Understanding the Link Between Fatigue & Leaky Gut Syndrome

Do you feel lethargic, fatigued, and find that you have trouble focusing or concentrating at specific times of the day? If so, the complication you are experiencing with cognition and energy may be attributed to a unique digestive complication known as Leaky Gut syndrome. In adults who live with this complication, there is a marked risk for long term effects on both physical performance as well as mental performance.

Leaky Gut syndrome, LGS, is the term used to describe a unique digestive health complication that is implicated by the size and spacing of the cells in the intestinal wall. In healthy adults, the intestinal wall tissue is comprised of cells that are space to such a specification that food particles and nutrients we digest are not permitted to enter the bloodstream directly. When living with LGS, these same tight spaces are malformed, leading to a greater likelihood of leakage of digestive particles into the bloodstream and then creating complications in the brain.

When our bloodstream is overloaded with what the body perceives as “foreign objects”, a natural immunity response occurs, causing inflammation. When inflammation sets in, our brain and nervous systems are not permitted to function at optimal levels. It is important, therefore, to keep the blood stream healthy and free of as few toxins as possible.

To determine if Leaky Gut syndrome is the culprit behind your fatigue, lethargy, and general lack of focus and concentration, it is important to determine how you feel after you eat or drink certain products. If, when consuming caffeine, you feel bloated and as if you have much distention in the abdomen, this could be indicative of a Leaky Gut complication.

When suffering from complications that may be related to LGS, it is important to make an appointment with a gastroenterologist to determine what treatment may be needed. Once confirmed as LGS, most physicians will recommend a lifestyle change to a very strict diet that will control symptoms and reduce inflammatory response in the body when nutrients pass the intestinal wall and into the blood stream. The key to optimal health, however, lies in protecting the bloodstream as best as possible by keeping all nutrients in the intestinal wall for proper digestion and physiological use.