Case study: Healing a leaky gut

Fiona is a 50 year old lady who came to see me for help with her thyroid problem. She had been diagnosed with an under active thyroid 5 years ago and had been taking thyroxine since then. Fiona has Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, which is the most common cause of an under active thyroid. It is an autoimmune disease.

Fiona brought her recent blood test results to her appointment for me to review. According to the lab figures, her thyroid hormones were in the normal range. They were normal, but not ideal. Her TSH level was 3.1, whereas an ideal level is between 0.5 and 2 mIU/L. Fiona’s T3 level was on the low side of normal (3.5 pmol/L), whereas an ideal range is between 4.5 and 6.

Autoimmune disease is strongly linked to leaky gut syndrome (increased intestinal permeability). In fact, having a leaky gut is a prerequisite to getting an autoimmune disease. There are other risk factors too, like genetics, nutrient deficiencies, stress and viruses, but leaky gut is a big one.

Felicity had a leaky gut. She didn’t just have one or two symptoms; she had nearly every single symptom. She was really a text book case. Leaky gut syndrome creates a lot of inflammation in the gut, and that inflammation spills out to all other parts of the body, creating all sorts of problems. In Fiona’s case it was causing inflammation of her thyroid gland.

Excessive inflammation in the gut can also prevent thyroid hormones from being able to function properly. It can adversely affect the activation of thyroid hormones and also impair function at hormone receptor sites. This means you can be taking thyroid hormones for an under active thyroid gland, yet still feel lousy.

I knew that to help Fiona truly feel better, we’d have to heal her gut.

Fiona wrote a list of the symptoms that she suffered with:

• Iron deficiency
• Low vitamin D
• Cramps in her legs during her sleep
• Restless legs syndrome
• Unrefreshing sleep and exhaustion in the mornings
• Joint pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Foggy head and poor memory

Each of these symptoms can be attributed to inflammation of the intestinal lining and consequent nutrient malabsorption. Of course, these symptoms can be caused by several other conditions, but when I considered Fiona’s entire medical history, I was certain that leaky gut was at fault.

Leaky gut syndrome is where the intestinal lining has become excessively permeable. This is bad because it means wastes in the intestines can cross through the gut lining into the bloodstream, placing an enormous stress on the immune system and liver. An inflamed gut is also less able to absorb vital nutrients such as iron and magnesium, leading to deficiencies.

My recommendations for my patient

• I asked Fiona to eliminate foods that can irritate and inflame the intestines. These include grains, gluten, dairy products, sugar and legumes. I asked her to base her diet on vegetables, salads, fruit, seafood, poultry, eggs and meat (preferably pastured). I also explained the importance of including beneficial fats in her diet, since they help to reduce inflammation and also reduce cravings for sugar and carbohydrate. Suitable fats include olive oil, coconut oil, ghee and pastured animal fats.
• We needed to heal Fiona’s gut. I asked her to take Intestinal Para Cleanse capsules at a dose of 1 capsule with each meal. The herbs in this formula help to clean up the gut, reducing the numbers of harmful bacteria, fungi and parasites. An imbalance between good and bad bowel microbes is present in virtually all cases of autoimmunity.
• I gave Fiona FloraTone capsules to populate her bowel with high levels of beneficial bacteria. FloraTone is a proprietary blend containing over 13 billion good bacteria per serving. Probiotics help to reduce inflammation in the intestines and help to heal the lining of the gut. They act as guards of your intestines, helping to reduce the absorption of toxic wastes into your body.
• Fiona experienced several symptoms of magnesium deficiency: cramps, poor sleep, fibromyalgia and fatigue. I asked her to take 1 teaspoon of magnesium powder before bed.
• Fiona needed Digestive Enzymes because she often experienced bloating and gas after meals. This is a sign that she was not digesting her food well enough. That’s a problem because it promotes the accumulation of undigested waste in the intestines, which acts as food for harmful bacteria and yeast.
• Bone broth is healing and soothing to the intestinal lining. It greatly reduces inflammation in the body by repairing a leaky gut. Because it is rich in the amino acid glycine, it can help improve sleep quality if you drink a cup with dinner. I asked Fiona to drink a cup of bone broth each day.
• Fiona had just started a vitamin D and iron supplement, and I asked her to continue with these.

Two months later

I have seen Fiona twice after her initial consultation. She is feeling significantly more energetic and sleeping more deeply at night. She said “going off gluten has made a huge difference for me. The wind and bloating I’ve always had is gone and my brain feels clear. It feels like the clouds have parted in my brain and the fog I’ve always had is gone”.

Fiona didn’t mention the joint pain, and when I asked she’d forgotten that it vanished 3 weeks into the diet.

Fiona’s digestion was significantly better, so I asked her to take Livatone Plus now, in order to cleanse her liver. When the bowel is toxic and inflamed, a large amount of toxins end up making their way to the liver. This is because blood from the intestines heads to the liver first, before travelling to the rest of the body. Improving her liver function would continue to improve her energy level and immune health.

I plan to give Fiona a thorough blood test in another month, to assess how well her thyroid is functioning.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.