by Kirsten Chesney | Mar 10, 2021 | Gut Health
In the field of functional medicine, we look at all aspects of a person’s health by assessing the function of each body system. Our body has eleven systems and they are all interconnected. For example, a poorly functioning circulatory system can bring about a sluggish lymphatic system. Our symptoms may originate elsewhere, in a completely different body region than what we’d expect. This interconnectedness is why it’s so important to look beyond the one body system that we assume is the culprit. Looking at other body systems can reveal the true cause behind our symptoms so we can effectively treat (or even reverse) them.
Most of us are familiar with the various symptoms we associate with our digestive system. We all know that person who has a “sensitive stomach” or who lives in the bathroom after Mexican night. However, there are other symptoms related to poor digestion that are usually not associated with digestion at all. Symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, joint pain, anxiety, depression, attention deficit disorders, and dry skin or rashes, can all stem from a compromised digestive system. Let’s take a look at how this is possible.
How It’s All Connected
The health of our digestive system depends on the strict balance of trillions of bacteria that live in our large intestine. A healthy gut contains over a thousand different species of bacteria! This diversity is vital in keeping things running smoothly. Our gut bacteria supplies us with enzymes to help us digest food. They also produce certain nutrients that strengthen our gut lining so it can defend against harmful bacteria entering and disrupting our biome.
Dysbiosis and Disease
Unfortunately, it is far too easy to disrupt our gut biome. Antibiotics, stress, processed foods, sugary drinks, and environmental toxins all harm our gut bacteria, lower our defenses, and invite a downward cascade of symptoms. These microscopic bacteria hold a lot of influence over our health, so it’s best to feed and care for them correctly! If gut bacteria are not cared for, dysbiosis can result. Dysbiosis is a term that means our gut biome is imbalanced and has either too many pathogenic bacteria, too few helpful bacteria, or low diversity of bacterial species. Dysbiosis is seen in those with digestive conditions such as SIBO, IBS, and IBD. It’s also associated with diabetes, allergies, autism, autoimmune diseases, skin diseases, cognitive issues, and more. Why?
Immune System and Chronic Inflammation
Well, when our gut is harmed, several other body systems are harmed as well. Consider that 70% of our immune system is found in our gut! Our gut bacteria have a lot of control over how healthy we are and how well we function. When we have dysbiosis, our off-balanced gut bacteria send inappropriate signals to our immune system. The various signals and feedback loops both dysregulate and activate our immune system. An overactive immune system produces overactive inflammation (or chronic inflammation). Inflammation is necessary and helpful during an acute immune response such as getting a cold or a cut on your skin, but it becomes detrimental when it’s chronically activated.
Chronic inflammation is now known to be the root cause of all chronic diseases. This includes autoimmune diseases, liver and kidney diseases, digestive diseases, neurological diseases, cardiovascular diseases, skin diseases, and more. Inflammation is the common thread that connects all these seemingly different health conditions under one umbrella. And our gut bacteria has the ability to turn this on or off.
Gut-Brain Axis
In addition to holding the keys to our immune system, our gut biome also holds power over our brain and mood. This is because our gut produces useful compounds that our brain needs, such as various enzymes, neurotransmitters, immune cells, and certain hormones. Serotonin is one such compound our brain needs. It is a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, cognition, memory, and learning. However, 90% of our serotonin is produced by our gut bacteria!
In order to send serotonin (and other compounds) to the brain, our gut and our brain are connected via a communication highway called the gut-brain axis. Specifically, this communication highway consists of the vagus nerve and various hormone signaling. Any disruption in our gut microbiome (dysbiosis) can affect this gut-brain communication and lead to various mood or cognitive disorders.
Leaky Gut
Another gut-related pathway towards disease is through intestinal permeability, or leaky gut. This occurs through several avenues, from poor diet, bacterial overgrowth, antibiotic use, food sensitivities, toxin exposures, or chronic stress.
