Eat Dirt: Why Leaky Gut May Be the Root Cause of Your Health Problems and 5 Surprising Steps to Cure It

by Josh Axe

leaky gut syndrome (or increased intestinal permeability) has been linked to the following symptoms and conditions:

ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)9

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Gas, bloating, and digestive pain

Restless leg syndrome26

Various allergies and food sensitivities33

particular concern is gluten, which evidence increasingly points to as a prime driver of leaky gut. When it’s consumed, the body undergoes an inflammatory response and eventually releases the protein—zonulin—that unlocks the epithelial tight junctions and keeps the gates of the gut wide open as long as it circulates in the blood.

If your stomach isn’t producing enough acid, you can experience acid reflux and be at a higher risk for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), one of the primary causes of leaky gut.

your stomach isn’t producing enough acid, or if you don’t have enough digestive enzymes, food particles that haven’t been properly broken down get into the small intestine.

This undigested food provides too much sustenance for the bacteria in your gut, which can cause an imbalance in your gut microbiome, preventing proper absorption of nutrients and leading to multiple vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

bifidobacteria and lactobacillus genii—continue the digestive process by fermenting the fiber that remains in our food to make nutrients that feed the colon cells.

The gut wall has four layers: the serous layer, the muscular layer, the submucosa, and the mucosa. The outermost layer, the serous, is connective tissue, and the muscular layer is responsible for the movement that keeps food progressing through the GI tract. The mucosal and submucosal layers finish out the final layers. Together, these parts have been termed “the mucosal barrier”—the part of the gut that gets leaky.

Fasano isolated the only known physiological substance that directly controls the tight junctions in the gut wall, a substance he called “zonulin.”

Making this discovery has been compared with finding the root source, sometimes called the “smoking gun,” of leaky gut syndrome.16

Zonulin is a protein that signals the tight junctions to open and close—the only known substance in the body to do so. By

controlling zonulin, scientists can open and close the tight junctions almost at will. At this point, we know of two things that can trigger the release of zonulin in the small intes...

it’s possibly the zonulin, not the bacteria themselves, that directly triggers intestinal permeability.

Many of the autoimmune conditions linked to leaky gut have a genetic component, yet researchers have determined that less than 10 percent of those with the genes for an autoimmune disease actually develop it.

The two most significant environmental factors when it comes to the release of zonulin are: The increase of gluten in our food supply:

The increase in antibiotic usage:

when pathogens make their way through the tight junctions in the intestinal lining, the adaptive immune system creates antibodies to neutralize them, then develops a “memory” of those bad microbes to ensure a quick response if you are ever exposed to them again.

GALT, which contains 70 percent of your immune system,

Once zonulin, the key wielded by the antigens, opens up the gut’s tight junctions, those harmful antigens make their way through the gut lining and into the bloodstream. Repeated

exposure to zonulin keeps the doors wide open; soon, more and more virulent and hard-to-manage molecules start coming through, including viruses, parasites, yeast, gluten, and other troublesome food proteins such as casein—all running amok, wreaking havoc.

With the massive influx of dangerous bacteria, your adaptive and innate immune systems shift into overdrive to try to keep you safe. Your immune system stays fixed in the “on” position, blindly shooting its antibody gun...

The major player in that balance? The microbiome.

Bacteroides fragilis, a strain of “old friend” bacteria present in 70 to 80 percent of humans, helps the immune system stay in balance by supporting anti-inflammatory functions.

several common denominators that underlie an autoimmune disorder:7

children who’d been born via C-section or who’d been treated with antibiotics early in life had a three to three and a half times greater risk of developing eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE),

GI condition in which white blood cells collect in the esophagus in response to foods, allergens, or acid reflux.

The scariest part: EoE is a chronic immune system disease that has only been identified within the past twenty years, and yet the prevalence of people suffering from it has risen so rapidly that it’s now considered a major cause of gastrointestinal illness.10

the connection with leaky gut is both a

concern and an opportunity.

People with a specific genetic marker called the HLA shared epitope, located on a genetic site that controls immune responses, have a five times greater chance of developing rheumatoid arthritis than people without the marker.16

About 40 percent of people with asthma also have leaky gut.

nutritional supplement with an SBO probiotic.

In contrast to cow’s milk, the dairy I personally drink and recommend to all my patients is raw, organic, fermented, and typically made from goat and sheep milk. Few foods in the world contain the nutritional array of probiotics, omega-3 fatty acids, protein, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin K2 that these raw dairy products do.

You can find hundreds of different species of SBOs in nature, but the best strains come from the Bacillus family.

The first is Bacillus subtilis, an endospore probiotic that is heat resistant. Bacillus subtilis elicits a potent immune response, supports the healing of the gut lining, and suppresses the growth of bad bacteria like salmonella and other pathogens.

This bacterium doesn’t normally live in the human gastrointestinal tract, nor is it found in common foods, so you have ...

Bacillus coagulans, also an endospore probiotic that is heat resistant. This strain improves nutrient absorption. Upon activation of spore formation in the acidic environment of the stomach, Bacillus coagulans can germinate and proliferate in the intestines and produc...

cordyceps is especially helpful for treating chronic coughs, asthma, and other bronchial conditions.

humic acid and fulvic acid—that are commonly used as a soil supplement in agriculture.

One of the most devastating is Clostridium difficile, which has been rendered almost entirely antibiotic resistant.

Digestive enzymes. These nutrients completely break down proteins, fatty acids, complex sugars, and starches, which can reduce intestinal inflammation. Look for full-spectrum digestive enzyme supplements that contain: protease, which breaks down proteins, including gluten amylase, which breaks down starches lipase, which breaks down fats lactase, which breaks down lactose

The highest quality is called l-alaynl-glutamine, which