By Michael Biamonte, C.C.N.

Leaky Gut Syndrome –Is a very common condition in this day and age. It is the cause of much or our modern autoimmune illness, IBS, Chrons disease, allergies, asthma, food sensitivities, chemical sensitivities, arthritic conditions etc. It is an illness that depicts our modern times.

A gut which has become inflamed and will become very porous, (much more porous than it should be), it will allow large food proteins, bacteria, fungi, metals and toxic substances straight into our blood stream. This is the basis of “Leaky Gut Syndrome”

In more scientific language, an increase in permeability of the intestinal mucosa to luminal macromolecules, antigens and toxins associated with inflammatory degenerative and/or atrophic mucosal damage. Once in the blood stream our immune system is the last line of defense to deal with these substances and it will eventually get overwhelmed if a Leaky Gut is not rectified.

Cause of Leaky Gut Syndrome

Our intestinal lining replaces itself approximately every 24 hours. This means that every cell that the lining is composed of is digested or sloughed off, and a new one grows to take its place. All this activity means the gut uses more blood when it is resting than any other organ but it is also the first to lose its blood supply when in a fight or flight situation, which is what stress is. If you have a lot of stress then your gut will always be starved for blood and the lining will be impaired.

The key and most common cause of Leaky Gut is Candida. Candida is a yeast-fungal organism that grows roots like a plant. These roots grow into and through your intestinal tract looking for food. These roots break through the intestinal lining and cause the leaky gut!

The Big Confusion

Leaky gut causes many of the severe symptoms of Candida. Removing Candida can often help Leaky Gut; removing Candida often does not heal the Leaky Gut unto itself. After Candida is gone, Leaky Gut is still there and so are the Leaky Gut symptoms. So the person thinks he has Candida. They are right to think it is still Candida because the Candida caused the Leaky Gut and its symptoms in the first place. But After the Candida is gone the Leaky Gut remains so the person still thinks that Candida is there. Well it’s not! And if the person and the Doctor continue to treat the Candida they get no improvement because what they should be treating is the Leaky Gut!

Acidophillus Makes me Sick!

When one has Leaky Gut they lose their “Mucin Layer’ Mucins protect your intestinal cells and act like a barrier similar to wax on your car or wood floor. When the Mucin layer is gone due to Leaky Gut you may react allergicly to Acidophilus. If Acidophilus makes you bloat, gas, itch, or gives you rashes, hives, flu symptoms and allergy reactions you may have Leaky Gut Syndrome.

Other factors that cause or worsen Leaky Gut Syndrome are:

• Alcohol and caffeine, which irritate the gut wall, this includes cokes (diet and regular), chocolate, coffee, and cocoa.
• Contaminated foods, E. coli and other bacteria’s can develop due to poor food handling.
• Chemicals found in processed and fermented foods (dyes and preservatives), wine, vinegar, soy sauce, tofu, etc.
• A diet high in refined sugars and other carbohydrates (e.g. candy, cookies, sodas, processed foods and white bread).
• Foods contaminated by parasites (pork, chicken, fresh water and hatchery fish).
• Antibiotic use-this causes an overgrowth of fungi (yeast) in the gut due to the immune suppression that occurs.
• Ingestion of animal products that have been given hormonal and antibiotic treatments.
• NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs).

The Mucous System’s Role

The mucous system in our nasal passages flushes bacteria and viral particles into our stomach where the HCl Acid should kill them. Any that get through to a normal gut should eventually be excreted. Of course a Leaky Gut will let them into the bloodstream. When leaky gut is improved;

• Air-borne allergy-causing contaminants such as household dust (mite feces); pollens etc. can be shielded from entering the tissue of the lungs and nasal passages, thus reducing the affects of hay fever and asthma.
• Industrial contaminants such as exhaust gasses, solvents etc. are also hindered.
• Parasites, such as Cryptosporidium, giardia, salmonella, even hookworm can be dissuaded from entering the walls of the stomach and intestines. This coating can also provide a hostile living environment for parasites.
• Provide a shield to prevent the roots of the candida yeast culture from penetrating the intestine wall, thus reducing the severity of this disease.
• Undigested food and toxins are deterred from entering the blood stream through a leaky gut thus reducing one of the most common causes of allergies and autoimmune diseases.

