There has been a lot of social media attention lately surrounding leaky gut - how important is it?
To say that leaky gut is the root of ALL disease is not true in an absolutely sense but it is true in a majority sense. The term "leaky gut" is not the best. Everyone's gut is leaky and it's by design: things are supposed to cross over gut barrier but do so in a controlled fashion and with specific processes.
Hyperpermeability would be a better term.
Many of our diseases and many subclinical diagnoses of the modern area do directly or indirectly involve the gut:
Directly in that we ingest many thongs that disrupt the gut: glyphosate, mold toxins and more.
And there are indirect ways, one of the simplest of which is not getting enough sleep. That increases hyperpermeability. And head injuries and other things cause the gut to be hyperpermeable with out directly being toxic to the gut lining. They regulate nervous system to make gut more permeable.
What the social media arguments are often leaving out is what leaky gut or hyperpermeability actually means and what it actually leads to. Everyone gets nights of poor sleep and doesn't develop disease, for example. But if this permeability goes on for long enough it can cause epigenetic changes and new and worsening sensitivities because the immune system has been flooded. Increased uptake of toxins is directly related to this. And all of these can lead to the development of disease.
I often use a GI-MAP test to get an idea of what's going on in the gut. Reach out today if you'd like to get help with your gut health!
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