Leaky gut syndrome happens when the joints holding the intestinal wall get loose. The medical term is increased intestinal permeability, though most practitioners don’t understand how to treat or diagnose it.

The gut is a hollow tube going from the mouth to the anus. Whatever you eat that doesn’t get digested with digestive enzymes will pass from the other end. Overall, the goal is to prevent any foreign substances from getting into the body.

Our neurotransmitter training for medical professionals can help you understand more about the disease and how to treat it, which benefits your patients.

Gut health is crucial, and everyone has healthy gut flora within to help with the immune system. Likewise, exercise is essential to reduce chronic stress and prevent weight gain. However, vigorous endurance training can cause problems with the healthy gut microbiome. This will lead to malabsorption and intestinal permeability with time.

Overall, the bacterial endotoxins and food particles will get into your bloodstream, which triggers gut inflammation that leads to depression, autoimmune diseases, allergies, heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Likewise, the inflammatory response your gut has could affect the nervous system and brain, which leads to mood swings, depression, anxiety, and irritability.

When the gut microbiota is irritated, you could experience:

• Constipation
• Loose stool
• Gas
• Bloating
• Stomach pain
• Nausea
• Headaches
• Joint pain
• Fatigue
• Asthma
• Swelling
• Skin irritations
• Congestion
• Skin problems like rashes, acne, and eczema
• Fibromyalgia
• Brain fog
• Sleep problems
• Problems with the immune system

The world is changing rapidly, and there are more chemicals in the foods we eat and are exposed to. Therefore, this will affect the gut health and gut lining. Here are the primary causes of leaky gut:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome from a Bad Diet

The primary reason for digestive issues is the food supply. It’s full of preservatives, pesticides, antibiotics, emulsifiers, and chemicals that kill bacteria, but that includes the ones in the gut lining. People aren’t designed to eat those additives, which can break down intestinal health.

NSAIDs

Those who take on strenuous exercise all the time are bound to have aches and pains. They’ll often use OTC painkillers, such as Aleve and Advil, but they don’t treat the cause of the pain. Instead, they only treat the symptoms.

NSAIDS are bad for your gut health and can cause a breakdown in gut barrier integrity. If you deal with chronic pains, joint pain, headaches, nerve pain, and muscle issues, you will take these meds all the time. 

As a doctor, it’s your job to warn patients about NSAIDs and focus on treating the underlying cause of the patient’s problem. Otherwise, they could end up with gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Overtraining, Poor Stress Management, and Under-Recovery

Many people deal with a poor diet, but there are other factors that could impact gut health. For example, not getting enough sleep, overtraining, and not effectively managing stress levels are the big ones. Patients will often experience gut symptoms because of those things.

Stress can lead to weight gain and cortisol dysregulation. The gut is part of the enteric nervous system, so the brain affects its functionality. Biochemical changes could happen during high-stress moments and cause leaky gut syndrome.

Likewise, stress can cause gastrointestinal tract problems, such as peptic ulcers, GERD, food allergies, IBS, and IBD. Patients might also increase their food sensitivities, which leads to inflammation and more stress.

Though exercise is crucial for blood flow and heart health, too much can be problematic. Exercise boosts gut bacteria and inhibits inflammation. Therefore, a sedentary lifestyle could mean more inflammation in the gut.

The problem is that moderate exercise can be good, but more isn’t always better. Too much exercise will negatively alter your gut bacteria. When you pair that with inflammation and stress, you could seriously hurt yourself.

Doctors often tout high-intensity exercise routines as having many health benefits. However, there’s a fine line between pushing oneself and overtraining. Likewise, too much steady-state cardio can be bad. The body needs time to recuperate, which might not be possible for athletes or those who want to lose weight quickly.

Overtraining doesn’t just mean going to the gym too much. High amounts of high-intensity exercise might increase your cortisol levels and make you burn out. Some routines will push the body too far, leading to damage.

It’s crucial to talk to patients about physical activity and ensure that they aren’t using excessive exercise to eat a poor diet. Check their workout routine and help them. You’ll learn about that with our leaky gut training.

Too Much Alcohol

Drinking too much alcohol can lead to a leaky gut. Research indicates that those who routinely drink, even to excess, have different-looking guts than those who don’t drink. Likewise, alcohol could interfere with immune system functionality, which means more inflammation throughout the body.

Overall, cutting back on alcohol will do many things, such as lower body fat, improve pancreas and liver function, strengthen the immune system, and improve the regulation of hormones. 

Neurotransmitter training for nurses explains how to diagnose and treat leaky gut, which often includes abstaining from any contributing factors. It’s usually a challenge for patients, but it’s crucial that they understand what’s at stake, and you’re there to help them do that. Our courses are designed to help you know it all to help patients.

Are you ready to experience our training courses? Reserve a spot today for our neurotransmitter/GI training and certification courses.