Healing leaky gut

[TheBrain]

Alysson, I am wondering if some of my issues are related to discovering that I have developed a lactose intolerance and a rather abrupt cessation in consuming Greek yougart every day. The bone broth sounds good BTW. Is the tea bitter?

I don't know much about Greek yogurt. Do you recall how much probiotics a serving contains? I'm wondering, too, about the sugar content. For a while, my husband was eating Greek yogurt, and the brand he was consuming contained quite a bit of refined sugar.

In any case, I could see how stopping your source of probiotics would have a negative consequence, but I suspect it wouldn't explain all of your issues discovered with your results.

[TheBrain]

Alysson great informative posts. Not an issue for Sandy or I, but good stuff for those that have these issues.
Frank

Thanks, Frank. I appreciate the compliment, especially coming from you, as a healthcare practitioner.

[TheBrain]

Ditto- great post, Alysson! This is all very new to me. Thank you for sharing your journey and congrats on your improvements. I found this great paper that focuses on defining intestinal permeability or "leaky gut." It appears to result from a dysfunction between intestinal macrobiotics and mucosal immunology. Figure #1 from the paper linked below offers a nice graphic that demonstrates the interconnectedness.
12876_2014_Article_189_Fig1_HTML.jpg
Intestinal permeability – a new target for disease prevention and therapy
http://www.nature.com/mi/journal/v4/n6/ ... 1141a.html

My problem stems from the fact that I have very little secretory IgA (5.6- Reference Range: 51 - 204 mg/dL) as measured in the stool and blood. This is apparently a first line immunological defense. I also have a SIBO as measured by a breath test with very high levels of methane without any commensal or dysbiotic bacteria and loads of good bacteria...hmmm . Apparently, I have no yeast or parasites, but the 3 decade old h. pylori infection and Babesia duncani could be playing a part in all of this. FWIW, here's a very general handout that all SIBO, leaky gut patients get from the California Center for Functional Medicine. It offers step-by-step instructions on healing one's gut.

Julie, great post! Thanks for sharing this article. It helps me understand the connection between your low secretory IgA (sIgA) and leaky gut. (I did a quick read but will spend more time on it. I'm very interested in this topic.) Your level of sIgA is extremely low.

My last stool test didn't check my fecal sIgA, but my 2012 test did. My level was on the high end of normal. My nurse practitioner at the time said it wasn't from infections in my case, but it indicated an antigen/antibody response that could be from food sensitivities that I was unaware of. So it appears that leaky gut can co-exist with low sIgA as well as high sIgA.

To have SIBO, you must have an overgrowth of bacteria in your small intestine. Am I reading correctly that you suspect you don't?

Typically, the bacteria in SIBO is a "good" bacteria that has overgrown in the small intestine, and there are various reasons why that happens. Sometimes, there's an issue with the ileocecal valve (located between the small and large intestines), and bacteria from the large intestine gets into the small intestine, where there should actually be just a small quantity of bacteria compared to the large intestine.

Some people have an inflammatory bowel disease and have a shortened bowel from surgery, and that causes SIBO.

I don't know that I've read this anywhere or if it's valid, but it seems like if someone isn't properly digesting their food due to low pancreatic enzymes and low stomach acid, the bacteria in the small intestine could have a feeding frenzy and create SIBO.

In your case, might you have an overgrowth of H. pylori in your small intestine? I have no idea if H. pylori can migrate into the small intestine, but the stomach and duodenum are just a valve away.

A few years ago, I was so sure I had SIBO, based on my symptoms. But my breath test was negative. A recent breath test was also negative (and I assumed it would be).

The California Center for Functional Medicine gut-healing protocol looks great. I'm bringing it to my next FM MD appointment to see what he thinks. My leaky gut has healed, but I still have that darn gut dysbiosis. Do I need to do more antimicrobials to kill off the overgrowth of E. coli? I used Lauricidin for a long while to address the candida overgrowth. I don't think I ever took GI Synergy. I'm also curious about MegaSporeBiotic.

I'm also curious about Iberogast and MotilPro. I have wondered if I have gastroparesis (as a cause of my early satiety), and Iberogast is one of the treatments for it. I'm not familiar with MotilPro. But I imagine both would help with constipation.

It's interesting that the protocol has one taking three different probiotic supplements during the course of a day. Prescript Assist didn't do anything for me, but I didn't take it along with other probiotic supplements (just my fermented vegetables).

One other thing I find curious is that there's nothing specific about healing the gut lining, like the slippery elm tea. Is there a philosophy that healing any gut infections and clearing up gut dysbiosis will naturally lead to healing leaky gut? I don't expect you to know the answer at this point, but if you ever find that out, please let us know.

Anyway, lots of good stuff in that protocol. Are you following it now?

[TheBrain]

I've noticed some recent pushback on the forum re. admonition's against meat and other animal products. It resonates with me because of my very low SIgA and overall depressed immune system. I've religiously followed Michael Pollan's advice (Eat food, not too much, mostly plants) over the past 3-4 years and watched my immune system tank. This blurb from one of my medical reports has made me rethink that dogma.

