How Long does it take to heal Leaky Gut?
To get an idea about this question we need to go down to the cellular level. 300 square meters is the surface area of the gut. The enterocytes are the lining cells of the gut that keep reviving/restoring in a gut that is normal and healthy. A new lining of the gut is seen every two to three weeks. For those individuals who do not have any medical disease or conditions, studies prove that that the gut-healing might take around two and twelve weeks (higher range may-be for those who have other medical conditions).
In another study by Harvard, published in the Medical Journal Nature, states that those who are keen on healing their gut majorly have an underlying cause as an issue will definitely take a longer time to heal by making it more complex and slow i.e. like a journey.
In-case whenever you decide to change your time in terms of diet and lifestyle, that restores back the gut functioning, skin gets clearer, energy increases, bloating reduces, loss of weight, betterment in the conditions like eczema, asthma, allergies, migraine, depression, eagerness/anxiety, auto-immune disease and much more. This again varied depending on several factors/causes.
How do I know my Gut is repaired?
There are five signs which will be mentioned that show that the gut is fully repaired.
By working hard on this aspect, you want to check whether it is showing results or no. The most important thing to know whether the gut is repaired or no via symptoms that you undergo. Below am mentioning few points that show you on right track:
Digestive Issues, food sensitivity vanish/fade away, skin issues go away, Auto-immunity lab markers improve, returning again to optimal self (quality of life improves). Your energy and stamina return back, mood has improved and you came back to proper weight.
You can also check it through a spectrum, with one side being no inflammation & healthy balanced gut with no symptoms and other end being leaky gut with a number of symptoms.
Even if the gut is repaired, it could have its own draw-backs where you need to work to get back to normal health. Accidents could include Accidental exposure to gluten.
Be calm with one-self, and be firm on following your gut-healthy protocol. This dedication that you give to your health will be satisfactory as your health will be revived and also the quality of life is improved). You feel better.
Introduction
The term leaky gut has obtained a lot of awareness recently. Leaky Gut is also familiar as “increased intestinal permeability.” In Leaky Gut, the bacteria, as well as toxins, leak into and out of the intestinal wall. It is considered to be a digestive issue.
It also considered as per the scientific proof that there is the existence of leaky gut and it causes several health conditions.
The gut is considered to be the “Gateway to Health.” Gut consists of approximately 80% of the immune system. 95% of the “serotonin” which is the “feel-good” hormone is also produced in the Gut. Healing and improving your gut is of the utmost importance to lead a healthy and happy life.
Starting from stomach conditions to pain to eagerness, for everything the gut is to be blamed, but then too it is one of the most puzzling illnesses/diseases to be diagnosed and to get treated.
We have a very puzzling disease or illness majorly due to the gut having a very extensive and complex structure. There is still so much science that proceeds with finding newly developed methods, where the gut can have an impact on the health of the heart to brains being young and active, as per “Dr. Alessio Fasano, director of the Center for Celiac Research and Treatment with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts, General Hospital.”
How leaky gut affects people’s health is known but there is still a huge amount of information which is unknown.
What is leaky gut?
The digestive system is where the food is digested (broken down) and nutrients are absorbed. The digestive system also plays a major role in safeguarding your body from detrimental or dangerous substances. The intestinal walls act as a barrier/hurdle to check what is passing into the bloodstream, to be carried to the different organs of the body.
Water and nutrients are passed into and out of the small holes (tight junctions) in the walls of the intestine when obstructing the movement of detrimental substances.
Intestinal Permeability is defined as an easy passage of the substances through the walls of intestine.
When the small holes (tight junction) of the intestinal wall becomes loose, the permeability of the gut increases and resulting in bacteria and toxins to pass from the gut into the bloodstream. This event is termed as “leaky gut.”
Due to leaky gut, when the toxins and bacteria enter the blood-stream, it results in inflammation and activates a reaction from the immunity.
Proponents declare that it is one of the major causes of a number of medical conditions such as “chronic fatigue syndrome, migraine, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, food sensitivities, thyroid abnormalities, mood swings, skin conditions, and autism.
Many Health-care professionals say that an increase in the permeability of the intestine, do occur in few chronic diseases.
The main task here is that it is a challenge to calculate the strength of an individual’s gut barrier, so it becomes difficult to identify whether the leaky gut is there or no. What impact it will be having on the body as per Dr. Fasano.
