Leaky gut

[Glitterpants]

Has anyone been diagnosed with leaky gut? Seems that the NHS do not recognise this but Nutrionists & Gut specialists do. I would be very grateful for any information or advise on this.

[Kitten-whiskers]

Goos morning - Yes, I was. I was told it was perfectly normal, this was many years go when I trusted them , if only I had not and dealt with it. There are lots of good books about it these days but still the doctors don't seem too interested, well not in my experience. What have you tried? I have a book heal gut by L Holmes but cannot use it due to the IBS, she uses lots of foods that I cannot tolerate. In the book she does mention doing a liquid diet to start with so the nutrients are better absorbed.

[Glitterpants in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

I have taken an anti microbial recommended by Nutrionist but it made me feel worse. Lot of gas & nausea.

[userotc]

Yes there is a divide between medics and nutritional therapists on LG (as well as many other areas!). Sadly the NHS appears not to have moved on much in various areas since it's 1948 creation. That said, in recent years, I have read some medics acknowledging it. So why? Because there are no drug treatments. So fortunately they can leave this area (key to health) to NTs with naturopathic solutions the obvious ones.

[Glitterpants in reply to userotc]

Thank you thats interesting.

[Flyonawall]

Long chain polysaccharides

[xjrs]

There is some acknowledgement of leaky gut in the scientific community, but this hasn't translated into treatments or clinical studies that would enable it to be recognised by the NHS. However, I would be very cautious paying money to people who profess to be able to fix this, since the science isn't exactly there yet.

On a general level, it is probably more about trying to get your gut into as healthy a state as possible. This involves eating a very wide variety of foods including plant and cereal fibres. This helps to feed your microbiome. The best diet for the microbiome is the Mediterranean diet. It is having a healthy microbiome that helps to take care of your gut lining since it helps to build the mucosal layer that protects it.

This can be a challenge for IBS sufferers since many healthy foods can give symptoms. This is because they feed gut bacteria. If you have a dominance of bad bugs in your gut, you would be feeding those too causing symptoms. These bad bugs may also compromise the gut lining.

This is why it is worth trying a good probiotic like Alflorex which has been scientifically studied for IBS, to help fight off the bad bugs, making you more tolerant to foods, so that you can eat a variety of foods again (the utopia is 30 different foods in a week). This creates bacterial diversity in the gut, increases good bacteria, the more good bacteria you have, the more they are able to fight off bad bugs themselves, eventually without probiotics.

[Glitterpants in reply to xjrs]

Thank you for this advice I will try Alforex. Have tried probiotics not Alforex before & they make me feel worse cause excessive gas & nausea so stopped taking them.

[xjrs in reply to Glitterpants]

It is possible that you may get this in the beginning. Precision Biotics who manufactures Alflorex have a help line if you experience any issues.

[Superzob]

This seemed to be a popular concept 20-30 years ago, when I consulted a herbalist who advised that the "leaky gut" could be caused by a fungus (usually candida albicans) and was put on a yeast-free diet (which also meant stopping sugar and milk products). Unfortunately, all that happened was that I lost weight (when I was already underweight) and it made no discernible difference to the IBS.

I think the scientific community is reluctant to accept unproven theories, even though there may be something in it. Although fungi are an integral part of the gut flora, an imbalance might well trigger symptoms, but it would be difficult to attribute symptoms to that particular cause (hence the reticence of the scientific/medical community). I tend to be with xjrs on this one and aim to reduce a potential imbalance without getting too hung up on the exact cause.

[Glitterpants in reply to Superzob]

Yes I can see you reasoning in this. Microbime test results show that I have high Zonulin levels there are so many different ideas on how to lessen this.

[Luisa22]

Forgive me for being so cynical, but the NHS (bless them, because they saved my life once) -are only going to give conditions attention if enough funding is there for it. I think it's all about available funds for x...y...z. Other things get shelved or completely ignored.

But a Functional medical doctor would understand leaky gut and be able to give guidance re; diet, treatments etc..

Problem is, that's all about money too. It would almost certainly be private medicine.

But I think if it is possible to afford it, then that comes first before anything else we could buy. Our health is the centre of things.

[Kulbir108]

Luisa 22.......... you be so right. NHS goes where the $$ is health in the US is big $$ not about finding a cure but promoting meds. I have kaiser and I swear the pharmaceutical companies finance it. I have not gone to the Dr. once without them offering some "pill" if I would have listened I would be on 8 different ones now...... I refused all and have worked with diet and homeopaths/functional Drs. $$ yes but I am worth it......better than a new car for sure. Meditation is the basis..... stress causes dis-ease Look at your food sources and if your eating processed or non-organic you can be sure you consuming too many chemicals. That's my 2 cents........smiles

[Matrix]

yes I was born with a gut problem ,I have been diagnosed with Leaky gut syndrome ,all I got from the dr was omperazole despite the consultant saying he would be happy to treat me .I asked the dr what that meant and he just shrugged.x🥰🥰