"Leaky Gut Syndrome", otherwise known as "Intestinal Permeability", has been becoming a more popular diagnosis nowadays amongst many of us. So what exactly is it? Leaky Gut Syndrome isn't really taught in medical school, however the symptoms and signs are evident to lead to it. The gut is naturally permeable to very small molecules in order to absorb the vital nutrients your body needs. In fact, regulating intestinal permeability is one of the basic functions of the cells that line the intestinal wall. In sensitive people, gluten can cause the gut cells to release zonulin, a protein that can break apart tight junctions in the intestinal lining. Other factors, like as infections, toxins, stress and age, can also cause these tight junctions to break apart. Once these tight junctions get broken apart, you have a leaky gut. When your gut is leaky, things like toxins, microbes, undigested food particles, and more can escape from your intestines and travel throughout your body via your bloodstream. Your immune system marks these "foreign invaders" as pathogens and attacks them. The immune response to these invaders can appear in the form of different symptoms. In the ancient science of Ayurveda, it is described as samprapti the pathogenis of disease. This pathogenesis is a process through 6 different stages. These stages manifest as the actual symptoms that contribute to Leaky Gut.
Stage 1: Accumulation
During this stage the person feels healthy, and the body's magnificent intelligence, makes one wants to eat the opposite tastes of the accumulated dosha. A dosha in Ayurveda is essentially the body constitution of an individual, and in this case each Dosha has a dwelling place (Vata: Colon, Pitta: Small intestine, Kapha: Stomach). Vata Accumulation: symptoms of constipation, abdominal distention or gases in the colon. Pitta accumulation: symptoms of heat around the belly button, yellowish discoloration of the eyes or urine. Kapha accumulation: symptoms of heaviness, lethargy, fullness of stomach and low appetite.
Stage 2: Provocation
When a dosha is continuously aggravated, it does so in it's own dwelling place. During this stage symptoms will be more significant. Vata symptoms during this stage will be pain in the flanks or mid-back, hyperperistalsis, gurgling and possibly even breathlessness. Pitta symptoms will be indigestion and heartburn. Kapha symptoms will be cough, congestion, heaviness. If you listen to the body, you can reverse the symptoms during those early stages, by using the opposite qualities of the aggravated dosha. After those two stages, the disease escapes the GI tract, making it harder to treat and an Ayurvedic practitioner would need to be consulted.Stage 3: The Spread
As the dosha keeps getting aggravated, it moves from the dwelling place and goes to another site of that dosha elsewhere in the body. Vata will be always involved, (as it represents movement in the body). Vata will move to the ears, skin, bones and thighs. Normally during this stage a person will crave dry, rough foods. If they don’t give in to the craving, they can help reverse the stage! Pitta will move to the stomach, eyes, sweat glands, skin, heart and subcutaneous fat. During this stage a person will crave hot, spicy food. If they choose to have sweet, bitter and cooling foods instead, they can stop the spread of pitta. Kapha will move to the lungs, sinuses, lymphatic system, breast tissue, mouth and head. There will be craving towards heavy sweet foods, but the choice should be slightly spicy and light and hot. When the doshas are still in the GI, their digestive fire, or as Ayurveda says, Agni, can protect them but once that fire is impaired and the doshas leave, the disease can manifest more and more.
Stage 4: Deposition and Localization
During this stage, the aggravated dosha will tend to move into a spot which has a weakness. When the dosha enters this delicate spot, it changes the tissue and its qualities.