A leaky gut is when the tight junctions between our intestinal cells become less tight, thus allowing larger molecules to squeeze through the “leaky” barrier and enter our bloodstream and body cells. These molecules include food particles and endotoxins-things that were never meant to escape our digestive tract. Our immune system views these molecules as foreign substances and launches an attack. As described earlier, an activated immune response triggers a cascade of inflammation, which, when prolonged, can be a precipitating factor of various chronic diseases.
Our gut bacteria play a strong role in our progression of health and disease. They are a key deciding factor in the way our immune system, inflammation, cognition, and gut lining function. Dysbiosis opens us up to a variety of symptoms and risk for disease, each of them seemingly unrelated but indeed have a common connection to gut health. If you are struggling with symptoms or any chronic health condition, whether or not they relate to digestion, then it’s time to look at your gut. Symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, joint pain, anxiety, depression, attention deficit disorders, or skin rashes, can stem from poor gut health. The good news is you aren’t restricted by medical specialty. Joint pain doesn’t restrict you to seeing a rheumatologist and depression doesn’t restrict you to taking medications. Anybody with ongoing health concerns can be treated with functional medicine, where we find the common thread of symptoms and disease by looking at the whole body. Learn how CustomCare Nutrition can recover your health: schedule a free phone consult today!
by Kirsten Chesney | Mar 3, 2021 | Gut Health, Supplements
We already know that eating nutritious food is essential for our health. But eating food is no guarantee that our body will digest and absorb its nutrients. There are hundreds of steps our body takes before we can reap the benefits of our green smoothie in the morning. One of these steps involves digestive enzymes. Digestive enzymes are needed to break down carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in our meal. Only then can they be absorbed into our cells for healthy functioning. With all the chemical processes to keep track of, it is not uncommon to have something go awry. Although our body can make its own digestive enzymes, when things go awry, people may need to take supplemental enzymes to help themselves along.
What Are Digestive Enzymes?
Believe it or not, we begin digesting our food as soon as we start chewing! The first enzymes that begin breaking down our food are found in our saliva. As our food travels through our digestive system, dozens more enzymes enter the scene at various points along the way. Digestive enzymes are produced in the mouth, stomach, pancreas, small intestine, and liver. Our bodies are also aided by other enzymes that are found in the food we eat.
Each enzyme has a singular task for breaking down one aspect of our food. Collectively, enzymes break down macronutrients (carbs, fats, and proteins) into smaller compounds. These compounds are then further broken down by specialized enzymes into progressively smaller units until individual micronutrients, like vitamins and minerals, are extracted. Once extracted, these nutrients can then be absorbed and utilized by our body. There are three classes of digestive enzymes, each one containing specialized enzymes:
Amylase breaks down carbs into simple sugars. Specifically, amylase breaks down starches found in all plants, grains, and dairy products. Lactase, sucrase, maltase, and many other enzymes help to further break down specific types of sugars.
Protease, with the help of peptidase, break down proteins into amino acids. There are several types of protease enzymes that may be found in supplements, such as bromelain, chymotrypsin, papain, and trypsin.
Lipase, along with bile, work to break down triglycerides and fats (lipids) into fatty acids and cholesterol. Lipase is needed to properly digest dairy products, oils, nuts, eggs, and meat. Lipase is also crucial for extracting fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K from food.
Why Take Digestive Enzyme Supplements?
There are a number of reasons why people have to supplement with digestive enzymes, but the most common reason is due to digestive issues. Symptoms such as gas, bloating, nausea, constipation, and diarrhea, may feel like a normal Friday night, but when these symptoms persist it’s wise to take a look at what you’re eating and how your body responds to certain foods. Let’s take a look at what could be going on:
- People may lack a particular digestive enzyme and therefore have trouble breaking down the foods that require that enzymes’ help. For example, pectinase breaks down the pectin found in fruits. A person who doesn’t make enough pectinase will have trouble digesting certain fruits.
