It’s estimated that over 30 million people in the US have an imbalance in their gastrointestinal system.
Gut dysbiosis refers to the disruption or imbalance of your gut microbiome. Believe it or not, there are over 300 different kinds of bacteria living inside you right now! While it might sound unsettling at first, these bacteria are GOOD for you and actually necessary for your whole body to function properly.
While society and the CDC have painted bacteria negatively as the cause of disease, that is an overgeneralization. Bacteria are a natural organism, like you and I, only some of them make us sick and others keep us healthy.
Improper food digestion is a major issue. When nutrients aren’t being taken in properly, multiple problems can result:
When your gut is in trouble, toxic bacteria out-competing healthy ones and the result frequently becomes what has come to be called “Leaky Gut Syndrome.”
Active Edge works with our patients to address gut imbalance. We help them take responsibility for their gut health with counseling and education. Help on proper eating and lifestyle as well as physical training and supplements, we help them take the right steps improve and even avoid Gut dysbiosis.
Gut dysbiosis can occur from a variety of reasons but generally, this occurs because of an imbalance of bacteria. When toxic bacteria become more dominant than good bacteria in your gut, this results in many different symptoms. A change in bacteria can be caused by one or many of the following:
Recognizing these everyday factors is key to making changes that bring your gut back into balance for better digestive health.
Leaky gut has a variety of symptoms that are unspecific and can relate to many other conditions. Leaky gut requires a gut health specialist to dive deeper as it can be very hard to make a concrete diagnosis. Symptoms can be very mild to more severe which include:
If you have other known conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, HIV or Aids, for food allergies, these can also contribute to issues in your intestinal barrier.
There are a few different tests to potentially find that leaky gut is the problem. The primary test used is a urine test called the “mannitol and lactulose test”. These two molecules are mixed into water, drank, then the urine is tested. A standard result would show high levels of mannitol and low levels of lactulose. If this is not the result, this can mean the intestinal lining is not healthy.
Another test is a blood test that looks for specific antibodies and biomarkers that show evidence of gut bacteria infiltration. If neither of these are conclusive. More invasive tests like a tissue biopsy or endoscopy exam could be required for official diagnosis, but are often an unnecessary for restoring gut health and reducing symptoms.
Traditionally, addressing gut dysbiosis has often involved symptomatic management and the use of antibiotics, which, while targeting harmful bacteria, can inadvertently disrupt the balance of the entire gut microbiome.
At Active Edge, our approach to healing gut dysbiosis goes beyond traditional methods. Our gut health doctors prioritize delving into the root causes of dysbiosis to develop a comprehensive understanding of individual health. Our personalized dietary guidance emphasizes a tailored nutrition plan that not only addresses specific dietary triggers but also supports a balanced gut microbiome. Introducing natural probiotic supplements and gut healing foods aims to restore microbial equilibrium. Lifestyle modifications, including stress management, physical training, and sleep guidance also contribute to overall gut health.
Our program incorporates the latest insights from functional medicine, ensuring a holistic and individualized approach to healing your leaky gut and fostering lasting digestive well-being.
As Doctors of chiropractic, we’ve done rigorous study of physiology, nutrition, neurology, anatomy, and diagnosis. We’ve refined our knowledge over the years with continuous study of full body health, Functional Medicine, gut health, the interconnectivity of body systems and structural alignment, understanding of organ to joint relationships, acknowledgement of blocked emotions manifesting in physical disease, and more.
Our doctors have studied with some of the Functional Medicine greats including Bob Rakowski, Jeffery Bland, Mark Hyman, and Jeff Bryst. Applying the knowledge from all these avenues allow our doctors to determine which body systems need to be restored and reset to improve gut health. We create targeted and comprehensive plans to activate healing and restore vibrance in patients.
The time it’ll take to heal leaky gut syndrome is dependent on the person, the severity of their issues, and how strict they stay on a gut health diet and nutritional supplements without cheating. While you can begin healing and noticing symptomatic reductionright away, it generally takes at least 4 weeks and up to 6 months to completely reset your gut health and heal gut dysbiosis.
Digestive issues and leaky gut can be caused by a variety of foods but the once that increase your chances include the following:
Your digestive tract is responsible for breaking down your food and absorbing all of the nutrients. When you are not absorbing the nutrients that you need, that can cause a domino effect of lack of nutrients throughout the body. Whether that’s your heart, skin, brain, immune system, and more, your entire body relies on your digestive tract functioning properly.
Your Vagus nerve is another connection to various parts of your body from your GI tract, especially to your brain. Research shows that 10x the communication goes from your GI tract to your brain the from your brain to your GI tract! Simply put, if your gut is inflamed so is your brain!
At this point, you are feeling better than you ever thought you could as you are feeling energized and thriving. You have learned a lot about your body, you are moving more efficiently, you understand your body’s cues, and you have a good idea of what to do with these cues. This means you get to try new things, achieve new goals, and conquer new challenges! As you do, we will be here as your resource, as needed, to help you nourish, boost, and refresh your health.
Pain is generally the last symptom to show up and the first to go away. This means that by the time you realize there is a problem, there has been a problem for a long time. Especially for chronic or recurring issues, understanding how you got to where you are is so important for getting to where you want to go. In this stage of your journey, you will resolve underlying dysfunction, remove cheats, and retrain habits. As we aid you in activating your body’s natural healing potential, we will help you regain movement, energy, and body function both inside and outside. Throughout this process, you will start to feel greater ease and inspiration as you restore communication and efficiency in your body. Together, we will constantly assess, observe, and reassess your body’s responses to boost your results.
You are your own person, with your own collection of life events which brought you to where you are today. You deserve to be heard, seen, and treated as the individual you are. Your journey begins with your Discovery Evaluation. This first visit includes your exam which works to uncover the root of your issue(s), new patient diagnostics, and, of course, your first treatment. This is how we will help you begin connecting the dots and feeling better. After your first treatment, we will ask you to observe your body’s responses– good, bad, or indifferent. There is no wrong answer as this is just starting point information and direction for moving forward. In your second visit, we will review this feedback and your diagnostics to further identify potential underlying causes and compensations. We will combine everything we have learned about you, consider your goals, and together create a plan to resolve your concerns from the roots up.
