LEAKY GUT?
No, there are no actual holes in a child’s intestine that are “leaking”. Sounds like it doesn’t it? It can mean that the intestinal wall has lost some of its ability to stop larger-than-ideal molecules from crossing from the intestine into the bloodstream. Reactions start to happen to things that the bloodstream was never meant to see. It sort of freaks out!
HOW DOES IT HAPPEN?
There are thought to be many triggers as shown in this image. The little tight junctions in the intestinal wall are not so tight anymore and let things pass. What makes things harder is that leaky gut symptoms are sneaky. They can get worse over time or will show up very quickly.. Leaky gut can trigger symptoms in the GI tract, but also far from the gut, like headaches or joint aches, stiffness, pain, fatigue, or frequent colds and infection
There is a lot of chatter about dietary approaches, probiotics, and supplements, and less good research on the leaky gut than we’d like, especially when it comes to infants, toddlers, kids, or teens.
Most kids have had at least one of the items on this trigger list. BUT a key trigger is being underweight. If a child is underweight the gut can remain “leaky”. Simply put there isn’t enough raw material and energy on board for that tissue to repair itself, while a child is also trying to grow. There is no extra gas in the tank to do it all.
This week we will chat more about works best to start healing a leaky gut and what can fail.
