We don’t often see analogies between our organ function and building maintenance but “Leaky Gut Syndrome” is one familiar exception.

A “leaking gut” is similar to a leaking pipe in our home. It means our gut or intestines have a leak in the wall of the tube that takes our foods, nutrients and wastes from our upper digestive system and moves it along to it’s natural conclusion. This is very similar to having a pipe in our home that is leaking waste materials from inside the plumbing system.

We intuitively know this can’t be a good thing if the intestinal lining or inner tubing is leaking materials into the blood stream that don’t belong there. Incompletely digested fats, proteins and starches that pass through these “leaks” in the lining are recognized by the body as foreign substances. All foreign substances in the body trigger immune responses that can effect organs, tissues, the nervous and any all areas of the body.

In the case of Leaky Gut Syndrome symptoms such as ongoing diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss, fever, rash, exhaustion insomnia, irritability and more can be, and often are, non-diagnosed or a wrongly diagnosed conditions that can progress to disabling stages of illness.

How does it occur that the walls of our insides can “spring a leak”, potentially poison our blood streams or creating potentially life threatening scenarios? The physiology of this is fascinating and also liberating as once we understand the cause of such a malfunction, we are able to correct for it and prevent it.

Here’s the how and why of Leaky Gut Syndrome –

Imagine a series of cells lined up one next to the other that have tiny, flexible rubber bands connecting one cell to the other at the top middle and bottom. These little “rubber bands” are called desmosomes and their job is too bind the cells together tightly so there are no spaces or leaks where materials inside the “tubing” of the intestines can pass through and make their way into the blood stream.

In Leaky Gut Syndrome, irritation by various materials which include alcohol, antibiotics, aspirin, drugs, lack of fiber, food allergies, processed foods, tobacco, extreme stress and other influences can significantly weaken these strong “rubber bands”. They can become lax and allow for spaces to be created between cells, which in turn allow food particles and debris to cross into the blood stream, creating a toxic effect in the body.

By understanding the specifics of this condition and how an individual can take charge of their body can make an enormous difference in recovering from and controlling Leaky Gut Syndrome.

Improving our diet by removing processed foods; adding more fiber; eating more living food adding probiotics; eliminating or reducing the use of over the counter drugs and replacing them with homeopathics or herbs; increasing exercise and activities; reducing stress and supplementing with whole food supplements are all ways to heal and, over time, eliminate this condition by allowing the desmosomes to heal and strengthen and be able to protect and support the intestinal wall cells once again.

With all good wishes,
G

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