An Imbalanced Gut: What, Why, How & How to Cure

Notes from Gut and Psychology Syndrome

by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride

BACTERIA & YOUR GUT

There is a natural balance amongst the 3 types of bacteria in the gut:

1. Essential bacteria
2. Opportunistic bacteria
3. Transitional flora.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A GUT IS IMBALANCED?

When the gut becomes imbalanced, opportunistic flora take over, and:

• produce toxic byproducts of their metabolism
• damage gut wall, making it leaky
• cause an overproduction if histamines

If beneficial bacterial are damaged and depleting, the walls of the gut are malnourished and compromised and become subject to candida and other opportunistic bacteria.

The absence of good bacteria always coincides with bad bacteria getting out of control and the inability for the digestive system to function properly.  Wheat (gluten) & milk (casein) are good examples. First, in the stomach, they get hit with digestive juices and get split into peptides. Then, peptides move to the small intestine and are hit with pancreatic juices and are broken down by enzymes (called peptidases) by the microvilli of enterocytes. This last stage is missing in people with abnormal gut flora because their enterocytes are distressed. A poor state of enterocytes means the system won’t work. Casomorphines & gluteomorphines slip through the enterocytes and get absorbed into the bloodstream and cause issues with brain function and immune system function.  The poor state of enterocytes also means good minerals, vitamins, waters and gases do not get absorbed.

Most people with abnormal gut flora have various stages of anemia and become predisposed to atopic or allergic reactions, chronic inflammation autoimmunity, chronic viral infection, chronic fatigue, candidiasis, asthma, eczema, ADD, autism, etc.

Abnormal Villi

WHAT CAUSES AN IMBALANCED GUT?

1. Antibiotics: They eliminate good bacteria (hence being crucial times for probiotics).  Most antibiotics require 2-4 weeks for the beneficial gut flora to recover.
2. Antifungal Antibiotics
3. The pill
4. Painkillers
5. Steroids
6. Diet (fiber, sugar and carbohydrates)
7. Fasting
8. Stress

HOW IS AN IMBALANCED GUT RELATED TO THE BRAIN

• Candida highjacks dietary sugars and beaks them down through a process of alcoholic fermentation producing the byproducts of alcohol (ethanol) and acetaldehyde.   An overgrowth of yeast causes symptoms of alcohol consumption, and in the case of pregnancy, can effect the child’s development.  Alcohol and acetaldehyde also bind to proteins and block absorption of essential nutrients like Vitamin B6 an thyroid hormones.
• Gluten & Milk produce gluteomorphins and casomorphins which are similar in their structure to opiates, such as morphine and heroin.  When not processed correctly by the digestive system, they can leak into the bloodstream.

TREATING AN IMBALANCED GUT WITH DIET

WHAT TO EAT AND HOW

People with an imbalanced gut should avoid:

1. All processed foods
2. All grains and anything made out of them (including quinoa and millet)
3. All strachy vegetables and anything made out of them (including yams)
4. Sugar and anything that contains it
5. Starchy beans and peas
6. Lactose and anything that contains it (real allergy to milk is one of the most common allergies in existence, because dairy products have a wide variety of anitgens and is a main reason for infantile colic).
   1. For gut-imbalanced patients, home-fermented dairy products are recommended (yoghurt, sour cream & kefir).
   2. Introduce dairy slowly and start with Ghee (homemade), then butter, then fermented dairy. (Ghee has no lactose and most imbalanced gut patients can handle it).

Tags: Body, Candida, Dairy, Food, GAPS Book, Gluten, Nutrition