to meet you where you are in your health journey and take you through the steps to make those changes. If you believe your condition requires further evaluation, our team at Your Natural Path to Health Clinic, led by Dr. Leat Kuzniar, can work to discover the underlying cause of your leaky gut as well as make appropriate recommendations for your healing. A complimentary consultation can be scheduled by contacting our office manager at 201-757-5558.

Wishing you much health and healing wherever you may be on your health journey!

Jill Friedbauer has been working in the field of health and wellness for 20 years. She is a national board certified health and wellness coach, licensed physical therapist, author of the book “Heal Your Soul, Heal Your Gut,” and has a podcast,:Heal Your Gut, Heal Your Soul” on Spotify. Jill is available for one-on-one health coaching, family health coaching and speaking engagements. Jill is now working with Dr. Leat Kuzniar at Your Natural Path to Health Clinic. To book a free consultation, contact our office manager at 201-757-5558.