Re: Leaky Gut

My naturopath told me that leaky gut is caused by bad yeast adhering to your intestinal wall and literally perforating it on a microscopic level. Food molecules that are not broken down into smaller components get through the microscopic spaces between the cells and enter your blood stream. Your immune system sees these big molecules as invaders and attacks them - hence the food allergies .

Antibiotics will add to leaky gut by killing off your good flora and allowing yeast to flourish. It is very important to take a top quality, very high potency acidophilus combination capsule or two every time you take your antibiotic. I always thought you should take it away from the time you take the Antibiotic but both my naturopath and pharmacist said to take it with. It has to be a refrigerated brand from a health food store. The cheap, unrefrigerated acidophilus in your local drug store or grocery store will not have enough live organisms to help you. RenewLife Critical Care has 50 billion live organisms per capsule. It works.

With leaky gut,it is important to work with a naturopath, doctor, or nurse practitioner who can get you tested for the type of yeast in your gut. It's a nasty test - taking your own stool samples for three days but it is very enlightening. After years of thinking I had the standard candida albicans that everyone talks about, and taking the supplements meant to kill off the candida (such as capryllic acid) with no success, I was amazed to find out that my yeast overgrowth was a different variety - candida krusei, which is killed by the berberine compounds in the herb uva ursi. The extract tastes awful, and you can only take it for a month or two, then off for a month or two before taking it again. You must also be supplementing with the good bacteria mentioned above, to repopulate your intestinal tract with the good guys.

It took me a year, but after 50 years of poor intestinal health, it was worth it. I am only slightly gluten intolerant. I find that if I stay away from gluten as much as possible, and continue to take acidophilus a few days a week, I have what I would call a healthy gut. Also found that my nasal allergies are lessened.

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