Leaky gut syndrome may sound like quite the scary thing. It is certainly something to take seriously, but it isn't a death sentence. If you are at risk for leaky gut syndrome, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk. If you suffer from this condition, there are lifestyle changes you can make to help. Let's get into what this condition is and what you can do for it.
Understanding Leaky Gut Syndrome
Poor diets, toxins, antibiotics, and infections can cause damage to lining of your bowels, which is called leaky gut syndrome. Leaky gut syndrome is when there are spaces in between cells in our bodies that allow bacteria and toxins to enter the blood stream. This damages the intestinal lining, which damages microvilli cells. These cells produce enzymes that aid in good digestion. Since these cells are impaired, so is digestion.
The impaired digestion keeps the absorption of nutrients to a minimum and allows damaging substances into the bloodstream. When these damaging substances enter our bloodstream our bodies respond back with inflammation, allergic reactions, and some other unpleasant symptoms. Diets low in fiber, diets with refined sugar, poor digestion, parasitic infections, zinc deficiency, alcohol, aspirin, and ibuprofen have all been linked to causing leaky gut syndrome.
There are many conditions that known to be linked to leaky gut syndrome. These include Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, food allergies, colon cancer, liver problems, malnutrition, and chronic fatigue syndrome, among other autoimmune and inflammatory conditions.
Symptoms of Leaky Gut Syndrome
Leaky gut syndrome is also known as intestinal permeability. There are many symptoms associated with this syndrome: abdominal pain, join pain, indigestion, gas, confusion, mood swings, poor immunity, skin rashes, diarrhea, recurrent vaginal infections, foggy thinking, wetting the bed, bladder infections, bad memory, constipation, bloating, shortness of breath, anxiety, fatigue, and aggressive behavior are all the symptoms.
How to Prevent and Manage Leaky Gut Syndrome
Certain things will aggravate you when you suffer from leaky gut syndrome. You want to try to avoid caffeine, alcohol, spicy hot foods, food additives, antacids, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), and some environmental things such as pesticides and insecticides.
LGS (leaky gut syndrome) is a hard thing to treat and it may even lead to other serious problems. There are some things you can do on a daily or monthly basis to help treat and prevent this syndrome from occurring. You want to add antioxidants to your diet, do a bowel cleanse, take friendly bacteria supplements (probiotics, acidophilus, bifidus, lactobacillus), eat yogurt once a day, remove starches and sugar from your daily meals, and consume fish oils or flaxseed oils daily.
Try to incorporate digestive enzymes as well. Eat two cloves of garlic daily, and add lots of fiber to your diet. Fiber will help remove layers of debris and clean the colon. Uncooked vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and wheat bran are good sources of fiber.
You want to avoid fructose, chips, sodas, fruit juices, ice cream, cakes, cookies, white bread, potatoes and all refined flours. Stay away from fermented products or things that contain yeast like alcohol, vinegar, soy sauce, and bread.
Treatment for Leaky Gut Syndrome
Currently, there is no one-size-fits-all cure for leaky gut syndrome. Generally, treating whatever underlying condition is causing LGS is the best treatment. Treatments for LGS's causes mainly include diet changes. Your doctor will test you for a variety of conditions, and will advise certain lifestyle changes based on their diagnosis.
Never attempt to self-treat LGS without first talking to a doctor. Any posts or articles out there claiming to have found a miracle cure for leaky gut syndrome are likely bogus. Unless it's backed by reputable scientific evidence, don't trust it. Even if it sounds like the miracle cure you've been waiting for, check it over with your doctor first.
In addition, don't attempt to self-diagnose yourself with leaky gut syndrome. There are other conditions that can cause the same or similar symptoms. If you believe that you are suffering from this condition, talk to your doctor. They may refer you to a gastroenterologist for further testing and conversation. If you already have a preexisting digestive condition, such as IBS or celiac disease, this may help your doctor come to a diagnosis of LGS faster.
Keep in mind, however, that your experiences could simply be symptoms of your digestive condition, rather than LGS. Diarrhea, for example, can be a symptom of IBS. Only your doctor can determine what condition your symptoms are pointing to. On that note, however, don't be afraid to get a second opinion if you feel that your doctor has missed the mark. Doctors are almost always right, but sometimes a second opinion can put your mind at ease.
The content of this article should not be taken as professional medical advice. Always consult a medical professional before making any decisions that affect your health.