How Leaky Gut Creates Food Sensitivities

With warmer weather comes the annoyance of lathering up your squirmy kid with sunscreen. As a parent you understand the sunscreen battle is worth the fight vs. a sunburnt crying kid.

The skin is the largest organ of the body. One of the main functions of the skin is protection. It protects the body from external factors such as bacteria, chemicals, and temperature. (1) The gut lining is similar to the skin expect it’s the body’s internal layer of skin – aka 2^nd skin.

As you consume items like whole food, processed crap (PC), chemicals, additives, medication, etc. it takes a journey along the digestive system and ends up in your gut. Once in your gut these items encounter your gut barrier (aka 2^nd skin). The gut barrier consists of one cell layer between the gut content, and your immune system and bloodstream. A healthy gut should be permeable enough to absorb nutrients, while keeping the food, bacteria, other microbes, and their components inside the gut. (2)

Just like your 1^st layer of skin, your 2^nd layer of skin gets damaged by your modern-day lifestyle of constant stress (physical & mental), gluten, alcohol, food additives, poor quality of sleep, over the counter medicine & prescription drug abuse, chemicals found in food and air, and PC. Your gut can only handle so much of a beating before it becomes inflamed or damaged and as a result, the barrier allows undigested foods and bacteria toxins through the 2^nd skin.

When undigested foods and toxins enter, they can be triggered as foreign invaders. If you have a healthy immune system these items can be “ignore,” but once the immune system becomes imbalanced, it can no longer ignore the food particles and bacterial toxins.  As a result, the immune system can become sensitized to the foods, leading to food sensitivities. (3)

Food sensitivities is a controversial topic. When I began my functional medicine journey, I was clueless about the 2^nd skin and intestinal permeability (aka leaky gut). After rounds of testing I was diagnosed with these odd conditions and was very confused what to do. How could someone who was doing “all the right things” like eating big ass salads, running countless miles, and having a super fun life be diagnosed with such things?

What I’ve learned through my Functional Diagnostic Nutrition education is that just because you’re healthy and doing all the right things doesn’t mean those “oops” along the way didn’t affect you. Looking back now I realize certain life events had a huge impact on my gut integrity. For instance, I had:

• (2) c-sections. Giving birth places a HUGE stress on the body. For you this may have been traumatic, mentally & physically. Don’t dismiss it!
• Countless rounds of antibiotics as a child which disrupts the balance of good vs. bad gut bacteria
• Countless trips to foreign countries where I was infected with parasites (those can majorly impact the gut)
• Years of hard-core boozing, no regrets (ok, maybe some)
• Engaged in endurance races which can place too much stress on the body (everyone one is different)
• And a few other traumatic experiences which caused months of PTSD and physical pain

 Now, just because you have encountered some of the same things, it doesn’t mean you have damage to your 2^nd skin or food sensitivities. But if you chronically deal with one or a few of these symptoms your immune system may be responding to leaked food particles and bacteria toxins.

• Autoimmune and allergic diseases
• Stubborn weight gain or loss
• Elevated cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure
• Hormone imbalances-> Mood swings, hot flashes, infertility, and low libido
• Mommy brain -> inability to focus, memory problems
• Moodiness, anxiety, and depression
• Trouble falling asleep, staying asleep and feeling tired after sleeping
• Bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation
• Skin irritations
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Aches & pains

Your unique gut blueprint expresses itself differently depending on your lifestyle, physical and genetic wellbeing. Symptoms are how your body communicates that something deeper is going on. If you continue to suppress your symptoms they will worsen, or you will develop new symptoms.

For me it wasn’t about eliminating the foods causing the sensitivities, it’s about restoring and balancing my gut health by identifying my unique gut blueprint and following a personalized protocol.

Set up a discovering call with me today to understand how reviewing your blood panel will provide you clues on where to start in restoring and reviving your gut health. Schedule here-> DISCOVER

 Be Gutsy as a Mother.

Mary