The 7 stages of the ‘inflamed’ gut

1. When the gut is inflamed, it does not absorb nutrients and foods properly and so fatigue and bloating can occur.
2. As mentioned previously, when large food particles are absorbed there is the creation of food allergies and new symptoms with target organs, such as arthritis or fibromyalgia.
3. When the gut is inflamed the carrier proteins are damaged so nutrient deficiencies occur which can also cause any symptom, like magnesium deficiency induced muscle spasm or copper deficiency induced high cholesterol.
4. Likewise when the detox pathways that line the gut are compromised, chemical sensitivity can arise. Furthermore the leakage of toxins overburdens the liver so that the body is less able to handle everyday chemicals.
5. When the gut lining is inflamed the protective coating of lgA (immunoglobulin A) is adversely affected and the body is not able to ward off protozoa, bacteria, viruses and yeast’s like candida.
6. When the intestinal lining is inflamed, bacteria and yeast’s are able to translocate. This means that they are able to pass from the gut lumen or cavity, into the bloodstream and set up infection anywhere else in the body.
7. The worst symptom is the formation of antibodies. Sometimes these leak across and look similar to antigens on our own tissues. Consequently, when an antibody is made to attack it, it also attacks our tissue. This is probably how autoimmune disease s tart. Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, thyroiditis and many others are members of this ever-growing category of ‘incurable’ diseases.

Diseases Caused By Leaky Gut Syndrome

• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Asthma
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Fibromyalgia
• Vasculitis
• Crohn’s Disease
• Addison’s Disease
• Lupus
• Thyroiditis

These are only some of the autoimmune disorders that are all treated very effectively when a leaky gut is healed.

The inflammation caused by Leaky Gut Syndrome also damages the protective coating of Mucins in the intestinal tract. Mucins are a protective barrier similar to the wax on ones floor.

Damage also occurs to the antibodies of the IgA family (immunoglobins) normally present in a healthy gut. The IgA’s help our body to ward off infections, however, a leaky gut causes considerable damage to the immune system (IgA’s) and makes us less resistant to viruses, bacteria’s, parasites, toxic materials, metals and candida.

Another problem a leaky gut creates is a mineral deficiency because the inflammatory processes damage the damage that happens to the carrier proteins, which are needed for, transport of specific minerals. For example, a magnesium deficiency that is present in most Fibromyalgia patients. This patient can take incredibly high doses of magnesium, however, if the carrier protein for this mineral is damaged, no matter how much of the mineral you take, it will not get into the body where it is needed. This can also be true for some bone disorders. Even a zinc deficiency, which will affect hair loss and some eye disorders (macular degeneration). Copper deficiency can also occur this way, which can lead to Osteoarthritis or even elevated blood cholesterol in some cases. For any syndrome that could be connected to a mineral deficiency, or exhibits symptoms that don’t seem to go away no matter what you do, you should consider the possibility of a leaky gut.

Healing Leaky Gut

In order to heal Leaky Gut we must first disinfect the intestines of all the infections we can cause or prevent the gut from healing. In 1990 I began to describe the new approach to Candida. The new approach 1st eliminated parasites and the top layers of Candida, the used natural killers to destroy the candida throughout the body. The killers are taken on a 4-day rotation so that the candida will not become immune to them. The next step is to destroy the Candida deep in the lining of intestines where it will cause Leaky Gut.

Once this is done the leaky can be healed using the Leaky Gut Protocol. There are many products made today for leaky gut syndrome today. Most contain Glutamine, MSM, zinc, essential fatty acids, intestinal protein concentrate, white fish proteins, Mucins, vitamins and minerals that help to reduce inflammation and heal the gut lining. After Leaky Gut is Healed You Can Then Take and Benefit from Acidophilus

The Leaky Gut Testing

In order to determine which product will the best and the length of time needed on the products we perform a Leaky Gut test. The intestinal permeability test is performed in the following way. A solution of two non-metabolizable sugars is consumed. One of these sugars is normally absorbed by the intestinal mucosa, the other is not. Urine is collected for several hours after drinking the solution and a sample is sent to the laboratory for analysis. When the normally non-absorbed sugar is found at high concentration in the urine, this indicates Leaky Gut Syndrome. If the normally absorbed sugar is found to be lacking in the urine, this is a sign of malabsorption. Results of the intestinal permeability test lead to appropriate follow-up evaluation and natural therapies to restore normal permeability.