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What Your Aching Joints and Digestive Discomfort May Have in Common

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Your intestinal lining serves as a highly selective barrier with microscopic pores that absorb essential nutrients from your food while blocking harmful pathogens, large food particles and waste products from entering your bloodstream. But what happens when your digestive lining becomes damaged and more porous?

The unfortunate result is called leaky gut syndrome or intestinal permeability, a condition that can lead to unpleasant digestive symptoms like bloating, gas and cramps along with seemingly unrelated maladies like chronic sinus infections, achy joints, skin rashes and even brain fog.

What makes treating leaky gut so difficult is that there is no diagnostic testing for it. Nor is there a way to determine the exact cause of increased intestinal permeability. For some patients, Crohn’s or celiac disease is at the root of the problem. When these conditions are effectively treated, the symptoms of leaky gut disappear.

However, in many cases leaky gut cannot be traced to an underlying condition or known causes of intestinal permeability like food allergies, radiation treatments or certain drug use. This is when patient and physician must put on their thinking caps and look for lifestyle factors that may be causing or contributing to the condition.

Some possible culprits include:

  • Chronic stress
  • Yeast overgrowth caused by too much sugar consumption
  • Bacterial imbalance in the gut
  • Parasite infection
  • Excessive alcohol intake

Once one or more of these factors are controlled or eradicated, the various symptoms of leaky gut may disappear or become significantly reduced. But it’s important to remember there is no cure. Many doctors that successfully treat patients with leaky gut find an integrative approach that includes certain nutritional therapies, dietary modifications and stress reduction techniques works best.

Here are some lifestyle strategies that have been shown to help.

  • Adopt an anti-inflammatory diet with the goal of healing inflamed intestinal tissue and reducing other inflammatory symptoms in the body. This includes eliminating sugar and artificial sweeteners, dairy products and gluten in favor of anti-inflammatory omega-3 rich fatty fish coupled with high-fiber, antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables.
  • Maintain healthy gut bacteria (probiotics) that are crucial for strong immunity and the absorption of water-soluble vitamins your body needs. Natural sources of probiotics include fermented foods like sauerkraut and other pickled vegetables, Greek yogurt, kefir, miso and tempeh. A high-quality probiotic supplement taken daily is also recommended by many doctors.
  • Improve intestinal permeability by taking L-glutamine supplements. Healthy quantities of this semi-essential amino acid can be produced in the body under normal circumstances, but with physical trauma, it may be deficient and lead to increased intestinal permeability. Supplemental L-glutamine has been shown to improve intestinal permeability in malnourished children and people with inflammatory bowel disease.
  • It’s well-known that chronic stress can lead to a variety of intestinal ailments and even produce toxic metabolites that lead to other health problems. That’s why learning to reduce your stress with meditation, exercise and even a sense of humor is so important.

While many people see noticeable improvement in their leaky gut symptoms in about 6 weeks, in extreme cases it can take months or even years for a damaged intestinal lining to heal. The key is to find a caring physician with experience in treating patients with the symptoms of intestinal permeability and then working closely with her to successfully heal your gut.

Melanie Segala is the past editor of the alternative medicine reference book, Disease Prevention and Treatment, and the author of numerous health-related articles. She is currently a health writer for BlessedHerbs.com nutritional supplements.

http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/features/leaky-gut-syndrome?page=2

http://www.doctoroz.com/article/could-leaky-gut-be-troubling-you?page=2

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2898551/

http://www.nutritional-supplement-educational-centre.com/benefits-of-l-glutamine.html

6 Steps to Supercharge Your Immune System this Season

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My friends at Nutri-Health.com (thank you!!) offered to send me a guest post on ways to boost your immune health. Read on for these helpful tips!

 

This time of year you probably have a thousand things to do. Between the cooking and cleaning for incoming guests, to the shopping for your loved ones, the last thing you need is a runny nose and cold to slow you down. Here are six ways to help keep your immune system in tip-top shape so you can fight off the bugs and stay healthy this season. Read more →

Stress Busting Tips For The Holidays!