Symptoms and Signs of Leaky Gut
The below given could be the signs and symptoms of leaky gut as per Dr. Leo Galland, who is the director of the Foundation for Integrated Medicine.
- Digestive issues such as chronic diarrhea, constipation, gas or bloating or IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).
- Nutritional Deficiencies such as anemia, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin deficiencies
- Metabolism such as excess weight, obesity, diabetes
- Poor immunity such as frequent cold, flu, and infection. Auto-immune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, celiac disease or chron’s disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
- Brain: Headaches, brain fog, and memory loss and Depression/Eagerness/ ADHD (Attention Deficient Hyperactive Disorder)
- Excessive tiredness or fatigue
- Rashes on the skin such as acne, eczema
- Cravings for refined carbs or sugar
- Bones: Arthritis or Joint Pain and Osteoporosis
- Seasonal Allergies or Asthma
- Imbalance in the hormones such as PMS or PCOD i.e. Pre-menstrual Syndrome and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
- Diagnosis of candida overgrowth
- Food Allergies, food sensitivities or intolerances.
Causes of Leaky Gut
- The main culprit is food, infection, and toxins.
- Gluten is the number one cause of leaky gut.
- Several factors could lead to leaky gut such as:
- Food Sensitivities, Candida or yeast over-growth, Parasites, Medications, and Drugs
- Excessive sugar intake and other unhealthy food affect the barrier of wall of intestine.
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID’s): Excess and too much use of NSAIS’s like ibuprofen leads to leaky gut due to increase in the wall of intestinal permeability.
- Excess alcohol intake may also cause intestinal permeability.
- Nutritional Deficiencies: Deficiencies of vitamins such as A, D and Zinc result in increases intestinal permeability.
- Inflammation: This also results in the leaky gut.
- Stress: Excess Stress also results in gastro-intestinal disorder, leading to leaky gut.
- Poor Gut Condition: There is a mix of good and harmful bacteria which are almost in millions in the gut. If the balance of the good and harmful bacteria is affected, it can affect the intestinal wall.
- Yeast Overgrowth: The natural existence of yeast is there in the gut, but excess growth of yeast can lead to leaky gut.
Ways to heal leaky gut?
To consume a healthy, well-balanced diet with optimum nutrition. It is a process that is divided into two parts.
Remove: Excluding the toxic and inflammatory foods as it causes the gut to become leaky and adding good and healthy nutrients that will result in healing the gut. To remove those products which affect the environment of the gut in a negative way.
Replace: For appropriate digestion and absorption including important healthy nutrients for proper break-down and absorption of the nutrients i.e. digestive enzymes, HCL (Hydrochloric Acid) and bile acids.
Reinoculate: It is quite difficult to restore back the important bacteria to improve the good gut bacteria.
Repair: It is important to provide essential nutrients for the gut to be restored. To revive the lining of the gut wall it is important to consume L-Glutamine supplement.
Dietary Modifications:
Various ways to improve gut health. To improve gut health helps improve gut bacteria.
- To reduce the intake of refined carbohydrates: Bacteria which are harmful, grow more when there is the excess intake of sugar and can harm the gut barrier function. Avoid unhealthy, processed, junk and fried foods.
- Include Probiotic supplement: This helps improve the beneficial gut bacteria. Probiotics include curd, buttermilk, and probiotic supplements.
- Eat Fermented foods: Fermented foods such as yogurt, kimchi, saukerkraut, kefir, and kombucha, helps improve the gut bacteria.
- Include plenty of high-fiber foods: This includes fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole-grains that feed the beneficial bacteria.
- Reducing the intake of alcohol and Quit Smoking
- Avoid or reduce stress
Conclusion/Summary
Leaky gut or increased permeability is defined as when the harmful toxins and bacteria pass to and fro the intestinal wall inside the blood-stream.
Few of the Medical Health Care Professionals do not agree to the existence of the leaky gut, whereas there are many of them who confirm the evidence of an increase in the intestinal wall permeability being real.
For example, in many of the auto-immune disorders, the leaky gut syndrome is there.
There is not much proof to conclude that one of the main reasons for the underlying causes of the diseases is leaky gut syndrome.
To reduce the chances of the leaky gut syndrome is improving gut health by including a healthy and nutritious diet and reducing or restricting the intake of NSAIDs. Important to include lifestyle changes as a part of the treatment.
References
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2017.00598/full
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31076401
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26760399
Sirisha B 
Raju Ch