Your weight-loss battle, fight against fatigue, and struggle with food sensitivity could have everything to do with your intestinal health. But without the proper testing, you may never know—and never find your way to well-being. Great news. It’s absolutely possible to alter your intestinal health, but if you don’t give your gut the attention it deserves, metabolism and hormone problems can quickly take center stage.

Bad Bacteria is Bad News for Metabolic Rate

Many people who are overweight are also insulin resistant, which means their cells have trouble absorbing glucose, causing a buildup of sugar in the blood. This not only packs on the pounds, but it can also lower metabolic rates and lead to type 2 diabetes. But what might be causing insulin resistance?

Lab studies show link between bacteria and gut health (Photo Source: pixabay.com)

Science has answers. Recent research points to an overgrowth of bacteria in the intestinal tract as one cause. Using artificial sweeteners, scientists induced insulin resistance in rats—then promptly reversed that resistance with antibiotics that attacked the overgrowth of intestinal bacteria. Another study of mice found that unhealthy changes in gut bacteria can lower resting metabolic rate—and lead to obesity. The end result? Bacteria affects metabolism. While we’re not rodents, we share similar biological characteristics, and these findings highlight the critical role bacteria plays in how humans process energy.

High Cortisol Lowers Energy

Intestinal problems like food allergies and leaky gut syndrome increase inflammation, which kicks up your cortisol levels. Although this stress hormone is only trying to help by calming inflammation, the elevated cortisol levels lead to weight gain, energy problems, and metabolism issues.

The Bacteria–Thyroid–Hormone Connection

As mentioned in our last blog post, the gut’s good bacteria encourages the conversion of T4 to T3, ensuring healthy thyroid function and efficient metabolism. Altered bacteria in the intestinal tract impairs that conversion, which can elevate estrogen levels, slow down your thyroid function, and boost weight gain.

Behavioral Effects of Intestinal Issues 

Intestinal issues can decrease serotonin and increase cravings (Photo Source: freestocks.org via Pexels)

Did you know 95 percent of serotonin, the chemical responsible for maintaining mood balance, comes from the gastrointestinal tract? Emerging research shows that an intestinal problem can affect serotonin levels, which can wreak havoc on your mind and body. As your serotonin levels decrease, your cravings for sugar go up. To cope, you eat more food, gain more weight, and feel worse.

It’s also believed that having a digestive enzyme problem can drive you to overeat. Because you don’t absorb the much-needed nutrients from food, you eat more to try to compensate, and end up developing what’s known as “overconsumptive malnutrition.” Let us help.

Nearly 70 million people in the U.S. are affected by digestive issues, yet many simply treat the symptoms. The damaging effects of an unchecked and untreated intestinal disorder are real—with real and lasting effects on your hormones, metabolism, and overall health. It’s time to go with your gut, and uncover and eliminate the source of your problems—for good!

Remember your first peanut butter and jelly sandwich? You loved every bite –  until the last one, when your throat started closing. Dad took you to the doctor and a test confirmed you were allergic to peanuts (along with bananas, pollen, and cat dander). Heart-broken, you accepted that you’d never again enjoy the taste of that sweet and creamy treat. 

You’re not alone on this one. Researchers estimate that up to 15 million Americans have food allergies. So, what’s all this talk about food “intolerance” and food “sensitivity?” Are these other ways of saying you’re allergic to it? Just like leaky gut syndrome and increased intestinal permeability discussed in our most recent blog post, the confusion lies in the terminology.

Allergy vs. Sensitivity vs. Intolerance

Source: Pixabay, via Pexels

Like your precious peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a food allergy pulls no punches. You eat the trigger food – you have a physical reaction. You might love the taste, but your immune system doesn’t. It attacks the proteins in the food, which can cause a range of reactions from a mildly itchy mouth or hives to severe throat tightening or difficulty breathing. In the worst cases, the sudden onset of anaphylaxis, the most serious allergic reaction, can lead to death. Fortunately, a simple skin or blood test showing the presence of IgE (immunoglobulin subclass E) antibodies can diagnose a food allergy.

