Saturated Fat
It is an understatement to say that corn oil isn’t benefecial for treating heart disease, it actually contributes to it! Other studies …
Living Better with Autoimmune Disease
It is an understatement to say that corn oil isn’t benefecial for treating heart disease, it actually contributes to it! Other studies …
Por el Dr. Mercola – http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/09/25/fluoroquinolone-antibiotics.aspx Traducido por Robert y Sheila Stephens La Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emitió recientemente una advertencia de que los antibióticos de fluoroquinolona, tomados por vía oral o por inyección, conllevan un riesgo para la neuropatía periférica permanente. Dice el …
The mucosa is the inner lining of the digestive tract; a mucous membrane. The innermost layer of the mucosa is a single layer of cells called the epithelium. The epithelial cells of the digestive tract are held together in tight junctions. The tight junctions are various proteins that hold the cells together to form a tight membrane. The gut is also a lymphatic organ; the mucosa contains lymphatic tissue that detects pathogens (Tortora & Derrickson, 2007, p. 475). The lining of the digestive tract is, like our skin, a barrier that protects the interior of the body from the external world. It is, not unlike the skin, a membrane that is semi-permeable, but must block harmful substances that should not be in our bodies. If our skin is strong and healthy, it is able to impede the entrance of bacteria, viruses, and other harmful substances. In the same way, our digestive system is a semi-permeable barrier that must facilitate the passage of nutrients after they have been adequately digested, but prevent the entrance of any other xenobiotic. It is not simple like a sieve, but rather a selectively permeable membrane that intelligently allows the passage of certain nutrients while protecting the body from undesired substances.
Leaky gut is a term used for a pathology of a digestive tract that has become excessively permeable, and is not adequately doing its job of separating the intestinal contents from the inside of the body. This can be caused by damage to the enterocyte by a toxin or damaging substance. When the enterocyte is destroyed, a hole is left through which material can pass. Another factor is tight junction dysregulation, which I will discuss later. In either case, excessive amounts of undigested proteins, bacteria, and other macromolecules can pass through the epithelium and result in immune system activation. Within the mucosa, just below the epithelium are a host of immune cells, including macrophages, dendritic cells, B cells, and lymphocytes, as well as naïve T and B cells (Ballantyne, 2013, p. 50). When the body encounters these foreign substance, it triggers both the adaptive and innate immune system which responds by producing antibodies. Even normal gut flora can provoke an immune response when they leak out of the gut. When the adaptive immune system creates antibodies to an antigen, they travel throughout the body looking for something that has the same amino acid sequence that they were programmed to recognize. Unfortunately, some proteins in our own body may have similar surface proteins, so that our own body tissues are attacked. This is called cross-reactivity. Depending on the severity of leaky gut, and the particular genetic makeup, stress, and other lifestyle factors, the inflammation that results from leaky gut can result in many serious health conditions. Some clinicians suggest that low HDL levels might be a proxy indicator for leaky gut [reference needed].
Much of what is known about leaky gut has been discovered through the study of celiac disease, and gluten’s role in the disease. The Center for Celiac Research, led by Dr. Alessio Fasano, brought awareness to the prevalence of celiac disease, and investigated the mechanisms involved in its pathology. The research discovered zonulin, a molecule that is responsible for mediating tight junctions. Gluten was found to trigger the release of zonulin, and zonulin triggered intestinal permeability, which triggers the disease:
…When exposed to luminal gliadin, intestinal biopsies from celiac patients in remission expressed a sustained luminal zonulin release and increase in intestinal permeability that was blocked by FZI/0 pretreatment. Conversely, biopsies from non-celiac patients demonstrated a limited, transient zonulin release which was paralleled by an increase in intestinal permeability that never reached the level of permeability seen in celiac disease (CD) tissues. Chronic gliadin exposure caused down-regulation of both ZO-1 and occludin gene expression. Conclusions. Based on our results, we concluded that gliadin activates zonulin signaling irrespective of the genetic expression of autoimmunity, leading to increased intestinal permeability to macromolecules. (Fasano, et al., 2006)
In a later publication, Dr. Fasano et al. postulated that intestinal permeability, as well as environmental factors and genetics, is a precursor in the development of all autoimmune diseases (Visser, Rozing, Sapone, Lammera, & Fasano, 2009). This would incriminate wheat and other gluten containing grains as being contributors to a plethora of modern diseases. Sarah Ballantyne goes so far as to say that “…by healing a leaky gut you can reverse autoimmune disease!” (Ballantyne, 2013, p. 48) It sounds easy in theory, but in practice the solution is more elusive.
