Chinese Medicine approach to Leaky Gut
 

I've been wanting to share this for awhile. This article is written by an acupuncturist, Dr. Jake Paul Fratkin, who explains Leaky Gut Syndrome from a Chinese Medicine point of view. He mentions that antibiotics and NSAIDs are the two modern culprits of this modern ailment that hasn't really been adequately addressed from the TCM point of view since LGS didn't exist thousands of years ago.

http://www.drjakefratkin.com/pdf/lgs.pdf

When I get up the nerve, I think I'm going to make an appointment with Dr. JPF. I recently took a lot of ibuprofen after my surgery in April, and probably unknowingly, made my digestive problems worse. I also took antibiotics in February on my trip to Thailand. I think my acupuncturist thought I was crazy/pyschosymatic/sleep deprived, but I don't think she has the training/modern view that this acupuncturist has. I want to get to the bottom of this leaky gut thing. I don't want to keep cutting foods out of my diet until there is nothing left. It's very difficult for me to go out to dinner now without getting "somethinged" (insert your favorite food here that I can no longer eat with a "ed" on the end). Anyone else out there in the same boat, and any insights?

Claire

Hi Claire,
After days of not getting my password accepted I finally just registered again!

The article you posted is very interesting to me. Dr. Fratkin talks about the load on the liver and lymphatic system and the stress to the immune and endocrine system and his explanation of the process makes sense to me.

He has a very holistic approach to treatment. His dietary approach reminds me of the diet avocated at this website. I appreciated him saying: He avocates stool testing and so many of us endorse Dr. Fine's stool testing method. He avocates traditional allergy testing. He treats yeast overgrowth but understands the underlying conditions that cause it. I just didn't see him address gluten intolerance testing directly but he uses food trials and maybe that is how he diagnoses gluten intolerance? If so I hope he stresses enough how complete compliance is essential.

I so like holistic approaches. They seem more openminded and treat the whole person.
Leslie

I would add to that list (of things that damage the GI tract) drinking alcohol on a regular basis. Alcohol can thin the GI tract out. How much you have to drink I don't know. But, another reason why booze is bad for you.

I developed leaky gut from taking antibiotics. I have read and have used glutamine, an amino acid, to help with this. I think any leaky gut problem should include some glutamine. The powder is the way to go. Glutamine is good to have on hand (in powder form) because it can help soothe your GI tract. You mix the powder in some water - making it into a milky white drink -and you can feel it going down as it soothes the GI tract. (The taste is palatable.) Glutamine is best used on an empty stomach. Glutamine is safe to take. It is the most abundant amino acid in the body, I believe.

http://www.fungusfocus.com/html/l-glutamine.htm

I used the glutamine and some other things like butyric acid. Butyric acid is found in foods like butter.

https://www.dcnutrition.com/products...cordNumber=262

I was doing some research on zonulin and came across this document:
http://www.autismone.org/uploads/Owens%20Susan.doc

Haven't examined all the science/research, but a quick look at a few parts of the science look very sound.

Mike

Interesting thread! Great Finds! Looks like I may have some filing to do. Claire, I used to have that article linked when they had it on the Great Smokies site, but when that changed...I lost it.

The Leaky Gut links that I've had so far are filed under the Food Allergy page, but I'm going to update the title pages to include LGS as part of the title so this great info can be found.

Thanks everyone.

Cara