Did you know most autoimmune disorders start in the gut? An autoimmune disorder is when your own immune system mistakenly attacks certain parts of the body, causing inflammation and damage. There are many named ones including celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, lupus, Sjogren’s, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, to name a few.
The reason autoimmune disorders start in the gut is that 70-80% of the human immune system is housed in the gut. Therefore, this is where the problem usually begins. The underlying root dysfunction is something called intestinal hyperpermeability which is better known as leaky gut syndrome. Leaky gut happens when the lining of the small intestine becomes porous.
This allows undigested food, toxins, bacteria, viruses, yeast and parasites to escape the gut. When this happens the immune system kicks into action and treats them as a foreign invader. Unfortunately, in the attack certain areas of the body get caught in the crossfire, causing damage and inflammation.
The key then to turning off the immune response and knocking autoimmune disorders into remission is repair of the leaky gut. This is done by finding and fixing what damaged the gut in the first place. Our next newsletter will address some of the causes of leaky gut and how we test for it.