- Other times, a person may be quite low in certain nutrients whose enzyme is not freeing it up to be absorbed. For example, if any of the protease enzymes aren’t working properly, a person will have trouble absorbing amino acids from the protein in their meal.
- Still others may be low in those certain enzymes which are produced by our gut bacteria. For example, humans cannot digest the cellulose fiber found in certain plants. Instead, cellulose is broken down by some of our gut bacteria. These helpful bacteria produce cellulase, the enzyme needed to break down cellulose. If a person has an imbalance of gut bacteria, however, it can affect how well they break down fibrous plant foods, causing digestive discomfort.
Symptoms of Low Enzyme Production
All body systems are interconnected. If something is not working properly in one area, it will affect the function of other areas. The same goes for insufficient enzyme production. If we aren’t digesting properly, that means undigested food goes where it shouldn’t; namely, the small intestine. Once there, these undigested food particles can cause a host of symptoms, many of which seem entirely unrelated to digestion. Here are some symptoms related to insufficient enzyme production:
- Acid reflux
- Stool that floats or looks “greasy”
- Cravings for certain foods
- Thyroid problems
- Heartburn, indigestion or burping
- Hair that is thinning or falling out
- Dry or lackluster skin
- Trouble concentrating or brain fog
- Morning fatigue
- Trouble sleeping well
- Arthritis or joint pain
- Muscle weakness or feeling too tired to exercise
- Mood swings, depression or irritability
- Headaches or migraines
- Worsened PMS
Health Conditions That Affect Enzyme Production
Lastly, there are those who have certain health conditions which affect the production and utilization of digestive enzymes. Taking digestive enzymes as a supplement would be beneficial for those with the following conditions. This is not an exhaustive list.
Digestive disorders or symptoms: Digestive issues can result from insufficient digestive enzyme production (among other reasons). Symptoms such as bloating, diarrhea, constipation, acid reflux, abdominal pain, and gas, can be helped by increasing your enzymes. Enzymes also help with various digestive disorders such as leaky gut, food sensitivities, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), SIBO, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and diverticulitis.
Age-Related Enzyme Insufficiency: We produce less stomach acid as we age. Stomach acid, or hydrochloric acid, is critical to triggering the release of digestive enzymes from the pancreas. If a person does not produce enough stomach acid, they consequently do not produce enough digestive enzymes. Taking digestive enzyme supplements is often needed for older people with low stomach acid levels.
Hypochlorhydria: Low stomach acid (or hypochlorhydria) can also affect people of any age. Insufficient stomach acid makes it difficult to extract the minerals, vitamins and nutrients from food. Ordinarily, when food enters the stomach, many micronutrients are released, but having hypochlorhydria can prevent this release from happening. When this occurs, it can result in insufficient enzyme production.
Low Bile Production: Bile is produced by our liver and stored in our gallbladder. Its purpose is to emulsify fats into smaller droplets so that lipase (the enzyme that helps digest fats) can break them down easier. If bile production is low (or non-existent), the lipase enzyme will not be efficient at its job and a person will have a hard time digesting fat in their food. Any condition affecting the liver or gallbladder would thus affect our digestion of fats. Such conditions include, various liver diseases, gallstones, bile duct disorders, having the gallbladder removed, or following a low fat diet for several years.
Pancreatic Insufficiency: Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) is when the pancreas fails to secrete digestive enzymes, thus causing maldigestion and malabsorption. This is commonly experienced by those with pancreatic cancer. EPI can also be caused by cystic fibrosis, chronic pancreatitis, diabetes, IBD, celiac disease, and anybody who has undergone surgery on the pancreas or stomach.
Food and Supplement Sources of Digestive Enzymes
As we’ve learned, there are many reasons why people may need to increase their digestive enzymes. Furthermore, we know that enzymes each have specific tasks to break down specific nutrients. This means that enzymes are condition-specific. For example, a person’s health condition may necessitate taking one type of enzyme to help digest one type of food. Other times, a person may require a broad array of enzymes to address the digestion of all foods. When a person needs digestive enzymes, There are a couple ways to accomplish this: through supplements and through certain foods.
