Fixing Leaky Gut Helps ME/CFS, and Sometimes Achieves Full Remission

[MeSci]

That's a good list MeSci! Definitely well worth pursuing, and I really am not knocking it - honestly. Just wish it would fix a bit more for me right now!

Luckily I sleep well so no change there....
Have lost a stone in weight - so very welcome.
Lost the horrid stomach pain mostly - great! This led to bad thoughts, but curiously often I had more energy.
Resilience to exertion is worse currently - but there may well be other causes.
Blood pressure/temp at the moment lower and too low - may be other causes, and going to post about this.....
Bowel function - still not good - but known other causes in my case.

Elsewhere you have said that you had acid reflux but are taking betaine HCl. If so, this could be a problem. Acid reflux is usually treated with an alkali, not more acid. Maybe worth trying? It would perhaps be best to get your acid levels checked, although I went down the alkali (sodium bicarbonate) route without any checks and it seems to have helped. It is perhaps significant that I am vegan, so may not need as much stomach acid as omnivores.

 

[mermaid]

Elsewhere you have said that you had acid reflux but are taking betaine HCl. If so, this could be a problem. Acid reflux is usually treated with an alkali, not more acid. Maybe worth trying? It would perhaps be best to get your acid levels checked, although I went down the alkali (sodium bicarbonate) route without any checks and it seems to have helped. It is perhaps significant that I am vegan, so may not need as much stomach acid as omnivores.

Well, yes, I did have acid reflux, but no longer have it since I started on the Betaine, though I can't say that's the only reason, and it almost certainly isn't the only reason. To be honest I didn't have a lot of reflux exactly, unless I ate certain foods, but as Dr Myhill felt that I had hypochlorhydria I went with that along with the other things I changed.

Having read Dr M and others on this acid issue, standard medical practice IS to treat with alkali (well they treat often with PPIs - and I assume they are alkali?), but my understanding is that the SYMPTOMS for low acid and high acid are the same (ie acid reflux). I always treated it cautiously as I knew I had a tendency towards gastritis and I certainly didn't want to worsen that, but in the end it seemed to work.

I have tried stopping it in the past to test whether all was well now, and at the time it wasn't, but it might be worth me easing off it a bit now, and hope that my own acid production is up to scratch again.

And yes, if you are vegan, maybe you wouldn't have such problems, as I believe that more acid is needed for higher protein meals.

 

[MeSci]

Well, yes, I did have acid reflux, but no longer have it since I started on the Betaine, though I can't say that's the only reason, and it almost certainly isn't the only reason. To be honest I didn't have a lot of reflux exactly, unless I ate certain foods, but as Dr Myhill felt that I had hypochlorhydria I went with that along with the other things I changed.

Having read Dr M and others on this acid issue, standard medical practice IS to treat with alkali (well they treat often with PPIs - and I assume they are alkali?), but my understanding is that the SYMPTOMS for low acid and high acid are the same (ie acid reflux). I always treated it cautiously as I knew I had a tendency towards gastritis and I certainly didn't want to worsen that, but in the end it seemed to work.

I have tried stopping it in the past to test whether all was well now, and at the time it wasn't, but it might be worth me easing off it a bit now, and hope that my own acid production is up to scratch again.
.

PPIs reduce acid so have an alkalising effect. HCl and PPIs have opposite effects, and PPIs can actually cause hypochlorhydria.

I'm by no means an authority on hypochlorhydria but have found a few references to the symptoms being similar to excess acidity, but not sure whether there is actual acid reflux in hypochlorhydria - it seems counter-intuitive.

 

[pattymelt]

A leaky gut regimen that I derived benefits from is:

Leaky Gut Protocol
Saccharomyces boulardii (Jarrow) x 2 capsules
Grape seed extract 200 mg
Zinc carnosine 1 capsule (27.5 mg)
Vitamin E 400 iu
N-acetylglucosamine 500 mg
Triphala 1500 mg
Glutamine powder 1 heaped tsp (6 grams)
Slippery elm bark 1000 mg
Zinc 20 mg

I took all these twice daily.


Hip, would you mind sharing *how* you took these? i.e. on empty stomach, with food, etc. I've just gotten all my bottles and am ready to get going.

I've also started taking potato starch as mentioned in another thread here and am having some very nice results only two weeks in: deep, restful sleep; greatly stabilized blood sugar ( no more shaky crashy feeling after eating) and feeling much more stable moodwise.

 

[Hip]

@pattymelt
I took these on an empty stomach, with a large glass of water.

The supplements N-acetyl-glucosamine, zinc, zinc carnosine and glutamine are certainly best taken on an empty stomach; for the other supplements, it is not so important when you take them.

 

[dannybex]

@pattymelt
I took these on an empty stomach, with a large glass of water.

The supplements N-acetyl-glucosamine, zinc, zinc carnosine and glutamine are certainly best taken on an empty stomach; for the other supplements, it is not so important when you take them.

Do you know if carnosine taken by itself chelate or bind to zinc or other minerals?

 

[Hip]

Do you know if carnosine taken by itself chelate or bind to zinc or other minerals?

No, I don't believe it does. Zinc carnosine supplements are not just zinc and carnosine together in a capsule or tablet.

Zinc carnosine is in fact a zinc molecule chemically bonded to a carnosine molecule. The combination of the two becomes in effect a new chemical molecule. This way of loosely bonding of two different molecules together is called a molecular complex.

A molecular complex is defined as two or more molecules loosely bonded or "glued" together. This bonding between the molecular components of a molecular complex is normally weaker than the normal covalent bonds found in much of chemistry.

