Leaky Gut
In some sense, your gut is tied to everything going on in your body from your gut to your brain. Let’s start with the basics: what is leaky gut? Mark Hyman describes it this way:
“Imagine your gut lining is like a really fine mesh strainer. Remember how it's supposed to let the good stuff through and keep the bad stuff out? But sometimes, in some people, that’s not what happens.
Instead, the strainer gets damaged and develops holes. Now all the stuff that shouldn't be getting into your bloodstream is sneaking in—food particles, bacteria, viruses, and toxins, you name it—can now access areas of the body where they shouldn’t be.
So your body freaks out and starts an inflammatory party that nobody wants to attend. And we all know that inflammation triggers a lot of different chronic disorders—food sensitivities, autoimmune issues, diabesity (diabetes and obesity), and a host of mood-related symptoms.”1
Other symptoms of leaky gut include things like psoriasis, acne, rosacea, eczema, bloating, gas, candida, SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), SIFO (Small Intestinal Fungal Overgrowth), or any autoimmune disease.2
What causes leaky gut?
In some sense, all of us who have been eating the standard American diet have some version of leaky gut.3
According to an article on Harvard Health by Dr. Marcelo Campos, “There is emerging evidence that the standard American diet, which is low in fiber and high in sugar and saturated fats, may initiate this process. Heavy alcohol use and stress also seem to disrupt this balance.”4
In Mark Hyman’s article he lists several factors that cause leaky gut including, a bad diet high in “sugar, refined carbohydrates, high fructose corn syrup, alcohol and many other processed foods.”5 He also points out that “prolonged use of antibiotics, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs, also called antacids), NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen) and immunosuppressants can disrupt the balance of gut flora.”6
He also points to stress and chronic diseases like diabetes being a contributing factor. In addition, Dr. Hyman emphasizes that slow movement of food through the digestive tract can contribute to overgrowth of bacteria. “If you're not pooping at least once a day, it can cause a buildup of bacteria, leading to overgrowth and digestive issues.”7 Finally, “conditions like diverticulosis or surgical alterations of the gut can create pockets where bacteria or fungi can thrive.”8
What to do to prevent or reverse leaky gut?
It should not surprise you by now, that the first thing you need to do to fix a leaky gut is change your diet. You want to aim for foods that help you grow healthy gut bacteria and avoid those foods that lead to inflammation. Start by thinking about getting pre and probiotics into your diet.
In addition try to eat healthy foods include fatty fish (think SMASH), eggs, many fruits and vegetables, bone broth, and chia and flaxseeds. Here is an article that lists a number of foods to include and a number of foods to avoid.
Of course, gluten and sugar cause inflammation and you should consider avoiding them altogether if you are having any leaky gut symptoms. Neither bring any positive health benefits and both are most likely contributing to any issues you have. And if your symptoms are really bad, consider an elimination diet.9
In addition to getting control of your diet, you will need to manage your stress and try to get quality sleep.10
The Gut-Brain Connection
Recent studies have tied problems in the gut to things like Alzheimer’s, dementia, and even depression.11
How doers this happen? According to an article on NIH, “Alterations in the gut microbiota composition induce increased permeability of the gut barrier and immune activation leading to systemic inflammation, which in turn may impair the blood-brain barrier and promote neuroinflammation, neural injury, and ultimately neurodegeneration.”12
Casey Means described it like this, “When the integrity of the intestinal barrier is compromised due to increased permeability, systemic (full body) inflammation can ensue. This inflammation is characterized by the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ). These cytokines can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and induce neuroinflammation, affecting brain function and contributing to the development of anxiety and other mood disorders.”13
Even depression has been tied to a leaky gut. Dr. Means describes a study that has demonstrated a correlation between leaky gut and depression: “The link is so strong between gut health and mental health that studies in animals have shown that just transferring the microbiome from depressed animals to healthy animals has been shown to quickly induce depression-like behaviors!”14 The study is linked.
Conclusion
My goal in this short article is to make you aware of leaky gut and what causes it. It is just one more reason to consider cutting ultra processed foods, sugar, and gluten from your diet. Eat Whole Foods. Get high quality sleep. And try to reduce your stress. If you do so, you will be on your way to healing your gut.
UPDATE: New Study on Creatine
As you know, I am a big fan of Creatine. I spoke about all the benefits here. A brand new 8 week study shows that Creatine can help with both cognition and memory loss.15 In the study, they provided patients with Alzheimer’s 20 grams of creatine a day split into two ten gram doses (yes, that is a high dose). As a result, brain creatine levels increased by an average of 11 percent, and the patients showed improvement in cognitive performance, including memory.
https://drhyman.com/blogs/content/the-connection-to-leaky-gut-sibo-and-sifo
https://www.medanta.org/patient-education-blog/11-signs-you-have-the-leaky-gut-and-how-to-heal-it
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/leaky-gut-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-mean-for-you-2017092212451, 8 percent of all Americans are suffering from some sort of autoimmune issue alone. https://orwh.od.nih.gov/OADR-ORWH.
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https://drhyman.com/blogs/content/the-connection-to-leaky-gut-sibo-and-sifo
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https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/elimination-diet
https://www.henryford.com/blog/2024/06/what-you-need-to-know-about-fixing-your-leaky-gut
https://www.adrc.wisc.edu/news/gut-inflammation-associated-aging-and-alzheimers-disease#:~:text=“Increased%20gut%20permeability%20could%20result,and%20neurodegeneration%2C”%20he%20said.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6326209/
https://www.caseymeans.com/learn/newsletter-36
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https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/trc2.70101