I was talking about leaky gut 20 plus years ago and people were looking at me like I was crazy. Today, if you’ve been around the natural health world very long, you’ve probably heard of this condition and know that it’s related to dozens of other health problems. Because so many Americans are now being affected by poor diet, over-processed foods, chronic stress, toxic overload, and bacterial and fungal imbalances, it is clear that the prevalence of leaky gut has reached epidemic proportions. The medical profession is just now agreeing the condition exists (not universally) and they are scratching their heads with what to do about it. Furthermore, most people who have the condition, don’t even have a clue they have it. Only recently, have people finally connected leaky gut syndrome to autoimmune conditions as well as allergies; I could write a book on the seriousness of this topic alone. With technology in particular the area of food technology, has come the practice of over-processing literally everything we eat. Not much food is in its natural form anymore and because of this, our bodies are unable to recognize this food when we eat it. If our bodies can’t recognize the food we eat, the body wants to react and fight it off and therefore is in a continual state of stress; that’s where we see an unbelievable myriad of symptoms and conditions develop and come into play. If you want to see this for yourself, do some research on the processing of dairy products or wheat, flour, and bread products; these are just a few of many, but you will see what we are talking about. Let’s just take one condition from above- leaky gut and look into it further.
WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR?
The first thing that we should do if we suspect we have a leaky gut is to assess the symptoms that one has that may be an indicator of this issue. We encourage you to type into your web browser symptoms and conditions caused by the leaky gut syndrome. The list will most likely astonish and shock you. As you read this list you’ll see that anything and everything from allergies, chronic fatigue, weight issues, mood issues, autoimmune problems and even more serious conditions can stem from the leaky gut syndrome. So the important point here is if you have a problematic condition or symptoms, see your qualified health care practitioner AND investigate and research gut health which may lead to many amazing life-changing and positive answers and solutions.
IT ALL BEGINS IN THE GUT…
It’s sad to investigate, think and realize that so many issues could be coming from a mistreated gut. For those of you who have heard me speak at seminars, you may remember me saying that “the gut is the mother of our body” and “she determines the health of every other cell, tissue and organ in our body”. If leaky gut causes things like undigested proteins, fungus and yeast to make their way into our blood stream where they are then carried to all other parts of our body causing havoc, you can only imagine the far reaching damage that can be done by this condition. What do you think our immune system does when these foreign elements make their way into our bloodstream?? Hippocrates said, “All disease begins in the gut.” If the food is the fuel and our gut is in the engine then we can safely assume we’ve been putting bad or insufficient fuel in our engines. How can we expect our engines to function and run properly if we do this? So with all this being said and if we suspect we have a problem like leaky gut in our digestive and intestinal tract, what do we do???
START DIGGING…
First, we need to see if what we are eating is causing our bodies to have an adverse reaction. To do this there are several tests that one can take that can uncover and identify problematic foods and if we do in fact have leaky gut syndrome. If you search for leaky gut tests on the internet, you will find many results such as the IgG Food Intolerance Test, the Zonulin stool test, Lactulose Test or other different stool test. Once you have a definite answer as to whether you have food intolerances and therefore may have leaky gut, you can begin a very clear and well thought through structured plan to remove the antagonist, which are the problematic foods in your diet, and give your body the ability to heal itself. Recently Molly convinced me to take one of the above food sensitivity tests (IgG Food Intolerance Test) and by doing so, we found out I currently have a food intolerance to eggs, tomatoes and cashews. Now who would have ever guessed that these healthy foods could be causing me issues, but since removing these foods from my diet (which I was eating almost daily) I feel great. Next as part of your plan, you’ll want to implement a good supplement protocol that will begin to support the rebuilding and repairing of your entire digestive system. This supplement program should include but not be limited to natural nutrients such as L-Glutamine, slippery elm bark, Butyric acid, probiotics, vitamin D, zinc, lubricating oils such as coconut or castor oil and obviously digestive enzymes. If you use this information as your launchpad, you’ll find answers like you’ve never found before.
So, as we continue on this journey it is important to become your own investigator and your own advocate. The symptoms and conditions that you have today, you probably weren’t born with and probably didn’t have when you were in your teens and perhaps didn’t even have when you were in your twenties. These symptoms are not your enemy, they are your friend……they are leading, directing and guiding you to find answers which is perhaps, why you are reading this blog post! We earn these conditions and symptoms; we have earned them with what we’ve chosen to do each day of our life. So now it’s time to dig deep, put our investigative hat on, slowly, surely and methodically gather knowledge and start to understand how we got to where we are today and then patiently, begin to put the pieces of our own personal puzzle together and undo the damage that’s been done. Remember though, as you start to dig deep, none of us got to where we are overnight, none of us developed leaky gut or candida albicans or IBS in one day, so the same will be true as we try and get to the bottom of it…it will take time, be a process, require diligence, patience and stickability, but WILL be worth it because without your health, what do you really have?