This notion of leaky gut being responsible for autoimmunity is helping to propel the modern low carbohydrate and gluten free diets into the mainstream. However, the conclusion from Dr. Fasano’s research is only that gluten is a trigger for autoimmunity by increasing intestinal permeability, not that it directly causes any disease in absence of other risk factors. For example, exercise could trigger an asthma attack, but that doesn’t mean that it made the person sick in the first place. This is why I’m not putting all the blame on gluten. The regulation of the tight junctions by the epithelial cells is not well understood, and I opine that we should not conclude that mild up-regulation of zonulin from consuming a natural, whole-foods diet would be detrimental for a healthy person. On the other hand, most of us do not eat a natural whole-foods diet, and our modern wheat has been highly modified from its natural form, is sprayed with herbicides and other chemicals. Furthermore, many of us are living with digestive systems that are already in some state of disrepair, whether from foods, environmental chemicals, or other reasons, so avoiding wheat and other gluten-containing foods is probably a good idea for most people.
Leaky gut results from many factors. Some identified factors include:
Depending on the severity, leaky gut is very difficult to treat, and requires a multifaceted approach that identifies and treats the root causes, while also addressing other factors, including stress, good sleep, allergies, food sensitivities, brain health, immune system inflammation, malabsorption, endocrine function, infections, and genetics.
Ballantyne, S. (2013). The Paleo Approach. Victory Belt Publishing Inc.
Fasano, A., Drago, S., El Asmar, R., Di Pierro, M., Grazia Clemente, M., Anna Sapone, A. T., . . . Catassi, C. (2006). Gliadin, zonulin and gut permeability: Effects on celiac and non-celiac intestinal mucosa and intestinal cell lines. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology.
Kharrazian, D. (2013). Why Isn’t My Brain Working? Elephant Press.
Lipski, E. P. (2012). Digestive Wellness. McGraw-Hill.
Minocha, A. (2014). Is It Leaky Gut or Leaky Gut Syndrome? Shreveport: LOGOS Enterprises LLC.
O’Dwyer, S., FRCS, Michie, H., Ziegler, T., Revhaug, A., Smith, R., & Willmore, D. (1988). A Single Dose of Endotoxin Increases Intestinal Permeability in Healthy Humans. Retrieved from Jama Surgery: http://archsurg.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=593588
Rostenberg, A. (2016 March 21) The Down Side To High Oxalates http://www.beyondmthfr.com/side-high-oxalates-problems-sulfate-b6-gut-methylation/ Beyond MTHFR
Shanahan, C., & Shanahan, L. (2009). Deep Nutrition – Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food. Lawai, HI: Big Box Books.
Tortora, G. J., & Derrickson, B. (2007). Introduction to the Human Body. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Visser, J., Rozing, J., Sapone, A., Lammera, K., & Fasano, A. (2009). Tight Junctions, Intestinal Permeability, and Autoimmunity – Celiac Disease and Type 1 Diabetes Paradigms. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1.
Wallace, J. L. (2008, October 1). Prostaglandins, NSAIDs, and Gastric Mucosal Protection: Why Doesn’t the Stomach Digest Itself? Retrieved from Physiological Reviews: http://physrev.physiology.org/content/88/4/1547
I’ll be discussing the basics of using your computer to capture the audio of your weekly service and making sermon MP3’s or audio CD’s using the Audacity recording program. Copyrights: Before you record or broadcast a worship service, make sure you have the rights to …