10 Causes of Leaky Gut Syndrome You Must

Get Under Control To Heal Your Body

A majority of chronic health conditions have one common denominator = Leaky Gut Syndrome!  80% of your immune system is located in your gastro-intestinal tract, when it breaks down, you become sick.

I suffered with LGS growing up.  Until my early 20’s, everyone thought it was “normal” for me to feel the way I did.  Back then, no one discussed LGS and the implications it has on your long-term health. 

Now, we know better!

In the video below, I discuss what LGS is, what causes it (with more causes below) and how to fix it.  

LGS causes system-wide inflammation which will break down the body, causing chronic health issues: autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, chronic pain, brain fog, food

Doesn’t make sense to heal the gut lining?  You bet!

But First…

It is best to know why you have leaky gut in the first place.  That way you’re not chasing down the wrong remedies.

10 Causes of Leaky Gut Syndrome That You Must Know

Although we understand the role of leaky gut in chronic health disorders, the underlying causes of leaky gut itself can be harder to pin down.

Here are the causes we know about:

1. Foods – Many inflammatory foods damage the intestinal walls, leading to leaky gut. Gluten in particular is associated with leaky gut. Dairy, processed foods, excess sugar, and fast foods are other culprits.
2. Alcohol – Alcohol is another common cause of leaky gut.  All alcohol causes inflammation (some are worse than others).  If you are wine drinker, make sure the winery producing the wine does NOT use pesticides/insecticides!
3. Medications – Some medications cause leaky gut, including corticosteroids, antibiotics, antacids, and some medications for arthritis.  It’s important to note some drugs have inflammatory fillers such as gluten.
4. Infections – Certain infections, such H. pylori overgrowth (the bacteria that causes ulcers) or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) can cause leaky gut. Yeast, parasites, and viruses are other possibilities.
5. Stress – Chronic stress raises stress hormones (cortisol), which damages the gut lining over time.  Yes, stress makes us sick!
6. Hormone imbalances – Hormones can cause leaky gut as the intestines depend on proper hormone levels for good function. Imbalances in estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid hormones, and stress hormones all contribute to leaky gut.
7. Crohn’s/Celiac Disease – Autoimmune conditions can lead to leaky gut. We often think in terms of leaky gut causing autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis, or psoriasis. However, sometimes it’s the other way around. The constant inflammation of autoimmune disease can make the gut leaky. Or autoimmunity in the digestive tract can sabotage gut health. In these cases, managing autoimmunity is a strategy to improve leaky gut.
8. GMO’s – Food processing changes the natural structure of foods in a way that makes them inflammatory to the gut. Examples include deamidating wheat to make it water soluble and the high-heat processing (glycation) of sugars. Additives such as gums (xanthan gum, carrageenan, etc.), food colorings, and artificial flavors are inflammatory for some people, too.
9. Toxins – Our environment surrounds us with toxins, some of which have been shown to degrade the gut lining. Regularly taking glutathione, the body’s primary antioxidant, helps protect the body from toxins.
10. Vitamin D – Sufficient vitamin D is vital to protecting the gut lining and a vitamin D deficiency can make the intestinal lining more vulnerable to damage.

These are some of the factors known to contribute to leaky gut. By understanding the cause of your leaky gut, you will have more success restoring health to your gut and managing your chronic health or autoimmune condition.

If you feel you may be suffering from LGS, contact me/staff and let’s set up a complimentary phone consultation to see if we should start digging deeper into your health condition.

Do You Suffer Pain, Caused by the Medical Merry-Go-Round?

Close your eyes for just a moment and imagine this…imagine breaking 35 bones in your body, ranging from collarbones, to your hips, to arms, legs, feet, and your hands! 

Do you think that breaking that many bones would cause some pain?  I hope you said, YES! 

Now, you are probably thinking, “who would break 35 bones in their body, besides Evil Knievel?”

Well…that person would be, yours truly!  I have broken 35 major bones, and had 11 surgeries to fix some of injuries.  Let me tell you, pain is not fun!

However, my pain was only temporary (except for some residual ankle pain from a surgery gone bad), while many patients’ pain is chronic and seems never ending.

Some patients, live in a continuous state of pain, WITHOUT breaking bones.  A lot of times, this gets labeled as Fibromyalgia if you are struggling with muscle pain, or early arthritis if you are having joint pains.

Fibromyalgia, which I dislike saying as I am not a fan of the label, is mainly an adrenal gland disorder, with a deep-rooted connection to autoimmune disease. 

NOT LYRICA

Most fibromyalgia patients that I have worked with were prescribed Lyrica at some point in time.  Check this link out: https://www.lyrica.com/fibromyalgia

Look at some the side effects of the medication, including suicidal thoughts or behavior.  Lyrica was originally developed for treatment of seizures, NOT muscle pain.  But, if a medication can calm the brain down and prevent it from seizing, it can also make your body numb to the pain it is having.