Food sensitivity, on the other hand, is a bit slyer. Let’s say you just devoured the most delicious swordfish dish at your favorite fine-dining restaurant. A few hours later, you’re feeling a little off. Maybe you have a headache, brain fog, or an upset stomach. This isn’t the first time you felt ill after a meal, but since it only happens now and then, you’ve never bothered to pinpoint what’s causing it. If you did, you might find that you have a food sensitivity to swordfish. This slow immune reaction will show up on a blood test as high levels of IGG (immunoglobulin subclass G) antibodies, which cause inflammation. While your reaction was rather quick, symptoms can appear up to three days after consuming that trigger food. And since they can manifest as vague, non-life-threatening aches and pains, many people don’t associate them with food.  

Source: Tookapic, via Pexels

Sometimes, consuming a food doesn’t trigger an immune response, but does send you running for the restroom. In this case, you’re likely dealing with a food intolerance, which won’t show up on a blood test. Because your body lacks the enzyme necessary for proper digestion, that food runs right through you. One of the most common perpetrators is dairy, taking particular aim at the Asian population, with studies showing 90 percent of Asian-Americans are lactose intolerant. Other times, a bacterial imbalance, such as a candida fungal infection on the inside of your intestinal tract can cause bloating and other symptoms with sugar ingestion. Since intolerance can’t be measured with a test, an elimination-rotation diet is often the most successful course of action to identify the trigger.

Don’t Suffer in Silence

Let’s face it. Most of us aren’t eager to talk about our bowel movements or other bodily functions, so instead, we suffer in silence. We pop our antacids or locate the nearest restroom before sitting down for a meal. We live like this for years until those food allergies, sensitivities, and intolerances over-stress our bodies, increase inflammation, boost cortisol levels, and create more serious hormone, weight, and metabolism issues.  

With the right tests, a real diagnosis, and a customized diet and exercise program, you can repair your relationship with food. Bon appétit!

Leaky gut sounds like the end result of a murderous rampage in a slasher movie. Sadly, it’s a fairly common digestive disorder. Leaky gut syndrome is a condition that causes toxins and bacteria to “leak” through the intestinal wall and enter the bloodstream. The toxic flow can lead to chronic fatigue, migraines, slow metabolism, autoimmune disorders, food sensitivities, thyroid abnormalities, mood swings, and worse.

But what causes the barrier to break? Can the leak be prevented? And why do so many medical professionals deny that the syndrome even exists?  

A Medical Phenomenon

Leaky gut remains a bit of a medical mystery. While many see it as the source of a variety of modern health problems, it has yet to be proven by science, prompting physicians to doubt its legitimacy. The problem lies in the terminology. Leaky gut syndrome has essentially become a marketing term for increased intestinal permeability, a condition that’s been studied for years and is connected with multiple chronic diseases. For instance, studies  have found that people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are likely to have increased intestinal permeability. There’s also evidence that the condition may support the formation of type 1 diabetes.

Many doctors see increased intestinal permeability as a mere symptom of these ailments, rather than the cause. But as more and more stressed-out Americans make poor diet choices, the prevalence of the syndrome has reached epidemic proportions – and conventional doctors are finally starting to take note.

What’s the Cause?

Because this condition is still in its infancy in terms of research and understanding, causes can be difficult to identify and confirm. Contributing factors believed to play a role include:

• Poor food choices
  

  Source: Pixabay, via Pexels

• Nutrient deficiencies
• Excessive sugar intake
• Excessive alcohol intake
• Lack of sleep
• Stress
• High cortisol levels

Think You Have Leaky Gut? As Always, Don’t Guess …Test!

The good news is a simple test can diagnose the condition. Used for over 40 years, the Lactulose/Mannitol test is the gold standard: you drink a sugar solution, then give a urine sample. If the solution ends up in your urine, BINGO! You’ve got leaky gut syndrome. Yes, it really is that easy.

Best of all, if you do have the condition, odds are in your favor that you’ll beat it. Metabolism doctors find that removing all the “junk” from your diet and adding the amino acid L-glutamine can have a profound effect. Like fertilizing your lawn to help it grow, L-glutamine (often used on burn victims) essentially fills in those holes in your intestinal walls to quickly return your intestinal permeability to the normal range.

If you’ve been dealing with unexplained health issues or struggling with a sluggish metabolism, you may have a leaky gut that requires a plumber … err … metabolism doctor! Waiting can turn that leak into a flood of health problems.