What’s Your Gut Like?
A lead pipe or Swiss cheese???
Well, your gut is DESIGNED to be impermeable, so if we’re picking from these options I hope it’s more like that lead pipe! That long tube that starts with your mouth and ends with your anus…not supposed to be leaky. If it can keep food, bad bugs, and harmful toxins enclosed in the tube — it can protect the rest of the body from harm.
Unfortunately, this design is under constant assault in our modern lives! What makes the holes?
- Stress
- Medications
- Infections
The three biggest assaults on your tube.
And once those cells that were previously locked together to create the impermeable tube are broken into a sieve, you have “leaky gut” (or in the medical literature, “intestinal permeability”). This is a setup for food intolerances, impaired immune responses, and gastrointestinal imbalances. (Also, poop where it doesn’t belong…who wants that?!) These can have wide-reaching complications and result in things like Fatigue, Brain Fog, and Autoimmunity.
The first path in identifying this problem is to work with someone who thinks about these mechanics. She will order diagnostics and create a treatment plan. That plan often involves improving the microbiome and using substances like glutamine, which have been shown to repair intestinal cells.
If you’re struggling with GI complaints, Fatigue, or Food Intolerances…you may have a leaky gut!
About DCIM
The team at District Center for Integrative Medicine specializes in helping patients get to the root cause of their conditions. If you’re looking for 1-on-1 help from naturopathic doctors who care, request a free consultation today!
