Irritable Bowel Syndrome/ Healing Leaky Gut Syndrome

That 35 foot tube (also called the GI tract or the gut) going through the center of you has two purposes in life. It must allow nutrients to be absorbed at the same time it prevents toxins from being absorbed. If the structural integrity of the gut breaks down, if the gut gets "leaky," undigested food proteins and other toxins enter the bloodstream. Now we have a fine mess - multiple allergies, inflammation, and loss of immune function.

Seventy percent of the immune system resides in the gut. And in Dr. Michael Gershon's groundbreaking book, The Second Brain, we learn there are more neurotransmitters in the gut than there are in the brain!

So when we have a chronically ill patient, we begin by healing the gut. The following are some of the modalities we untilize:

• Avoid excess alcohol. Avoid antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, herbicides, sugar and hormones in your food. Shop at Whole Foods and eat organic foods when possible.
  
  
• Eat consciously with your non-dominant hand and chew until the food is liquid. Even in my third year of doing this, I still have to remind myself.
  
  
• Gingko protects the gut by reducing the oxidative damage in the gut due to free radicals. 300 mg. twice a day. Use 24 percent standardized extract.
  
  
• Licorice root acts as a systemic anti-inflammatory and also has healing effects on the gut. Use deglycerrinated licorice (DGL) if you have high blood pressure.
  
  
• Quercitin is a naturally occurring bioflavinoid (Vitamin C helper), has anti-inflammatory properties. By decreasing the rapid onset of mast cells and basophils, white blood cells that release histamines, quercitin stabilizes the gut and decreases permeability. 200 mg. two to three times a day between meals.
  
  
• Glutamine is an essential amino acid that aids in the metabolism of gastrointestinal (gut) cells. 3000 - 10,000 mg. per day, in divided doses, between meals.
  
  
• Vitamins and minerals - particularly the nutrients zinc, selenium (no more than 200 mcgs), Vitamin C, Vitamin E (I use tocotrienols which are a very potent form of E), the enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase, and the amino acid N-acetyl-cysteine. These all quench free radicals which assists in healing the gut.
  
  
• Thyroid plays a key role in digestion. Decreased digestive efficiency may contribute to leaky gut syndrome. Refer to the thyroid section of the website.
  
  
• HCI supplements more commonly known as betaine hydrochloride. Work with a well trained physician in functional gastroenterology on this one.
  
  
• Digestive enzymes tonify the digestive system thereby breaking down large food molecules, decreases the amount of food sensitivities, inactivates dietary lectins, stimulates digestion, and halts the growth of dysbiotic microorganisms in the gut. Basically, what we are saying here is that enzymes arrest the process responsible for allergy. Enzymes are to be taken with meals AND between meals.
  
  
• Raw food have enzymes. Chewing food fifty (50) times greatly reduces the need for enzymes. I've on rare occasion reached 35, usually the rest of my dining companions are half done their meal.
  
  
• Candida albicans (usually a yeast which is a normal inhabitant of the gut) can overgrow, change form, send root like filaments which attach to the intestinal wall (creating holes through cell membranes), and release toxic waste products. The point is, overgrowth of Candida can substantially contribute to leaky gut syndrome.
  
  
• Probiotics, the good bacteria, help repair and preserve the integrity of the intestinal mucosa (gut). Freeze dried, nondairy-derived acidophilus in capsule form are more effective in reducing bacteria than unsweetened organic yogurt. Refer to Parasite section of website.

Newsweek article dated 11/17/97 published a revealing article entitled Intestinal Fortitude explaining leaky gut, and getting us to think of it as an actual diagnosis. The article even explained that Giardia (a parasite) is known to cause tears in the intestinal wall. Unfortunately, the article offered no treatment with the exception of increasing fiber intake. But that was 1997. Welcome to the Millenium. Remember that as highly evolved human life forms with a functioning neocortex, we are capable of developing new habit strengths. Studies show that it takes 21 days to develop a new habit. Change comes slowly.