So, you’ve heard about this condition called leaky gut syndrome and are wondering if you have leaky gut syndrome. Actually, most people do, especially if they suffer from almost any gastrointestinal complaint and it can be related to a whole host of other health conditions. Stay tuned and I’ll explain further.
Leaky gut syndrome occurs when tissue in the small intestine becomes inflamed causing it to expand and swell. The same way a bad sunburn causes the skin on the outside of the body to swell and the pores to enlarge, inflammation of the tissue on the inside of the small intestine, also causes swelling and holes between cells.
During a colonoscopy, a doctor can take a sample of this tissue and place it under a microscope for the purpose of identifying any abnormalities, including swelling, inflammation, and the holes between the cells. Conventional medicine calls this malabsorption syndrome. In alternative or holistic medicine, it’s called leaky gut syndrome. No, nothing is leaking out of you, but undigested food and bacterial enzymes may be leaking into your bloodstream.
The most common symptoms associated with undigested food are gas, bloating, indigestion, heartburn, nausea, pain, and cramping. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you can safely assume that you aren’t digesting your food properly and that undigested foods are being absorbed, in abnormal amounts, through the lining of your small intestine.
Even if you aren’t experiencing any of these symptoms, leaky gut syndrome may still be at work. Through normal digestion, food is broken down into individual molecules and in a normal gastrointestinal system, they are absorbed from cell to cell to cell till they reach the bloodstream. In an unhealthy gastrointestinal system, foods that haven’t yet been fully broken down will pass through the holes between the cells rather than moving from cell to cell into the bloodstream. No, we’re not talking about chunks of chicken or pieces of cheese. We’re talking microscopically.
The bloodstream is in charge of transporting the nutritional components of the foods you eat throughout your body, not pieces of undigested food. In the bloodstream, the body won’t recognize undigested food or bacterial enzymes. It looks for the basic components of food—the vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids and sugars in the form of separate molecules, not as molecules that are bunched together.
Once the body finds this situation, it places a call to the immune system to come over, inspect the newcomers, and take appropriate action. The first thing it does is create an antibody to the group of molecules it finds. Then as a response, it generates the release of a number of chemicals, including one called histamine. You probably recognize the word histamine in relation to allergies, but that chemical is known to be responsible for many health concerns. Read my article titled “Symptoms of Leaky Gut Syndrome” at DrDahlman.com for more information about the symptoms leaky gut syndrome may be related to. I also have another article called “Leaky Gut Syndrome Treatment” for an all natural treatment plan. Don’t let leaky gut syndrome go unchecked when it’s so easy to fix.