Enzymes From Supplements:
Given that enzymes are condition-specific, many people may need to supplement with particular enzymes depending on their health condition or symptoms. It is best to refer to our team at CustomCare Nutrition to determine which digestive enzymes are best for you, as many conditions overlap each other and have underlying causes that require a different approach.
- Those with gallbladder issues or liver disease would benefit from taking bile salts and lipase enzymes.
- Hypochlorhydria and GERD can be addressed by taking pepsin enzymes along with betaine HCL. These are usually combined together into one supplement.
- Those who have trouble digesting fiber in plant foods may benefit from taking pectinase or cellulase enzymes.
- Lactose intolerance can be helped by taking lactase enzymes.
- Glucose intolerance can include symptoms such as low blood sugar, cortisol imbalance, and issues with mental and emotional health. People can benefit from taking amylase and maltase enzymes, which work to break down starch into glucose.
- Symptoms related to the digestion of beans and other legumes can be helped by taking the enzyme, alpha-galactosidase. This is the enzyme found in the brand name, Beano.
- Those with trouble digesting protein, including the casein from dairy products, can benefit from protease enzymes.
- If you have pancreatic issues, IBD, or celiac disease, it is best to supplement with all three pancreatic enzymes (amylase, protease, and lipase). This blend is found in pancreatin supplements.
Other times it is appropriate to supplement with a full-spectrum enzyme blend to help digest all food components. Complete digestion and absorption of nutrients has a positive cascading effect on the health of our entire body. Furthermore, it is well established that all chronic diseases begin in the gut. Therefore, maximizing our overall gut health should be of top priority, and digestive enzymes are one way to get us there. Those with hypothyroid, digestive disorders, gastrointestinal symptoms, autoimmune disease, inflammation, and other conditions often need such an all-encompassing blend of enzymes.
Make sure that the supplement you select is free of cheap fillers and additives and includes a diversity of enzymes meant for digesting carbs, proteins, and fats. Each enzyme listed on the label should include a measure of potency. Instead of seeing units listed as grams or milligrams, you’ll see units such as DU, LU, CU, HUT, DP, and more. These units indicate which lab test was run to determine potency, but are not important to consumers. Rather, the important thing is to choose enzyme supplements that have these units listed, as this indicates a high-quality supplement. Low-quality supplements will not list potency on the label. It is best to take enzyme supplements with every meal, either with your first bite of food or about 10 minutes before eating.
Enzymes From Food:
As mentioned earlier, not only do our bodies produce digestive enzymes but we also obtain them from the very foods we’re digesting. Plant foods and fermented foods naturally contain their own enzymes that, when eaten, aid in breaking down that food.
When it comes to plant foods, be aware that when fruits and vegetables are highly processed or were grown in nutrient-depleted soil, many of their enzymes are lacking or even destroyed. To increase your enzymes from plant foods, it’s best to eat them raw and ensure they were grown in nutrient-rich soil (choosing organic produce is your best bet to ensure this).
Regarding fermented foods, digestive enzymes are not the only digestive aid they contain. Fermented foods also contain probiotics, which work synergistically with digestive enzymes. Probiotics restore the balance of our gut bacteria, aid in digestion, and improve our absorption of nutrients.
