What is the gut barrier?
The gut barrier is like the gatekeeper between your intestines and bloodstream, controlling what's allowed to pass into the blood from your digestive system, and what stays out. This barrier is only one cell thick and linked tightly together with tight junction proteins.
Gut barrier function
When your digestive system is healthy, it should be a sealed passageway from your mouth to back passage. Anything that goes in your mouth and isn't digested will pass out the other end. Preventing unwanted substances from entering the body is one of the most important functions of the gut barrier, as well as allowing the uptake of essential nutrients.
What compromises the integrity of the gut barrier?
Since the gut barrier is made up of only a single layer of cells, it's quite delicate and easily compromised. When the integrity of your gut barrier is compromised, gaps begin to form between the tight junctions, resulting in permeability and leading to a condition known as ‘leaky gut syndrome’ (aka ‘intestinal hyperpermeability’).
This can be caused by foods that are difficult to digest and irritating to your gut. This is usually because of the way the food is processed or manufactured.
Gluten and the gut barrier
Gluten, in particular, can be very difficult to digest, because it contains a protein called gliadin. Undigested gluten can cause an array of digestive problems, including a leaky gut. It can also cause an immune response and contribute to inflammation, affecting not only your gut, but your skeletal system, pancreas, kidneys, liver, and brain. Therefore, eliminating or reducing gluten in the diet may improve symptoms and ensure your gut barrier functions properly.
The integrity of the gut barrier can also be compromised by:
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Allergens and inflammatory foods including added sugar, GMO foods and food additives
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Chronic stress
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Alcohol, drugs and pesticides
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Gut dysbiosis
Leaky gut and the gut barrier
When you have a leaky gut, certain particles that should never be able to enter your bloodstream start to make their way through. Since these particles don’t belong outside of the gut (i.e, inside your body), your immune system mounts an immune response and attacks them, causing inflammation. This inflammation may cause ‘IBS’ type symptoms such as diarrhoea, stomach cramps and bloating, and even the prescription of medication which may further perpetuate the problem.
Leaky gut and an unhealthy gut microbiota are common because of our modern lifestyle. If you have a leaky gut, you're likely to have an unhealthy gut microbiota, and vice versa.
While leaky gut and a bad gut microbiota may manifest as digestive trouble, in many people, it can instead show up as problems as diverse as depression, brain fog, eczema/psoriasis and other skin conditions, metabolic problems like obesity and diabetes and allergies such as asthma.
To properly address these conditions, it's important to rebuild a healthy gut microbiota and restore the integrity of your gut barrier. It may be helpful to supplement with probiotics to help regulate your gut microbiota, or collagen, which may help to repair damage to the gut lining and barrier. This is especially important if you have any kind of autoimmune disease, but ensuring you protect your gut barrier in order for it to function properly is essential for everyone, whether you experience digestive issues or not.
