Leaky gut syndrome, also known as intestinal permeability or leaky bowel, is common and troublesome.
A delicate layer of single cells protects your bloodstream from being invaded by partially digested foods and unwanted chemicals, bacteria and yeast. If this fragile layer tears apart, the damage and leakage can result in confusing symptoms like fibromyalgia, brain fog, acne, rosacea, rashes and all kinds of GI distress.
If your digestive surface is so damaged that it can’t do its work, which involves secreting enzymes that break down your food into innocuous little bits, you may have a lot of GI pain. Bloating, burping, heartburn and alternating constipation and diarrhea are often bundled together as “IBS,” irritable bowel syndrome. This term means little other than that you have not been diagnosed with full-blown IBD, inflammatory bowel disease. Modern medicine often leaves patients with an Rx for acid-blocking drugs that have terrible long-term side effects and a cookbook recommendation.
Take hope! We can find out exactly what is causing your symptoms of leaky gut or IBS.
Healing starts by removing irritating foods and substances and replacing them with gentle, pure, easy to digest meals. We may try an elimination diet or test you for food allergies and sensitivities, since very bite you take signals your body to either heal and relax or keep flaring with frustration.
Next, we create a personalized protocol to optimize digestion, populate your inner ecosystem with friendly probiotics, clear any infections with natural anti-microbial formulas and seal up your gut with specific nutrients. This is often called a “4-R” or “5-R protocol” with the steps Remove, Replace, Reinoculate, Repair and Rest.
We may do some functional testing to look for gut health markers that show organ function, enzyme production, nutrient breakdown, immune system sufficiency, inflammation and toxicity.
We look for gut infections like:
H. pylori stomach bacteria
SIBO or SIFO, small intestinal bacterial or fungal overgrowth
Candida yeast fungal overgrowth in the colon
Mold overgrowth
Dysbiosis, an imbalance of friendly vs. commensal, unhelpful microbes that cause trouble when their population gets too high and displaces good guys vs. the most nasty, pathogenic, disease-causing colon bacteria, worms and parasites
Infections respond to a combination of being crowed out by friendly probiotics and removed with natural antimicrobials. If you are working with a medical provider, some Rx medications are safer than others, and we can discuss options.
On that note, if you’d like to have a balanced, clean, friendly inside of you…let’s get started!