Leaky Gut Syndrome; When You’re Sick of Being Sick, Look Here

Leaky Gut Syndrome; When You’re Sick of Being Sick, Look Here-Dr. Mark Hyman
Weight gain, bloating, fatigue, pain, headache, allergies, mood swings, hormone troubles, and eventually every possible symptom can result from this single reversible condition.

Your regular doctor may not catch it as they focus on individual symptoms as if they are all separate conditions. However, you have only one sick body and as it gets sicker you will experience more symptoms and be on more drugs unless we find the root cause. Leaky gut syndrome is a common root cause condition. It typically begins with digestive trouble which may go unnoticed. Typical digestive problems include bloating, acid reflux, or changes in stool from loose to constipation. If you were put on antacids or proton pump inhibitors (Prilosec, etc.) for any extended length of time then the likelihood of leak guy syndrome is even higher. These harmful drugs decrease an immediate symptom (such as acid reflux) while shutting down digestion. This increases the irritation that is probably already happening to your gut.

The small intestines (your gut) have the function of separating nutrients from waste. The nutrients enter the blood stream directly while the waste continues to the colon and is eventually evacuated. When digestion is not working then the small intestinal lining becomes damaged over time. The function of separating waste becomes weaker and weaker until waste is actually entering the blood stream. The next stop is the liver to filter the debris which also eventually becomes burdened leading to allergies, skin irritations, cravings for sugar, and randomly waking up between 3-4am (the time the liver goes into phase II detox). With the extra toxicity floating around, the body begins to hold on to weight.

Fat cells act as a secondary detox mechanism by storing difficult to eliminate toxins. Your fat cells become full of toxic waste that your body will not let go of until you heal up your liver and your gut! The liver directly affects the function of your thyroid so now your entire hormone system gets put out of balance. As you slump in energy with fatigue and malnutrition (you’re eating but at the same time starving because the small intestine also isn’t taking in nutrients very well) you’re adrenal glands try to pick you up to get through the day. The adrenals go into fatigue which, if you’re premenopausal, will drop your libido as your adrenals begin to play a more important role in sex hormones closer to menopause (this is also a set up for a rough transition into menopause; ladies listen up). You can see how leaky gut will have the average doctor chasing symptoms and band-aiding with drugs that will not address the root cause (pain relievers and Prozac are often where they start).

In treatment, I have to assess where to start and what parts of the system are in most need of support. There aren’t any one-size-fits all approaches to leaky gut. Some of my worst patients (came in most sick on the most amount of drugs) ended up being leaky gut cases in which every symptom improved once the root cause was addressed. What you need is a doctor that specializes in functional medicine which focuses on restoring function to organ systems instead of just medicating. I am certainly not anti-drug, but drugs do absolutely nothing for leaky gut syndrome (drugs aren’t bad, just not the right tool). I hope this was useful and don’t hesitate to comment if you have questions.