Natural health practitioners have long understood that many health problems begin, or are worsened, by what’s going on in with the bowels. In this article we like to address two subjects, leaky gut treatment and dybiosis. Find out what they are and how they affect the body and health.

Leaky Gut

Leaky gut basically refers to a gut lining that is too permeable. Think of a tea bag that has small tears in it. To get nutrients from our food, the microvilli, which are tiny little finger-like projections in the gut lining, filter and absorb broken down food.

All nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream through the gut mucosa (the first layer of cells in the digestive tract).

Sometimes the microvilli are damaged, or the gut lining is compromised for a number of reasons that can include stress, medications, alcohol and inflammation.
Then, the tight junctions which are like gate keepers in the gut lining, and keep the cells tightly packed together, can fail and allow particles direct access into our blood stream. In so doing they bypass the filtering process, like small part of leaves that are floating in our tea cup.

Body Reactions

Our liver and the immune system don’t like that particles are going into our bloodstream unfiltered, particularly not improperly digested compounds, or microbial pathogens such as bacteria and viruses.

Inflammation inevitably occurs as a result of leaky gut. The compound itself, and/or the body’s reaction can be the problem. Reduced nutrition due to compromised absorption in a damaged gut will also contribute to develop a not feeling well condition.

It’s a vicious cycle, since lack of certain nutrients can also cause tight junction failure. A whole range of health issues including coeliac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, obesity, diabetes, skin problems and allergic responses are linked to leaky gut.

Dybiosis

Dysbiosis, or also called dysbacteriosis, is a malfunction that can affect other organs, and also the bowels.
Basically this is caused by the imbalance of microorganisms (particularly bacteria but also fungi and viruses) in our gut. Our body contains bacteria, both inside and out.
The current estimate is that we have 1.3 times as many bacterial cells as human cells. When the different types of microorganisms are in balance they protect us against disease, aid digestion and take care of other useful functions. However, in a state of dysbiosis, the balance of bacteria is not conducive to good health and problems can ensue.
Some of these problems, such as candida and clostridium difficile infection can contribute to the development of, or worsening of leaky gut. Other symptoms of dysbiosis such as poor digestion, bloating and allergies are common to both health problems.

The diet and lifestyle factors are all implicated in the development of leaky gut and dysbiosis.
Physical, mental and emotional stress increase the production of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol.

This can lead to a compromised gut lining and poor digestive health.
Additionally, certain medications and vaccinations are also enhancing the diseases.

How to keep your bowels healthy (leaky gut treatment)?

Reduce caffeine and alcohol.
Stop smoking.
Add relaxation to your life.
Eat in a calm environment and include fermented foods such as sauerkraut. Eat more omega 3 (oily fish and walnuts) for tissue repair and to reduce inflammation.
Use whenever you can whole foods – avoid processed food.
Avoid especially processed low fiber foods which have calories but are poor in nutrition.

Reduce wheat and dairy consumption and put the emphasis of your diet on plant-based foods with lots of leafy green vegetables.

Use organically grown foods whenever it is possible.
Drinking cabbage juice promotes a healthy gut.
The amino acid supplement glutamine can help.
Food intolerances can worsen leaky gut so it’s important to identify culprits. Natural nutrition and health practitioners can assist you to address both leaky gut and dysbiosis by helping you to identify the triggers in your diet or lifestyle.

To handle these bowel diseases successfully it is the best to choose individualized advice on changes which influence intestinal permeability and the balance of bacteria in the gut. This can be from a nutrition expert (nutritionist or nutrition consultant/coach).

Finally, you can choose to become an expert in nutrition by getting educated yourself. The good thing is, that you can use this know-how to help your own health and use it to help others. There are so many people in our society that need help with nutrition. Some experts even talk about that leaky gut might become an epidemic!

The American School of Natural Health (ASNH) creates nutrition experts since decades. We started in Europe and are now the leading college for natural nutrition. Our education is based upon the European approach to natural medicine. The best, learn from the best!

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Want to learn more? Enroll on the Digestive Disorders Course today!

Articles on this website are based upon the opinions of their respective author(s). None of the information on this website is intended as medical advice nor replaces the advice of a qualified health care professional.