Digestive enzymes are found in:
- Pineapple
- Papaya
- Mango
- Bananas
- Kiwi
- Avocado
- Raw honey
- Bee pollen
- Kefir and yogurt
- Fermented soy products (miso, tempeh, soy sauce, and natto)
- Sauerkraut and kimchi
Digestive enzymes are critical to gut health. They break down our food into smaller compounds, thus allowing individual nutrients to be absorbed and utilized by our body. Several health conditions and symptoms can lower our production of digestive enzymes and exacerbate these issues. Digestive disorders in particular are a common sign of insufficient enzyme production. Low production is also related to a variety of other health issues. Taking digestive enzymes as a supplement can greatly reduce various symptoms as well as improve health conditions. Digestive enzymes are also found in various foods that can be incorporated into the diet. Talk with our team at CustomCare Nutrition to determine whether digestive enzymes would be helpful for you.
by Kirsten Chesney | Feb 10, 2021 | Gut Health, Supplements
At CustomCare Nutrition, we are glad that gut health has had increased public interest over the years. It is much easier today to find natural ways to heal your gut than it was 20 years ago. Perhaps this has come in the nick of time, too, when over 70% of Americans have a digestive disorder, and another 62 million Americans join the club each year. While there are several different types of gut disorders, each of them have at least one thing in common: inflammation and/or dysbiosis. The supplement, glutamine, is a common gut healing agent used as a treatment for a myriad of digestive disorders. Like most nutrients in the body, glutamine has additional far-reaching benefits.
The Conditionally Essential Amino Acid
Glutamine is an amino acid, properly called L-glutamine, and is involved in more metabolic processes than any other amino acid. Glutamine is considered “conditionally essential” for humans. Of the 21 amino acids, nine of them are considered essential and must be obtained through our diet (because we cannot synthesize them ourselves). Six other amino acids are considered non-essential since we can produce them in our own body. The six remaining amino acids are kind of in between and include glutamine. These are the conditionally essential amino acids, meaning that they are produced by our bodies but under certain circumstances our bodies cannot keep up with demand. When this happens, these six amino acids become essential and must be obtained through our diet.
Why The High Demand?
What causes the higher demand of conditionally essential amino acids? Disease, muscle loss (including age-related), physical trauma, mental stress, infections, or any catabolic distress (breaking down the components of metabolism faster than they can be built up). Catabolic distress can occur when a person is malnourished, sleep deprived, or when they perform high-intensity exercise. When discussing glutamine in particular, there are associations between a leaky gut (intestinal permeability), a weakened immune system, and low glutamine levels. When any number of these factors are present, the body requires greater amounts of glutamine to repair health and function. This higher demand for glutamine exceeds our ability to produce sufficient amounts, making them conditionally essential for those people.
It must be said that many of these factors are integrally related to one another. For example, chronic stress is known to contribute to leaky gut as well as impact our immune system. These, in turn, can further lead to infection, disease, and a catabolic state. This downward cascading effect emphasizes how easily a glutamine deficit can occur.
Glutamine and The Gut
Glutamine serves as the main energy source for our cells that line our intestine (called enterocytes). As glutamine nourishes these cells, they are able to repair and rebuild the intestinal lining and seal tight junctions. Having properly functioning tight junctions provides a defense against harmful bacteria and other pathogenic compounds. This makes glutamine very helpful for those with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), SIBO, candida overgrowth, and leaky gut. This vital amino acid also helps the conditions associated with leaky gut such as, eczema, joint pain, or autoimmune disease.
In addition to healing the gut lining, glutamine also reduces intestinal inflammation by calming down the immune response that produces inflammatory cytokines. This makes glutamine great for diverticulitis and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Reducing gut inflammation also helps the recovery from food sensitivities.
Lastly, glutamine can help in healing stomach ulcers by protecting against ongoing damage, as well as treat diarrhea by balancing mucus production.
Other Glutamine Benefits
We want to make a quick shout out to the other benefits of glutamine since it is involved in so many metabolic processes. This amino acid helps with cognitive health, muscle recovery, and diabetes control.
Cognitive Health
Glutamine is a precursor to the production of glutamate, a neurotransmitter in our brain. Glutamate plays an important role in memory and learning by sending chemical signals to nerve cells. It also ensures proper activity from our synapses. An imbalance of glutamate levels or any disruption of the glutamine/glutamate cycle can lead to the dysfunction and death of nerve cells. When this happens, neurological and psychiatric disorders can result, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, seizures, anxiety, depression, and even ALS.