The Meriva® curcumin supplement, which is more absorbable that regular curcumin, is another example of a molecular complex. In this case, a curcumin molecule is bonded or "glued" to a phosphatidylcholine molecule.

 

[Leopardtail]

You might be OK if you replaced wheat pasta with corn/rice pasta, and not too much of it. I have a bit of pasta every day but have replaced about half the (corn/rice-based) pasta with salad, which I sprinkle lightly with lemon juice, and it's nice!

My main carb addiction was crusty wholemeal bread, but I love my health more than I love that. My thinking was: eating doesn't take very long, so that's pleasure that lasts maybe a couple of hours a day, but the ill effects from eating the wrong food are with you 24/7. A no-brainer when you look at it like that.

There are plenty of low-carb foods that I love, and I allow myself unlimited nibbling of roasted salted cashew nuts...mmmm.

And the weight I lost after going gluten-free/low-carb has stayed off.

My pet love is smoked almonds

 

[Xhale19991]

No, I don't believe it does. Zinc carnosine supplements are not just zinc and carnosine together in a capsule or tablet.

Zinc carnosine is in fact a zinc molecule chemically bonded to a carnosine molecule. The combination of the two becomes in effect a new chemical molecule. This way of loosely bonding of two different molecules together is called a molecular complex.

A molecular complex is defined as two or more molecules loosely bonded or "glued" together. This bonding between the molecular components of a molecular complex is normally weaker than the normal covalent bonds found in much of chemistry.

The Meriva® curcumin supplement, which is more absorbable that regular curcumin, is another example of a molecular complex. In this case, a curcumin molecule is bonded or "glued" to a phosphatidylcholine molecule.

What type of diet do you recommend to heal leaky gut?

 

[Hip]

What type of diet do you recommend to heal leaky gut?

A low lectin diet, which avoids the food groups: beans, nightshades and grains, which can worsen leaky gut.

If you cannot fully avoid these food groups, then taking some sugar with them appears to lessen their bad effects — see this study.

 

[Xhale19991]

A low lectin diet, which avoids the food groups: beans, nightshades and grains, which can worsen leaky gut.

If you cannot fully avoid these food groups, then taking some sugar with them appears to lessen their bad effects — see this study.

So basically a paleo diet?

Do you advocate ketosis? Or just low carb but not low enough to bring about that state?

 

[Hip]

@Xhale19991
I have never seen any evidence for ketogenic diets helping leaky gut.

Supplements proven to reduce leaky gut (ie, backed up by published studies) are given in the first post of this thread. I'd suggest taking a set of those supplements if you want to try to combat leaky gut.

 

[Xhale19991]

@Xhale19991
I have never seen any evidence for ketogenic diets helping leaky gut.

Supplements proven to reduce leaky gut (ie, backed up by published studies) are given in the first post of this thread. I'd suggest taking a set of those supplements if you want to try to combat leaky gut.

Then what source of carbs can you consume safely? Without grains, legumes, or nightshades..... what else is left? I also heard fruit was bad for those with gut issues.

 

[Hip]

@Xhale19991
I personally only avoid gluten containing grains, but eat all other grains. And I also eat potatoes. So this gives me quite a range of carbs to eat. But I avoid all beans, and all nightshades other than potatoes.

 

[dmholmes]

Then what source of carbs can you consume safely? Without grains, legumes, or nightshades..... what else is left? I also heard fruit was bad for those with gut issues.

White rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, carrots, jicama...

 

[MeSci]

White rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, carrots, jicama...

I've cut down on sweet potatoes, which I had recently experimented with as a replacement for potatoes, but this coincided with a worsening of symptoms, and I found it too strong-tasting to use as a 'canvas' for stronger flavours. It also tasted too sweet for me. I'm back to good ol' spuds. I was OK with them before, but something had worsened my symptoms even before the sweet potato, and I think I was eating too many nuts. Bowel function is much better after reducing my intake to what it was before.

Maybe amaranth is suitable. I've tried rolls made from this and it was OK (but expensive). Quinoa seems OK too but to me very bland.

 

[tinek]

Then what source of carbs can you consume safely? Without grains, legumes, or nightshades..... what else is left? I also heard fruit was bad for those with gut issues.

Pumpkins: butternut squash roasted, spaghetti squash, cabbage, beets, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, greens like spinach. Pick up a good paleo cookbook and go exploring or like ThePaleoMom on Facebook to get a steady stream of paleo recipes
Paleo does not have to be low in carbs, but it has to be low in irritants. They make it low carb for weight loss.
I'm myself starting a protocol per the new The Paleo Aproach book to get my digestive issues resolved, everything else is much better since starting regular paleo.

 

[end]

@Xhale19991
I personally only avoid gluten containing grains, but eat all other grains. And I also eat potatoes. So this gives me quite a range of carbs to eat. But I avoid all beans, and all nightshades other than potatoes.

I think Hip has a point... I went ketogenic for ages and it acterly made me feel more toxic/fatigued. And follow up IP testing was made even worse.

I think the avoidance of grains/nightshades still holds some merritt though

 

[end]

Then what source of carbs can you consume safely? Without grains, legumes, or nightshades..... what else is left? I also heard fruit was bad for those with gut issues.

Fruit is high in fructose and with a lot of us being sensitive to it along with lactose as per KDM's finding's would indicate we should probly avoid both....

 

[Beyond]

I casually found a study that proves (although in rat model!) that NAG does improve intestinal permeability and wanted to share it in this thread: http://www.banglajol.info/index.php/BJP/article/view/12806