If the medication “numbs” the pain, does that mean the true cause of the pain has been fixed?  I hope you said, NO! 

Our Medical Model

Why, then, are so many patients on this medication, for years?  Why are the causes not being looked for?

Let’s ignore the fact there is a pill you can take if you have muscle pain.  Imagine, those pills never existed.  If medication for Fibromyalgia, let’s just call it muscle pain from here on out, didn’t exist, what would you do?

Think of it this way…if your car was dripping oil onto your drive way, to the point where oil was pooling under your vehicle, what would you do?  Hopefully, you would take the vehicle to a mechanic to FIX the problem. 

If the mechanic slapped some duct tape on the oil pan, to stop the leak, would you be happy?  Probably, not.  More than likely, you would end up returning the vehicle and demanding for the leak to be FIXED.

Why then, do so many patients settle for “slapping” some medication onto a symptom? 

We Have A “Duct Tape” Crisis in Our Country!!!

Muscle pain, without injury or over-use, is typically caused by inflammatory hormones.  The big culprit, cortisol!  Cortisol is released from the adrenal glands in states of stress (chemical, physical, and emotional). 

Let me ask you a question, have you ever heard of peoples’ pain getting worse under stress?  You have?  Great!  I just described what causes debilitating muscle pain, barring a major injury.

Stress?  Yes!  But, that stress can be caused by many triggers: bacterial infections, blood sugar fluctuations, reactions to toxins, viruses, food sensitivities…and the list can go on.

Would it be beneficial to begin looking for some of these triggers that drive the adrenal glands to release too much cortisol, therefore causing more pain in the muscles?  You bet it would!

Do most doctors do that?  Some, but not a majority of them.  How do I know?  Because, this story has been told to me by hundreds of patients in the past 10+ years.

If you are having unexplained muscle pain, you must start looking to see what could be making your adrenal glands work over time.

Early Arthritis

Hearing this has always boggled my mind.  Let’s take, Susan, a stay at home mom of two beautiful children, who has an amazing husband, Steve, and they are living an incredible life: great job for Steve, beautiful home for the family, wonderful friends and relatives…but, Susan has recently been diagnosed with early arthritis.

A few months back, Susan noticed she was having some knee and ankle pain, bilaterally (on both sides).  She ignored the symptoms for a couple of weeks until she couldn’t live with the pain anymore. 

Against her better judgement, she began taking some Tylenol/Advil/Motrin (take your pick), and noticed the pain went away.  GREAT!  But…the pain kept coming back. 

Eventually, she becomes concerned and visits her family doctor, Dr. A(rthritis).  As Dr. A asks Susan about her past history, he learns that Susan was NEVER an athlete.  She didn’t play sports growing up and has never had an injury to those body parts.

Even though she was not an athlete, and never suffered trauma to her knees/ankles, Dr. A tells her she has early arthritis and to take some pain pills and try to avoid any type of impact exercise.

Susan leaves Dr. A’s office still feeling lost.  She didn’t get an answer, and was told to do what she was already doing. 

What does Susan do?  She listens to the doctor and keeps taking the pain pills.

What Do You Think?

What would you begin to analyze about Susan in order to determine why she was having pain?  Would you think to run some blood work looking to see if her body was inflamed?  You would?  Awesome!!!  Great idea.

Let’s say you took the time to run blood work.  The blood work comes back with very high levels of ferritin, CRP, and homocysteine (those are all inflammatory markers).  So, it appears that Susan has lots of inflammation.

Did you know that the leading cause of joint destruction is inflammation?  Yep, inflammation DESTROYS!  In some cases, the inflammation destroys areas of the body, one at a time, or it goes after multiple areas at the same time.  The knee and ankle for example. 

Dr. A told her she was having early arthritis and to take pain pills.  You, the smart doctor you are, discovered her body is very inflamed.  And…you know that inflammation causes pain. 

So, smart doctor, you decide to dig deeper to figure out what is causing the inflammation.  Great idea by the way!

Medical Merry-Go-Round

What I just described is how patients get labeled with a health condition, but the cause is never truly uncovered, therefore never addressed.

In this case, Susan would keep doing what Dr. A told her to do, and would never know what is truly causing her pain.  Her body is inflamed, but why? 

If you can figure out why, then you can put an end to Susan’s joint pain (the “early arthritis”) and you can begin to help heal the joints as the inflammation is decreasing.

How awesome is that???

Hang Tight, This Was a Long Blog

While these are not the ONLY reasons for muscle/joint, they are the BIG culprits in most patients. 

If you are struggling with chronic pain, reach out to me, let me run some blood tests to begin uncovering the CAUSE of the situation. 

Remember, you wouldn’t settle for slapping some duct tape onto the oil pan to fix the leaking oil.  Don’t settle for medications for a chronic health problem!

Below you can download the 67-blood markers I run on every single patient, and compare these markers to what your doctors have been running!