Our piece today highlights how leaky gut can affect you and your everyday life. Don’t worry though, it’s easily reversed and quite avoidable. What is even more fascinating is that we all have some form of leaky gut, but more on that later!

So, what is leaky gut?

Leaky gut is when the walls of your small intestine became so porous that undigested substances can pass through. In some sense, we all have a level of ‘leaky gut’ simply because the walls of our small intestine are not meant to be entirely impenetrable. However, how porous it becomes is where things go from normal to causing issues.

Our digestive system can be quite complex as it is the home to many billions of bacteria, which subsequently interact with the tiny holes in our small intestine. There is a term for this, ‘tight junctions,’.

We are meant to have holes in our small intestine, however certain foods can cause these gaps to widen far more than they need to. This significantly increases the likelihood of poor nutrient absorption, particularly that of zinc, iron and vitamin B12. In turn this can cause symptoms which include slow healing of wounds, skin problems, and fatigue.

What can cause leaky gut?

While there hasn’t been a specific cause of leaky gut, there are quite a few habits and conditions that contribute to its occurrence, such as nutrient deficiencies of vitamins A, D and Zinc.

Eating foods that do not react well with our digestive system causes inflammatory chemicals to be released which further disrupt the lining of the small intestine.

Inflammatory foods can be sugar including fruit sugar (fructose), lactose in dairy food and gluten. Low-level food allergies can also cause chronic inflammation.

What illnesses has leaky gut been linked to?

Leaky gut is quite a common condition. Though scientific research states that it is quite hard to pinpoint the direct cause of leaky gut, it does contribute to conditions such as the following:

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Chronic fatigue
• Depression

How to know if you have leaky gut

Like with all things health-related, we advise to err on the side of caution. If you are noticing any of the symptoms after eating certain foods or doing certain things, you should give your doctor a call.

We are firm believers that preventative care is the best way to stay on top of your health and provides you with peace of mind.

Our head doctor, Dr Enam Abood commented, “I have lost count of the number of patients I’ve seen with chronic vague symptoms that we identified as having a nutritional or gut-related cause.

Gut health is the future of wellbeing and medicine – the gut produces 80% of our serotonin, for example. So any imbalance or inflammation will inevitably affect mood and energy levels.

There are increasingly sophisticated tests available to address food intolerances and gut health and I strongly recommend anyone facing these issues looks into addressing their gut health. The impact on their overall wellbeing can be dramatic.”