Leaky Gut Syndrome, the Villain Behind Allergy/Sensitivity, and How Do You Know If You Have It

Just a few decades ago, scientists discovered an intestinal condition in alcohol abusers that resulted in a porous intestinal lining. They named the condition Leaky Gut Syndrome, or just Leaky Gut for short. This porous intestinal lining, or Leaky Gut, allows food molecules, that would normally be too large, to pass through the intestinal lining.

Once these abnormally large molecules get through, they trigger a natural defense reaction whereby the body builds antibodies to identify the larger molecule as an invader, and attack it. The result of this antigen/antibody reaction is what we call an allergy/sensitivity, and any tissue in the body can express an allergy/sensitivity.

Once this Leaky Gut Syndrome begins, a cascade of events occurs that results in increasingly more allergy/sensitivities. The body becomes increasingly sensitive to not only food chemicals, but to environmental chemicals and airborne irritants such as pollen, dust, and mold. Even though specific nutritional and lifestyle modifying actions can be instituted to heal the Leaky Gut itself, the body still continues to make the antibodies it built in its initial response. Therefore, the body remains sensitive to many dietary, environmental, and airborne chemicals that were not a problem before the Leaky Gut began.

In addition to alcohol abuse, many prescription and non-prescription drugs initiate Leaky Gut. Among the most common are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) like aspirin and ibuprofen, antibiotics, steroids, birth control pills, and vaccinations. Vaccinations can be a problem because many of them are preserved in a mercury solution. Mercury is one of the most toxic chemicals on the planet, and a child’s body can handle just so much before it results in a toxic body burden. The mercury in vaccinations has been implicated by some of the current research as a primary contributor to disorders like ADD/ADHD and Autism. Another initiator of Leaky Gut is silver dental fillings/amalgams that are composed of about 50% mercury. In many people, these amalgams release mercury slowly over the years and result in a chronic poisoning.

It has been theorized that all of the above initiators of Leaky Gut produce the porous gut condition by creating an imbalance between the naturally occurring yeast and bacterial residents (flora) of the intestines. This imbalance in the gut flora is termed dysbiosis, and it is dysbiosis that is the actual cause of the porous gut. In dysbiosis, yeast proliferates, and often migrates from the intestines to the urogenital area, so those who have suffered with urogenital yeast infections are suspect for Leaky Gut Syndrome.

Leaky Gut Syndrome is usually accompanied by sugar craving. Yeast needs sugars, simple carbohydrates, for its food source. When the body is in dysbiosis, the yeast secretes chemical messengers into the bloodstream that make the individual crave sweets.

It is important to take steps to help heal the damaged intestinal lining. Abstaining from simple sugars in the diet and supplementing the bacterial populations that have been thrown into negative balance usually does this. It’s called probiotic therapy, and consists of taking bacterial agents by mouth in pill or powder form. Probiotics should always be taken during and after antibiotic therapy, vaccinations, etc., to avoid dysbiosis and the Leaky Cut Syndrome. Preventics caries some excellent probiotics, and more information on probiotics is available at the website.

Additionally, it is important to reverse the antibody patterns that have been established as a result of the Leaky Gut. This is the role of Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique (NAET). Devi Nambudripad, R.N., D.C., L.Ac., Ph.D., M.D., postulated over eighteen years ago that most allergy/sensitivity started in the gut with food allergy/sensitivity and then cascaded into airborne and environmental allergy sensitivities. As more time passes, this theory is proving to be correct in most cases.

NAET is remarkably effective. According to some European research, NAET treatment results in marked improvement or cure in 80% to 85% of all cases studied, and that is consistent with the results we see in our office. The results seem even more amazing when one considers that the testing and treatment is totally painless and non-invasive.

How do you know if you, or a member of your family, have Leaky Gut? In the office, we have a simple home test that we teach to our pediatric patients. The kids “get it,” and can then talk to Mom when things aren’t right. We call it the “poop test.”

I explain that we can tell a lot about what is going on in someone’s gut by paying attention to what comes out. The poop test is simple. These are the four parts, and why they are important.

• You must have a bowel movement (BM/poop) daily. This is important because when food remains in the gut for too long it becomes an irritant and contributes to other more serious problems in later life. For example, as the number of days between BM’s increases, the risk of colon cancer increases. We tell the kids, “A BM a day keeps the doctor away.”
  
  
• You must not have smelly poop. Smelly poop is caused by putrefaction (rotting) of food in the gut. Putrefaction even feels bad when you say it. It’s an easy concept to grasp, and the kids “get it.” We tell the kids, “No stinkers.”
  
  
• Your poop needs to float. This is important because children have very rapid brain and nervous system growth, and the brain is 60% fat by weight. It’s the fattiest organ in the body. All homemakers know that fat floats, so if there is adequate fat in the diet for brain growth and repair, some of it should make it all the way through the gut… making the stools float. We tell the kids, “No sinkers.”
  
  
• You need to look at the toilet paper, because you’re not allowed a mess. Healthy animals don’t mess themselves, but for some reason it has become acceptable for us to go through a roll of toilet paper a week, and that’s a prescription for future illness. We tell the kids, “No mess.”
  

So there you have it. A great medical test you can use for yourself and teach your kids; a BM a day, no stinkers, no sinkers, and no mess. If you can’t pass the poop test the chances are very good that you have Leaky Gut and have allergies/sensitivities.