Leaky gut, or hyperpermeable gut, is something that can have a big effect on people who get migraines. It’s a condition that can cause or increase food sensitivities, according to some authorities.
What happens is that the gut, or intestines, get inflamed and the cells lining the intestinal walls get spaces between them that allow larger than normal particles to enter the bloodstream instead of being flushed out, literally.
When that happens, these large proteins, bacteria, toxins and parasites can enter the blood stream where they were never meant to be. Our immune system then detects them, sees them as foreign and attacks them, causing more inflammation and making us sensitive to the foods that the proteins came from.
So, how is that related to migraines? These ‘foreign’ proteins as well as bacteria and toxins overload the liver, whose job it is to filter such things out, and trigger a migraine.
It gets worse. When you get a migraine, you may reach for some ASA or Ibuprofen. But get this: NSAIDS are a major cause of leaky gut. This includes Aspirin, Anacin, Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, Nuprin), Naproxen (Aleve, Anaprox, Naprelan, Naprosyn), and other medications. (See link below). And the cycle continues.
Tylenol (Acetaminophen) is OK though.
All those years, I was making myself worse by taking Anacin for my migraines. If only I had known.
The other causes of leaky gut are: alcohol, caffeine, too much sugar, food additives, overuse of antibiotics, herbicide and pesticide residues and any food that a person is allergic to.
The good news is that there are simple, natural things that I’ve been able to do to start healing my intestinal tract.
1. I avoid the above causes of leaky gut. It was quite an adjustment for me to cut out coffee again and to stop using Anacin! I also stopped eating wheat. I had already cut out the most common allergens: dairy, eggs , corn, beans (especially soy), and nuts, as well as all other known migraine triggers.
As you can imagine, my diet became quite limited. Lots of rice, rice milk, rice cakes, rice flour for thickening, rice soda bread for breakfast...
2. I drink a lot of water; 1.5-2 L per day. I mix magnesium chloride in the water, because magnesium is a must for migraineurs (more on that in a separate post), but plain water is good too. Water is mostly what we’re made of, and trying to fix leaky gut without water is like trying to wash your muddy car with a damp sponge.
3. I’m taking a probiotic, or good bacteria. Since I wasn’t able to tolerate regular acidophilus at first, my intrepid naturopath recommended Natrogen, a baby acidophilus. Even then, I had to start with just a smidgen, but then I was able to work up to reasonable amount, in order to get good bacteria back into my poor tired gut. I think most of us know about probiotics these days, but if not, please read the following Mayo Clinic article on probiotics and prebiotics: www.mayoclinic.com/health/probiotics/AN00389
4. I include lots of fiber in my diet. Again, that’s something we’ve heard a lot about, so I probably don’t need to tell you any more.
5. Some practitioners recommend L-Glutamine because “Glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid and the major fuel for the enterocytes (intestinal absorptive cells). Oral glutamine supplementation can stabilize intestinal permeability and mucosal integrity (Den Hond 1999).” According to Life Extension Foundation. (http://www.lef.org/ is a great source for health information. You can visit their website and enter any topic into their search field at the top of the page).
I tried L-Glutamine and it triggered a migraine for me, so I can’t vouch for it, but it sounds promising.
As you can see, these are very simple, natural steps, and they’ve worked for me.
The one that has made the biggest difference for me was cutting out the things that were irritating my bowel, especially aspirin, coffee and wheat. (I had already stopped eating eggs, milk products and a zillion other things).
Added benefit: I lost a lot of weight just from cutting out foods I was sensitive to!
Added benefit: I lost a lot of weight just from cutting out foods I was sensitive to!
How does a person survive without wheat? It ain’t easy, but it’s worth it to feel better. Fortunately, these days there are a lot of wheat free products out there. You’ll find all kinds of them in the natural foods aisle of the grocery store or at a natural foods store. But if, like me, you’re very sensitive because of the leaky gut vicious circle, among other things, you might have to make your own rice flour baked goods for a while.
Here’s good basic recipe for rice flour bread (has a texture like corn bread, not baguette!) that you can adapt as needed:
Rice soda bread
1 ½ cups brown rice flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cup rice milk
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Mix the dry ingredients, then add the wet. Stir and pour into an oiled 8x8” pan.
Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes.
Cool, cut into pieces and eat like corn bread.
It’s not fancy, but it’s good as emergency rations!
The recipe can be made into a sweet by adding chopped fresh fruit and any sweetener you personally like.
It can also be made savory by adding cooked garlic, vegetables and chicken or other meat, herbs and spices.
Some links to articles about leaky gut:
Hope this helps!
I'm glad you posted about this. More people need to know about dietary issues and disease, but ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL! You could write a PhD thesis on numerous aspects of "leaky gut." I used to mock people who avoided certain foods -- what a bunch of whiners! Now I've got plenty of food issues of my own so I've changed my tune. For me dairy was a big problem -- joint pain, dermatitis herpetiformis (that's apparently common in celiacs), and now migraines. I'm trained as a scientist, so I don't consider myself a crackpot whiner, and I've found that MALTOSE, DEXTROSE, and possibly maltodextrin, are directly related to my migraines. They start ~24 hrs after eating the offending food and last for ~48 hours (it's horrible). EVERYONE should keep a food diary to see what foods seem to correlate with what symptoms -- keep a record of what you eat every day and then see how you feel. But NOT EVERYONE has food insensitivities -- my partner is one of the lucky ones. I can drink coffee with no problem and white sugar in that coffee doesn't bother me either despite other problems.
ReplyDeleteDoctors say, "We don't know what causes this." Then they give you some drug. It seems unlikely one's body would just go haywire periodically. There has to be some underlying cause of alopecia, dermatitis, chronic fatigue, migraines, arthritis, and other autoimmune disorders in the absence of some genetic disorder.
Prevent the problems in the first place. There is more evidence all the time that what we eat can have bad effects. Additives, preservatives, "flavors", etc. might be making you sick. There is more and more hard science to back up claims of food intolerance. And our food supply is full of stuff we don't need.
Eat simply (meat, fish, rice, potatoes, vegetables, etc.), drink plenty of water like you said, and avoid processed foods. You might be surprised that you suddenly feel better.
I agree, Philly. Migraines are very individual, but there are some common triggers. Maltodextrin is also a trigger for me, even now when I'm doing much better. Hope you continue to improve also. All the best!
ReplyDelete