Muscle Recovery
Glutamine supplements have become popular among athletes looking to improve recovery or increase endurance. Glutamine is abundant in muscle tissue but its levels can drop dramatically after intense exercise. In this state, the body begins breaking down muscle for energy. Supplementing with glutamine prevents this breakdown. Not only that, but glutamine also repairs muscle after workouts as well as speeds recovery time for burns and wounds. Lastly, glutamine may be able to prevent muscle atrophy.
Diabetes Control
Glutamine plays a role in diabetes care. It helps decrease blood glucose, specifically fasting blood glucose, as well as lower hemoglobin A1C and reduce waist circumference. Glutamine may help curb sugar and carb cravings as well.
Glutamine Foods
When a person needs more glutamine than their body can produce, they need to look to food and supplements. Glutamine is an amino acid and therefore makes up protein. Top protein foods for glutamine are:
- Grass-fed beef
- Wild-caught fish (specifically salmon and cod)
- Venison
- Turkey
- Bone broth
- Cottage cheese
- Spirulina
- Chinese cabbage
- Asparagus
- Broccoli rabe
For most people it is difficult to get enough glutamine from food alone, as it is usually not enough to promote healing. Those with digestive disorders, a weakened immune system, or who are athletes, require higher daily levels than can be achieved through food alone. Not only that, but the various types of amino acids present in protein-rich foods actually compete with each other for absorption. This means not all of the glutamine present in a food will actually be used by the body.
Supplementing your diet with glutamine is a great way to heal the body and realize its full benefits. Glutamine supplements are available as capsules or a powder. In fact, whey protein powder naturally contains high amounts of glutamine. It is best to speak to our team at CustomCare Nutrition to decide whether to take glutamine and at what dosage. Dosage depends on the severity of your health condition and are usually large, ranging from 2-5 grams per day on the low end, to 20-30 grams per day on the upper end. Glutamine powder contains more glutamine per serving than a capsule, making it easier to reach the higher dosages.
Glutamine is a powerful amino acid, prevalent throughout the body, and involved in more metabolic processes than any other amino acid. It serves several functions throughout the body and is well known to heal the gut lining and decrease intestinal inflammation. Glutamine is therefore an effective agent in the treatment of several digestive disorders. Aside from gut health, glutamine plays a role in cognitive health, muscle recovery, and diabetes control. Those with certain health conditions, stress, infections, or poor nutrition, all increase our body’s demand for glutamine in order to heal. When we cannot produce enough to meet our needs, we are able to get glutamine from protein-rich foods as well as supplements. If you are struggling with digestive issues, talk to our team at CustomCare Nutrition and see whether glutamine can help you towards healing.
by Kirsten Chesney | Oct 29, 2020 | Gut Health
The fall season is the time when stores increase their supply of baking ingredients, pies, candy, and overall junk food. It is tempting for most of us to dig into these sugary delights, especially if we have kids or are planning a small get-together with friends. While satisfying our sweet tooth seems like an innocent indulgence, we must be careful not to overdo it. And if ever there’s a time to overdo something, the fall season and approaching holidays are a favorite excuse. Keep in mind that habitual snacking on sugary foods will negatively affect your blood sugar throughout the day (even if you have normal blood sugar). In fact, blood sugar can impact the health of our gut and microbiome, even in healthy people. The reverse is also true: people with current gut issues can experience blood sugar problems. Worse still, there are countless people out there who are unknowingly experiencing large swings in their blood sugar, thus risking their gut health. Lastly, health conditions that arise from high blood sugar (diabetes, obesity, neuropathy, and CVD) account for over 3 million deaths per year. Clearly, blood sugar issues can cause lasting health effects for all people, whether or not a person has an existing condition. Let’s dive in to see how this works.
What Causes High Blood Sugar?
