Alcohol & Leaky GUT

Australians have a reputation for our excessive alcohol drinking. It's within our culture to have an outdoor lifestyle, BBQ's, laid back attitude, scorching sun.....with a bevvy in our hands.The negative impacts of alcohol consumption is evident. I'm not about to start educating you about the physical and mental effects of alcohol. You can do so here.I see many people within my practice that have a leaky gut. A thorough health history is taken with all of my clients; and all usual suspects of a leaky gut are marked off:

• antibiotic use
• prescription medication
• post-infectious IBS
• stress
• operations
• reproductive health
• diet

But have you ever considered your alcohol intake?

Excessive alcohol intake (binge drinking), causes inflammation and creates gaps within our intestinal wall. Ethanol reduces good bacteria and increases unwanted endotoxins (bad bacteria). Alcohol is metabolised by the liver, and produces free radicals as a result. Which causes oxidative stress within our body.Increased inflammation travels to our brain, and increases depression, foggy thinking and 'sickness behaviour'.Alcohol impairs our nervous system and reduces nutrients such as zinc, Vit. D, folate and SAMe.Due to the intestinal permeability, conditions such as SIBO, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and some colon cancers can occur.

So what can you do to heal a leaky gut caused by over alcohol consumption?

Studies have that supplementing with the following have a positive impact in either inflammatory markers or intestinal permeability measures:

• Zinc supplementation- 50mg per day after a meal
• Vitamin D supplement
• SAMe supplementation
• Co-enzyme A supplementation
• Fish oil (anti-inflammatory)
• Vitamin C (anti-oxidant)
• Magnesium
• Glutamine

Probiotics:

• Lactobacillus LGG
• Bifidobacterium Infantis
• Bifidobacterium bifidum
• Lactobacillus plantarum
• Lactobacillus casei Shirota (yakult)

Prebiotics:

• Oats at 10gm per 1kg body weight.

Ways to reduce alcohol intake.....

• Stay within the 'drinking in moderation' guidelines
• Abstinence of alcohol- replace alcohol with a healthy habit.
• Swap to red wine. Studies have demonstrated that red wine contains polyphenols. Polyphenols are beneficial for gut bacteria.
• Identify the triggers of alcohol consumption. Avoid or reduce the triggers could lead to less alcohol intake.

Useful Resources:

Website- Hello Sunday MorningWebsite- Sexy SobrietySupport- Alcoholics AnonymousSupport- Drink WiseREFERENCESBarve, Shirish et. al. 'Development, Prevention & Treatment of Alcohol Induced Organ Injury: The Role of Nutrition, Alcohol Research, Vol. 28, No. 2 pg. 289-302Bishehsari, Faraz. et. al , Alcohol and GUT derived Inflammation', Alcohol Research, Vol. 38. No. 2 pg. 163-171Engen, Phillip A. et. al. 'The Gastrointestinal Microbiome- Alcohol effects on the composition of Intestinal Microbiota', Alcohol Research, Vol. 37, No.2Leclercq, S. Timory, P de. Delzeme, NM. Starket, P. (2017) 'The Link between inflammation, bugs, the intestine and the brain in alcohol dependence', Translational Psychiatry   

Things to consider before you detox!

This time of the year always brings the need for a spring detox!But before you go out and buy your next 'detox' kit , I wanted to go over a few things with you that you should be aware of (in a mum voice).Firstly, your body is CONSTANTLY detoxing. We have 5 main organs that are involved in the detoxification process:

1. Your lungs- We breathe in toxins (air pollution, cigarette smoke, pesticides etc. ), but we also breathe a lot of the bad stuff out too.
2. Kidneys- These little guys act as a filter system. If they are suffering, you will definitely know about it!
3. Your bowels- Regular bowel motions eliminate toxins. Our bile binds to these toxins and then we poop them away. So if your constipated....where are your toxins going? They are getting re-absorbed!!
4. The liver- Your liver is SO SO busy! Blood gets filtered through the liver and toxins are being constantly removed. things like: bacteria, hormones, prescription medication, fats, coffee, alcohol etc.
5. The skin- This is the last area that your body has to eliminate toxins. Sweat is the most common way toxins are released, but when your skin has rashes (if not from direct contact), acne, eczema and rosacea, this can be also due to a clogged detoxification pathway.