...

In an effort to heal, I'm increasing my overall protein intake, especially animal protein. I'm drinking daily bone broth and enjoying grass-fed meat at least once a week, if not more. I just wanted to share my cautionary tale as evidence that there's no one-size-fits-all diet that works for us all. The strategies we think are helping us, may not be .

Julie, I suspect you are doing exactly what your body needs. What that blurb said (which I didn't quote here; see page 1 of this thread) makes a lot of sense to me. Best of luck, and please report back whenever you get your sIgA tested again.

I have been tempted to work with Dr. Gundry, especially since learning about my high coronary calcium score for my gender and age. But I hesitate whenever I look at his Matrix diet for E4s. There's no way I could survive on only 4 oz. of white fish or shellfish per day. My protein requirements would not be met.

In the paleo autoimmune protocol (AIP) community, I have heard of people who had to abandon their vegan lifestyle because they couldn't get better. But after they added animal products back into their diet, they were able to heal. Mickey Trescott is one such person.

[Sandy57]

Julie and Alysson I will post on this later. Something I have thought a lot about and have even told Bredesen I am going to change some. The diet portion or (some of it).

You ladies rock... The effort you put in to improve your health is phenomenal, wow, very impressed.
Frank

[Tiramisu1984]

Alysson and Julie, this is a lot to process and I will need to re-read (with a split monitor) and research on the right side of the screen. Lots of data and different approaches.

The reason I feel the need to post is that both of you spoke so elequently to the unpredictability of this journey. Thank you for taking the time.

[SusanJ]

Julie, I eat grassfed beef a couple times per week, along with chicken and fish. I eat around 4-6 oz twice per day, and seem to feel best energy wise on that amount of protein and more importantly, I can keep my weight stable. I came back from Boulder and tried to go once per day for animal/fish protein, eating a huge salad with lots of EVOO & leftover veggies for lunch. Although sated, I promptly loss 3 pounds in 2 days.

I do throw in a vegetarian day now and then, but without legumes, the protein thing is harder, usually a handful of nuts.

When I first started working with my functional doc, he gave me Xymogen I5 to heal my gut. Contains many of the same things you mention, and I do agree that the glutamine is very important in gut healing. I no longer use I5 because they reformulated it and it contains milk, and my gut was doing better so I just quit using it. I haven't checked with the manufacturer to see where the milk comes in.

I firmly believe that healing the gut, once compromised, is one of the hardest things to do. Hang in there Julie and Allyson!

[Julie G]

Alysson, I learn something new every time you post! My head is spinning and I'm frankly struggling to understand all of this. I'm now questioning whether or not I even have a leaky gut. A partial excerpt from my physician's notes on my GI issues:

Primary initial interventions should be directed at your gastrointestinal health. We are seeing methane predominant SIBO, as well as a positive H. pylori stool antigen. Both of these can be very disruptive to your immune system, cause significant inflammation, and systemic health effects.

I'm certain I have a SIBO and h.Pylori... less certain about the leaky gut . The handout I shared with you is specifically for treating SIBO. Until your post, I mistakenly thought that a SIBO was an imbalance between "good" and "bad" gut bacteria, but I now understand that is dysbiosis and a SIBO can be present with all good bacteria- which seems to be true in my case. I haven't started any of my formal treatment yet. I'm waiting for the meds and supplements to come in. I have begun daily bone broth. (As an aside, it's 100% fat free. I know that's come up on the forum before.) I used to drink it occasionally, but now do so every day in order to optimize my gut and immune system. I will also consider the slippery elm tea- thanks.

Re. animal protein, I've never eaten much- don't care for it, but am coming to realize that I was probably underconsuming it for my optimal health. At one point several years ago, I was religiously consuming 20% of my macronutrients from protein (plant & animal based) and my immune system was at it's healthiest- the bottom of the normal reference range for IgG. As I've lowered protein, my IgG levels have tanked. I've also lost muscle mass and my thyroid numbers are worsening. As I start to increase my protein levels, I feel overall stronger. Time will tell if it improves my immune and overall health. Honestly, because of the IVIG infusions, I probably won't know until I stop.

Keep sharing your journey, Alysson. You're teaching me (and I suspect others) a lot. You've optimized so much of your health already. I'm beyond impressed not only with your improvement, but also your determination, and knowledge about all of this- kudos!. When it comes to GI health, I'm still struggling with basic definitions- SIgA, SIBO, etc. I've been working on my gut for a long time and I'm frankly stunned that I have a SIBO and h. Pylori. After a lifetime of very serious gut issues, I'm greatly improved and am hopeful that things keep moving in the right direction.

[Stavia]

Why did you drop your protein intake?

[Julie G]

Why did you drop your protein intake?

I thought I was optimizing my health by restricting methionine to extend longevity... and I'm not a big meat eater. I have to force it a bit.