The intestinal tract has got a barrier from the outside world to the inside of the body. Whatever you eat is considered to be outside your body. It becomes part of your body only when the nutrients that the body needs are absorbed through the gut barrier. There are some nutrients that go through the gut barrier easily, such as glucose and other simple form of sugars. Others needs to be taken into the blood stream through receptors. Everything more or less needs to go through the liver to be dealt with. From the liver, which is the centre in command for given instructions to where everything goes, and what needs to be made and then dispatched into the body for their use. Any excess is stored for future need, such as sugar excess or fat, proteins and some fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, k and water soluble B12. Any other water-soluble vitamin such as B vitamins and vitamin C will be used and/or eliminated through the body elimination system every day. Hence the nutritional value food and the extra vitamin C that you need each day is essential in your diet. If you diet is full of sugar, fat and fast food, then you will eventually be undernourished and hence diseases happen including low immune system.

If you have allergies or intolerances and you keep having them, then the low-grade inflammation in the intestinal tract or in the body, will cause low nutrients status and triggers the new modern age of disease.

So, my training 20 years ago at the University of Westminster, was that the first thing that you need to pay attention to is the gut barrier. There are test for leaky gut, and as I work with over-reaction of foods and allergies through NAET method testing and treating, I assume that if the person has got a lot of reaction to normal foods as well as the environment and other nutrients, that the intestinal tract barrier is leaky or has been affected by it.

What causes irritable bowel syndrome. Well I wrote a very short booklet about my own clinical experience with IBS. It is on amazon and you can easily get it to know what it is and what simple measure you can do to address the changes. Some changes need to be long term, and some might be short with lasting effect. It depends on the trigger of your IBS symptoms.

What are the main causes of IBS and possible colic for babies who intestinal barrier might be leaky due to just being born.

Babies are affected more when one parent or both parents have any type of allergies. If the mother who is breastfeeding is highly intolerant or reacting to dairy, eggs and gluten/wheat, or another food that might trigger a non-mast cell histamine release in the milk.  Only animal studies have been done on this, which connected histamine released from the intestinal tract where increasing the release of histamine in the mammary gland, which is then passed on to the baby or reduced the synthesis of casein, which means less milk protein in the milk. In simple words, if the mother is allergic to some food and keep eating it, there is a chance that the baby will eventually react to that particular food due to high histamine release, this is my theory and as I mentioned no studies have been done on this yet.

Babies intestinal tract also needs to be filled with good bacteria and this ground base of bacteria depends on the type of birth they had. Vaginal birth will give the baby the start of the bacteria that the mother has. If that is a full of friendly bacteria, then this is a good start. If the mother has got more yeast and has not taken any food supply of friendly bacteria, than it is probable that the bacteria that colonize the baby intestine is more of the yeast type.

With C-section and possible water birth then the bacteria will be of a different type.

If the baby is breastfed than usually the colostrum, which comes before the milk, will pave the way for the intestinal tract to colonize more of the friendly bacteria.

If the baby is bottle fed for any reason, then the bacteria that grows is different from the breastfed. The baby that is born with C-section, antibiotics through the mother or given for any reason necessary at birth than will have less chance of the commensal and friendly bacteria to colonize and form the cement of good health.

The good news is that in the modern life, you can give the baby the friendly bacteria from the start. Such as bifidus infantis or any infantis probiotics. I would suggest biocare range, bio-kult and optibac. Optibac has got less lactose if any of the babies are reacting to the dairy lactose.

The baby microbiome in the intestinal tract will have a massive impact on the health of the baby later on, including mental health. The first two years of the baby intestinal tract colonization with the friendly bacteria are essential and vital for that well-being. You can colonize the intestinal tract at any time, if you are having a baby and you are reading this, I would suggest to support that colonization as soon as possible.

A healthy intestinal tract paves the way to a healthy digestion, less allergies or over reaction to food, as the friendly bacteria make products to support the repair and support of the mucosal intestinal barrier.

Many studies recently have connected the health of the mucosal intestinal barrier with the mental health and with the maintenance of healthy neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which has many receptors in the intestinal tract. Dopamine and acetylcholine, are all essential for the happy mood and reduction of anxiety, short term memory and movements.

Hence intake, even as an adult of friendly probiotics are essential for our mental and physical health. Of course, in an ideal world, you would get all these friendly bacteria by being in the wild and nature. You would get more various strains of bacteria that we have lost in the modern life, and might loose even more now with all the extra cleaning. In some studies, the variety of the friendly bacteria in people in the wild where about 40 to 60 times more than someone who lives in the city.

As we cannot all live in nature for now, we need to be happy with what we have, which is a combination with acidophilus and bifidus bacteria. I would suggest Solgar Advanced multibillion dophilus, BioCare probiotics, G&G bifidus and any other high bifidus variety. There are some studies that have shown that bifidus longum is essential for the reduction from an early age of gluten allergies or prevents the trigger of the genetic make up of a baby/adult of the reaction to gluten in the intestinal tract.

What are the main causes of IBS:

• Allergies, intolerances due to the class of antibodies over reaction, with the worse being IgE, IgG, IgM, IgA (the latter being specific for the intestinal tract and all the mucosal barrier in the body, including the lungs).
• Stress – the stress mode, which it is called the sympathetic response, will shut down the parasympathetic neurological pathway, which is the one that opens the valves of the digestive system. You cannot run and eat at the same time without the consequence of having diarrhoea or constipation and pain later on!
• Constipation due to dietary choices or physical problems
• Parasites/ gastroenteritis. Past and present.
• Traumatic events, which leads to constant stress mode, even when the person does not feel stressed.
• Emotions and feelings that are not dealt with.
• Foods and drinks that supports stress and the growth of unfriendly bacteria in the intestinal tract.
• SIBO (small intestinal bacteria overgrowth). This is due to constipation, the valve between the small intestine and the large intestine being open when it should be shut. This might be due to long term constipation, and stress.
• Many more reasons, and I would recommend people who have IBS to read my booklet the “clinical experience of irritable bowel syndrome” and/or book an appointment with myself to be guided and supported in dealing with the resolution of the IBS symptoms. Click here to buy the book on amazon

I would add to the probiotics the importance of the liver function as it is the centre of dispatches, similar to amazon really!

Natural food to support the liver are bitter foods, such as artichokes leaves, rockets, radicchio, chicory. Beetroot is also quite good for the liver detox.

Supplements in case of drinking or genetic low function of the liver detox, are milk thistle, artichokes, glutamine, l-cysteine, SAMe, and many more.

Milk thistle supports the liver as well as the mucosal intestinal barrier. Pomegranate juice and seeds also supports the bifidobacterial and hence the intestinal tract barrier, as well as being high in anti-oxidants such as lutein and lycopene.

© Maria Esposito BSc (Hons) R-Nutritional Therapist – NAET – R-craniosacral therapist – NLP practitioner – Certified Angel Guide