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Leaky Gut Syndrome

Now that we have eliminated the nasty parasites from your system, we must now heal your gut so that it regains its integrity, thereby becoming strong enough to resist re-infections. Most of you are so thrilled that you don't have to take the nasty tasting Jug Art anymore that you strongly resist continuing on for another few weeks with the healing portion of post-dysbiosis. Remember: Dysbiosis means "a state of altered microbial ecology."

1. First you fall in a mountain creek face-first with your mouth wide open and the little slithery things take up residence in your bowel. The colon becomes over-burdened with an accumulation of waste material from the parasites, and you either become constipated with unhealthily impacted feces (the dreaded rabbit pellets. . .) or you will express the infestation with watery diarrhea
2. Then you have bowel swelling and inflammation.
3. At this point, three things start to happen: 1)You develop an inability to normally absorb nutrients, an inability to secrete the hormones and digestive enzymes that the gut is supposed to secrete and lastly, peristalsis becomes abnormal which becomes either excessive or inordinately slowed, resulting in IBS, gas, cramping.
4. Now you have developed Leaky Gut Syndrome or hyper-permeability syndrome. This occurs when toxic debris from your parasites and undigested food collects in the intestines and the bowel wall becomes over-burdened with all of the extra toxins. This diseased and toxic junk will then eventually become absorbed into the blood stream and this is when your health takes a noticeable downward spiral.
5. Once in the bloodstream, the undigested food molecules act as antigens. Antigens are foreign substances that provoke an immune response. In a healthy bowel, these large sized proteins cannot get through the intestinal wall, but since there is inflammation due to the toxemia, the pores of the wall are larger than normal and allow these bad-guy proteins to slip through. Not only are the reactive food proteins slipping through, but also all the other toxic by products  like your parasites - are now exiting and going to every moist nook and cranny of your body. Think lungs and brain for starters. Then maybe eyes, urethra, sinuses.
6. You are starting to feel terrible and two things are starting to happen: 1) The first is an autoimmune reaction. Your body has perceived these antigens as "not me" and they start creating autoimmune disease states such as RA, lupus, Hashimoto's thyroiditis and a host of other autoimmune mediated disorders. 2) You may develop allergies to foods that you have never had before or your existing food allergies may get much worse. Personal aside: When I had my horrible infestation of giardia last summer, not only was I my usual wheat sensitive self, but now I became totally gluten intolerant which meant in addition to my usual wheat moratorium, no spelt, rye, barley, oats or kamut.

Because of the extra toxic load your food allergies are causing, you will now start getting sick with strange and seemingly unrelated things. Food and parasite antigens can be directed anywhere, and can attach themselves to any organ system. Depending on your particular weak spot, they can and will create illness there. For example, antigens could go to the bowel where it all started and create Crohns Disease or IBS; or to your bladder with chronic cystitis; your joints with arthritis; your brain with symptoms of depression.

Personal aside: I have arthritis in both of my shoulders due to ski injuries in my 20's and with exercise, massage and other treatments, I can usually keep them pretty pain-free. However when I have parasites, my shoulder arthritis acts up big-time  they ache and feel awful - and I can imagine all the little slithery things - "the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the worms play pinochle on my snout" - creating havoc in my long-injured joints. Once I get the parasites under control, the pain returns to its normal manageable state.

So, you can see that once the toxins leave the walls of your bowel, all hell breaks loose.

Now that the toxic and antigenic proteins are in your bloodstream they can and will be carried in a constant toxic stream to every part of your body  to your liver, lymphatic system, lungs, kidneys  to overburden and sometimes overwhelm your body.

Simple equation: Processed foods and antibiotics lead to an unhealthy GI tract leads to Leaky Gut leads to multitudinous diseases including cancer.

Bottom Line: If your colon isn't clean and functioning properly, then you simply aren't healthy. This is why all of those old-time naturopaths kept saying that good health starts in the gut. Next time, I will discuss what we can do to heal your leaky gut.

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