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The holidays are a wonderful time of year filled with exciting events, holiday parties, gatherings, family, friends, food and fun! So much going on, it can be overwhelming as much as it is enjoyable. What if you could fully enjoy the holidays and stress less?

Here’s a few of my favorite tips to enjoy this time of the year to the fullest and ditch the stress:

The Freedom of No

As women we care for and nurture others around us. Saying Yes to all that is asked of us, can leave us feeling overloaded and stressed. Saying NO to others is a YES to yourself! Give yourself the time to nourish and care for yourself. In order to continue to enjoy life with those you love, you have to learn to make more careful choices to nourish and sustain yourself.

Nourishing Relationships

Everything we take in is food for our body, mind, and spirit – relationships can either feed us or deplete us. Finding the right balance for ourselves is the key to good health. Think about relationships that nurture you. Compare to the stress related to toxic relationships. Find ways to crowd out toxic relationships.

Have Fun Move More

Increasing daily movement increases serotonin and feel good endorphins. Taking regular walk breaks at work instead of coffee breaks. Add exercise routine to your week: M/W/F/S. Toning up boosts confidence and makes you feel good = lower stress.

  • Zoomba – go to a local class, check out YouTube videos or a DVD
  • Vinyasa Yoga – Breath, flow, and move stress out
  • Brisk Walking or Running
  • Strength Training
  • Exercise Ball or Bosu Ball routines
  • Exercise with a motivated buddy!

Importance of Hydration

About two-thirds of our body is water. Maintaining adequate levels is important for vital body functions, clear thinking, and energy. First signs of dehydration are lightheadedness, muscle cramping, dry mouth. Reach for filtered water instead of coffee, juices, and soda. Spike your filtered water with fresh squeezed lemon, lime, or cucumber slices or make beauty water….Smile

I love this website for it’s recipes: http://blenditandmendit.com/category/bimi-beauty-water/

Crowd Out Foods That Increase Stress

Processed foods, excess sugar, salt, and saturated fats deplete your body of nutrients because your body uses its nutrient stores to break them down. Aim for a ratio of 80/20 – with 80% nutrient dense foods and 20% other.

Limit intake of (crowd out):

  • Processed foods
  • Refined grains
  • Refined sugars
  • Sugar laden beverages: soda, juices, caffeinated beverages
  • Fried foods
  • Saturated fats

Eat More Foods That Decrease Stress

Whole foods: fruit, vegetables (esp. greens), nuts/seeds, lean proteins, healthy fats. Unprocessed in their most natural state, containing high quality nutrients, fiber, and water. Processed foods lack many beneficial elements. Superfoods have high levels of nutrients: leafy greens, kale, collards, swiss chard. Also sea plants and seaweeds: dulse, kelp, nori, kombu

Stress Less About Food

Clean Eating = Consume mostly whole, unprocessed foods, i.e., food in its most natural state. This includes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, nuts, seeds, beans, some dairy, unsaturated vegetable oils. Drink plenty of water, this should be your primary beverage of choice. Eat meals at regular intervals – that means eating every 3-4hrs. Increase intake of fruits and veggies.

Less Stress = Less Inflammation!!

Snack on these Stress Busting Snacks

  1. ¼ cup pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
  2. ¼ or half small avocado with crunchy celery sticks
  3. 1 sliced cucumber with pinch of sea salt and dash of cayenne pepper
  4. Baby carrots with bell pepper strips dipped in ¼ cup hummus
  5. Apple with small handful almonds or walnuts
  6. 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen) with 1 T. coconut oil
  7. Small salad drizzled with olive oil and raw apple cider vinegar
  8. Plain Greek yogurt mixed with salsa. Eat with baked tortilla chips or Triscuits
  9. Half whole wheat pita topped with peanut butter and sliced banana
  10. Green smoothie or juice made with leafy greens, fruit, fresh squeezed lemon

Happy Holidays!! Enjoy the season with wonderment and fill up your heart with good times and celebrate Smile