Generally when you embark on a detox, the standard is eliminated:

• coffee
• alcohol
• gluten
• refined sugar
• dairy

It can be quite a shock for some people. I am all for a good detox (don't get me wrong), but you need to take baby steps so you're not putting too much strain on your organs.Ensuring you have regular bowel motions is a start. There is no use supporting your detoxification process if your not able to excrete out the toxins. Usually this is rectified by the diet changes you have made, but sometimes by adding in some probiotics (strain specific for constipation) and even digestive support (such as pancreatic enzymes or hydrochloric acid), can help with regular bowel motion.Drinking filtered water not only helps your kidneys, but your also avoiding all of the little extras that are being added to your tap water. Chlorine and nitrate are some big factors here.Using activated charcoal in your regime can help bind the toxins for elimination. This can cause constipation in some people, so adequate water in take is needed.It might not be until a week or so later that you may add liver support. For some people, there genetic profile may mean they lack a few enzymes in the liver detoxification process, so caution is required. but liver support herbs such as:

• St. Mary's thistle
• Dandelion root
• Turmeric
• Fennel
• Fenugreek

Are all generally safe to consume. Amino acids are also a great addition for your liver too. As these are used in phase 2 of the liver detoxification process. Amino acids such taurine, glutathione, cysteine, glycine and methionine (to name a few) are all required for the liver to work efficiently.And a few extras?

• Dry skin brushing
• Epsom salt baths
• Sleep and rest
• Movement

I recently did a FB Live on the topic. 

Bloated Belly Blues

In my younger years I used to have an ironing board stomach (actually the ironing board look went up to my collar bone). And the words 'muffin top' were not something that I resonated with. That was until I had my 3rd child, and I just had to look at food for my stomach to inflate like a balloon.I do believe that there has been muscle weakness in that area and this has been a reason for my relaxed tummy look, but the biggest cause was because I had SIBO.SIBO stands for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. And it means just that the gut bacteria that should be in your large colon, are now playing happy families in your small intestine.So what does this have to do with bloated tummies???A lot actually. It now means that the bacteria that are in your small intestine are out of balance. And these new kids on the block love feeding off the food we eat. Mostly carbs!So when they have also relished in the pasta you just ate, so are the unwelcomed bacteria. And they then release gases after eating, which then causes your tummy to also fill up with air and look bloated!The foods that mostly trigger a bloated belly are:- bread, crackers, biscuits, cakes. Anything with wheat and gluten.- milk, cream, soy, cheese- alcohol- refined sugars, sweeties, lollies etc.- additives and preservatives-legumesOther symptoms of SIBO are:- constipation and/or diarrhoea- food intolerances-headaches-fatigue-acne Rosacea and other skin conditionsTo treat a bloated belly naturally you can eliminate the unwanted bacteria by using herbal antibiotics; and avoid foods that feed the bacteria until the gut lining heals and the cause of your SIBO has been rectified.If you would like to know more about SIBO, please fill out the contact form below.[contact_bank form_id=2 show_title=true show_desc=false]   

P For Pyrolles

Pyroluria/Pyrolles is a genetic condition or a result of high oxidative stress when your body produces high levels of kryptopyrolles in the urine. Kryptopyrolles is a natural occurring by product when your body is making haemoglobin and the problem that is causes is that vitamin B6 and zinc bind to kryptopyrolles and then reduces your levels of these nutrients.

Vitamin B6 and zinc are used as cofactors in many metabolic functions within the body. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin, adrenalin and GABA need vitamin B6 and zinc to be synthesised. The end result is that many people with pyrolles do not cope with stress very well, may suffer from depression and is commonly linked with conditions such as ADHD and anxiety.

Testing of kryptopyrolles is relatively easy and is done by a urine sample. Collection of the sample can be the tricky part and needs to be done in a relatively dark room (as light will destroy your sample) and collection also needs to be late morning and done when you are not overly stressed (as this may give you a false positive).

If you do have a positive result, the next step is to have a blood test to indicate your zinc, unbound copper and bound copper levels. If your zinc levels are low (which they tend to be when you have pyrolles) your copper levels will be high and this within itself can lead to many symptoms. Many practitioners will also recommend having your methylation or genetic testing done as well to make sure there are no missing links- it can get to be a very costly process!

Pyroluria is becoming more common in naturopathic clinics as your local G.P will not recognise the condition and will therefore not be able to treat it. But it still does cause many friendly debates among practitioners if the condition is 'real' or not.

Personally, I have done the urine test and was tested positive 18 months ago. It was around the same time that I did the hydrogen breath test for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) which also came back positive. I have not taken the blood test, as I felt if I treated the GUT first perhaps my symptoms of general adrenal fatigue would diminish (treat the GUT first).

In hindsight I think I manage my 'pyrolles' quite well. I always have my zinc/B6 capsule on hand and also have a supply of NAC to support my liver when I start to feel run down or need a little extra support.

I have included a short You Tube clip by William Walsh from The Walsh Institute. He has written a brilliant book 'Nutrient Power' and has had a successful history of treating people with psychological problems with nutrients. There is also a Bio-Balance conference every year on the Gold Coast in Queensland and is open to the public.

If you have pyrolles or you think you may have pryolles and you're interested in making an appointment to have your kryptopyrolle levels tested - contact me today!

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