Leaky gut – the importance of the barrier wall
What is intestinal permeability or leaky gut? Find out why this condition is often unsuspected but can have a profound effect on your health.
embracing-nutrition July 12, 2019
Are you or a loved one living with Multiple Sclerosis? A much-misunderstood condition, MS affects over 130,000 people in the UK, with three times more women diagnosed than men.
Because symptoms can come and go unpredictably, MS Awareness Week aims to highlight the condition, which in many cases is not obvious from the outside.
In this article, you’ll discover why MS develops and what can be done to manage the disease.
MS is an autoimmune disease, meaning the immune system mistakenly starts attacking the myelin sheath, the protective covering around the nerves in your brain and spinal cord. Sclerosis means scarring, and multiple refers to the many different nerves potentially affected. The myelin covering is designed to allow messages to pass smoothly along your nerves, so any damage interferes with their transmission, causing delays or preventing them reaching their destination.
Because your brain and spinal cord control functions all over your body, everyone will experience MS slightly differently.
Most sufferers experience episodes of MS, with symptoms abating once an attack is over. Between times, your body can repair itself up to a point, replacing some of the damaged myelin or rerouting messages via a different pathway. However, nerve transmission may not be as efficient after an attack. In some cases, MS becomes steadily worse over time.
Common symptoms of MS include:
Symptoms tend to fluctuate or change over time.
Conventional treatments aim to slow the progression of the disease and decrease the frequency of relapses. However, these drugs only target the symptoms of MS and don’t address the reasons why the disease developed in the first place. Only by knowing the cause can things be put right.
MS is caused by your immune system going haywire. In other words, it loses its selectivity and fails to distinguish between what’s harmful and what isn’t.
Because the vast majority of your immune system is found in your gut, this is the first place to look when searching for the reasons why your immune system decides to behave like this.
A condition known as leaky gut occurs when the lining of your intestines becomes too permeable, allowing partially-digested molecules of food, along with toxic substances, through it and into your bloodstream. This causes ongoing inflammation to spread through your body and puts your immune system on high alert. If it’s constantly triggered in this way it can start to attack innocent parts of your body, believing them to be dangerous.
Some combinations of genes have been found to increase the risk of developing MS, but these don’t cause the condition. Your genetic makeup can however make it more likely the disease will develop in response to something in your environment. Triggers can include bacterial infections such as Clostridium perfringens, a foodborne bacteria causing diarrhea and abdominal cramps, viral infections like the Epstein-Barr and herpes viruses, smoking, obesity, a period of stress and lack of certain nutrients.
Some people with MS have been exposed to toxic metals such as mercury, or live in environments containing a lot of moulds.
The first step is to restore the selectivity of the immune system. Healing the permeable and inflamed gut lining can help take your immune system off high alert.
Many factors can lead to a leaky gut, including stress, certain medications, alcohol, and an imbalance in intestinal bacteria.
Gluten contains a substance known to make intestines more permeable, plus it’s a complex protein so if your gut lining is leaky, it can easily be absorbed into your bloodstream before it’s completely broken down, triggering your immune system. Many people with autoimmune issues like MS find by removing gluten their immune system calms down.
Anti-inflammatory nutrients like vitamin D – people who are deficient in vitamin D are more likely to develop MS – and omega 3 from fish oil may be useful. The brains of people living with MS were found to be lower in magnesium, a mineral crucial for the transmission of nerve impulses and prevention of muscle spasms. B vitamins, especially B2 and B6 are important for the health of the myelin sheath around your nerves.
A diagnosis of MS can be frightening for you or a loved one, especially if you’re told the condition has no cure. Functional medicine offers hope by treating you as an individual and focusing on dealing with the causes of your ill-health.
Functional tests can detect leaky gut, intestinal bacterial imbalance and the presence of toxins and moulds. Nutritional, dietary and lifestyle measures can then be implemented to put these right, helping you manage your condition and regain control of your life.
Why not request a FREE 15-minute discovery call to start your journey to better health.
What is intestinal permeability or leaky gut? Find out why this condition is often unsuspected but can have a profound effect on your health.
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