Carbohydrates from our diet provide the glucose that our cells need for energy. This becomes a problem when glucose cannot enter our cells and instead hang out in our bloodstream, causing high blood sugar.
But wait, doesn’t insulin push glucose into our cells? Why would insulin not do its job? The more glucose we have in our bloodstream, the more insulin our pancreas pumps out to handle it. However, our pancreas is not a bottomless pit of insulin, and eventually, insulin production slows down. It simply cannot keep up with demand. This is insulin resistance, and as a result, excess glucose builds up in our bloodstream causing high blood sugar.
Not all carbs will spike our blood sugar, however. Processed carbs (seen in white bread and baked goods), as well as added sugars (seen in candy, pastries, snack foods, and several beverages), increase our blood sugar more rapidly than do complex carbs (seen in legumes, whole grains, and vegetables). Complex carbs increase our blood sugar slowly and steadily throughout the day, providing us with sustained energy and balanced functioning. This steady blood sugar cycle is healthy and will not disrupt our gut.
Blood Sugar and Leaky Gut
Researchers have discovered that a diet high in processed carbohydrates is associated with gut dysfunction and can lead to leaky gut. Researchers have found that excess glucose in our diet, from processed carbs and added sugars, cause damage to intestinal cells and alter our gut microbiome. This is accomplished as excessive sugar intake increases inflammation and breaks down our intestinal barrier. Amazingly, this can occur with or without high blood sugar! Commonly, a person can have normal levels of average daily blood sugar, while still experiencing spikes and dips throughout the day. Even the occasional spike in blood sugar harms our intestinal cells.
The reverse is also true. Those who already have a leaky gut or an imbalance of gut bacteria are at risk for developing high blood sugar. This is because the harmful bacteria present in these conditions release a toxin called lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LPS toxins damage our intestinal barrier, leak into our bloodstream, and cause insulin resistance and high blood sugar.
What is Leaky Gut Syndrome?
Our intestine is supposed to allow nutrients from our food (vitamins and minerals) to enter our bloodstream. The tight barrier of intestinal cells only allows these microscopic nutrients to pass through while preventing larger particles from entering our bloodstream. Our intestinal barrier is said to be selectively permeable, only allowing certain compounds to pass through. However, studies show that excess sugar in our bodies breaks down this tight barrier of cells, allowing larger particles to escape our intestine and enter our circulatory system where they don’t belong. This is called increased permeability, or leaky gut.
These larger particles include bits of undigested food, harmful bacteria, and the toxins produced by bacteria. Once they all enter our blood, they wreak havoc throughout our body, causing symptoms like bloating, bowel problems, fatigue, food sensitivities, joint pain, weight gain, headaches, brain fog, skin problems, and more. These are the common symptoms of leaky gut syndrome.
Further, our immune system launches an attack on these “foreign” particles, which increases inflammation and perpetuates leaky gut. Lastly, excess sugar in our diet feeds the harmful bacteria in our gut, displacing our beneficial bacteria. This causes a microbial imbalance which further damages our gut lining, increases intestinal permeability, and increases inflammation. As you can see, compromised gut lining, increased inflammation, and microbial imbalance all play a role in the ongoing damage and progression of leaky gut syndrome.
It’s important to note that leaky gut syndrome is not only caused by diets high in sugar. This condition is also brought on by low-fiber diets, chronic stress, NSAID medications, antibiotic use, and bacteria or yeast overgrowth.
If overindulgence was a season, it would run between October and December. This is the time of year when healthy habits are set aside and poor habits are justified. However, our bodies don’t change their habits and the extra burden we place on them due to our high sugar intake compromises our gut health. As we have seen, even those with normal blood sugar can damage their gut through a high sugar diet. Further, those with existing gut issues can develop high blood sugar. This message is not just for those with blood sugar problems or diabetes, it is for everyone who overindulges on processed carbs and added sugars. This season, as we prep for the holidays, keep tabs on your snacking habits and be kind to your body.
