Leaky Gut Syndrome

What is Intestinal Permeability?

Increased intestinal permeability is another name for leaky gut. It often goes hand in hand with those suffering from food intolerance symptoms.

It is not unusual for it to go un-diagnosed or misdiagnosed by those in the medical profession. This article explains how one woman was misdiagnosed based on her symptoms.

It also mentions that even though some doctors agree leaky gut syndrome exists; they debate whether it actually is the cause of the health problems.

 How do you Know if you Have a Leaky Gut?

If you are suffering from only a couple of symptoms such as mood swings and stress, it’s possible you may not be aware that leaky gut syndrome is the reason for your own health ailments.

Additionally, one of the major problems with having this issue is that you may suffer from malnutrition as a result.

This is extremely stressful for parents of young children as they watch their children wither away to skin and bones.

Leaky gut syndrome is also known to cause low immunity thereby creating a greater chance of  contracting illnesses. I know how scary this is as a parent having gone through this with one of my own children.

The only way I was able to eventually identify this problem for my child was to recognize that he had food intolerance symptoms or food problems.

Once identified, I started on a path of discovery about food and consultations with alternative health professionals, that led me to understand the problem.

Leaky Gut Explained

I have a lot of respect for a guy called Yuri Elkaim so I have chosen to include his explanation of Leaky Gut Syndrome. Watch the video below:

Leaky gut syndrome – my journey

When my son was suffering from food intolerance symptoms, I was desperate for answers.

People would tell me he was just suffering from the terrible twos. According to some, this is a phase that two year old children go through where they throw tantrums all the time.

I don’t believe in the terrible twos,  food intolerance symptoms aside. He was irritable, suffering from oppositional defiant disorder symptoms, stubborn and his behaviour was at times unmanageable. It was physically and mentally stressful and draining.

As a result, I consulted a naturopath who conducted some urine tests and stool tests. It was through these tests that he was diagnosed with leaky gut syndrome. So now at least, we had something to work with.

Too Many Supplements and Restrictive Diet

The down side of seeing the naturopath and not having the knowledge I have now, was that we ended up having him supplemented to the max.

We had approximately 15 bottles or containers of vitamins to fix his body and provide him with the nutrients he was lacking.

While I believe this did have some impact on his health, it did not change the fact that he was on a restricted diet and what I could feed him was not getting any more expansive.

Then, he decided he didn’t want to take these vitamin shakes I was making for him 2 times a day and to be honest, I’d had enough too so together we gave it up.

So take a look at the picture over on the right and ask yourself if you want to be grinding tablets or blending them into a mix two times a day. Then, taking the mix yourself or giving it to your children.

The other option; look for a natural alternative. I know what I found easier!

My Research

I then went looking for more answers. It began with my own research online. Through that research and after trying several other ways to cure my son’s food intolerance symptoms,  I came across a guy that I now understand to be an absolute guru on food.

There was a free seminar one night here in Melbourne and through that, I discovered that there was a way to help heal my son.

The books were of great value to me because of what was contained there in. The  knowledge and writings contained in these books has been incredible.

These are heirloom books and I treasure them and what I have learned from them.  The books I am referring to are called The FDR which stands for Farmacist Desk Reference. (books pictured below).

My Solution

There were a few things I put into place to help , as a result of reading the FDR. They are listed below:

• I introduced fermented products such as raw milk, but I now steer clear of animal products
• An absolute must is kefir products and you can buy a Kefir Starter Kit here
• fermented miso,
• pure apple cider vinegar,
• cheese that contained vegetable rennet rather than animal rennet or animal enzyme.
• make sure water intake is high
• add some psyllium husk to cereal in the morning or to a healthy green smoothie where it can be easier to get into the body, to increase fibre intake
• add unrefined salt to food in small quantities
• you can also introduce pure sauerkraut but I found it difficult to incorporate this into my child’s diet.

Over time, I noticed my son’s behaviour improved, he was much happier and I was able to slowly introduce a wider variety of fruit and vegetables as changed to a higher raw food lifestyle.

If you want to start on that path then I suggest a few resources starting with this one or you can have a look at Raw Food Melbourne for more ideas.

We still avoid wheat where we can as I find this causes problems with formation of his stools but mostly, we can use products with kamut or millet where there is even less of a reaction than spelt flour.

Spelt is often used as an alternative to general highly processed wheat flour.

If you are in Australia then try Healthy Bake Bread. Always check the ingredient list on products you are using on a regular basis to make sure nothing has changed.

The power of pure water

Another option for adults or children over a certain age, is to do a water fast. A good way to work up to a longer fast that your body needs is to start by doing a water fast one day a week.

I do recommend however, you seek guidance before you undertake this as those who have been quite ill can find it difficult to do a water fast that extends beyond one day.

You will need support and to be in a position where you are not relied upon in case you find you are unable to function during this time.

There is also some great information on fasting so I highly recommend you click here and buy The FDR which is a masterpiece. You can read more about water fasting in my article here.

To conclude I would like to say that improvements may take time but it can be worth adding fermented products to your diet because this will improve your intestinal permeability and provide much greater health benefits while healing your leaky gut.

Keep to your restricted diet based on your elimination diet until you start to see improvements in your health.

Let me know your story by leaving a comment below or share this information with others so they can find it by clicking on the social media buttons such as facebook or twitter.

I want to help as many people I can by providing helpful information and options to try at home.

Disclaimer:

I’m no medical expert and information contained on this blog is written through my own experience with the aim of furthering your education on health. It is your responsibility as to how you use this information and I cannot be held liable for any misinterpretation or misuse of the information provided.