Subject: Natural Treatment for IBS, Leaky Gut JoAnn Guest

[Guest guest]

Natural Treatment for IBS, Leaky Gut

JoAnn Guest

Dec 22, 2003 12:30 PST

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Q.

What is a good natural treatment for the Leaky Gut, irritable bowel

syndrome?

A.

 

First of all, let me define the Leaky Gut, irritable bowel

syndrome . It is a disorder of the large intestine that is

characterized by some combination of:

 

(1) abdominal pain, (2) altered bowel function,

constipation, or diarrhea, (3) increased secretion of colonic mucus,

(4) dyspeptic symptoms (flatulence, nausea, anorexia), and (5)

varying degrees of anxiety or depression.

 

IBS, Leaky Gut and Crohn's has been referred to in the past as

nervous indigestion, spastic colitis, mucous colitis, and intestinal

neurosis.

 

There appears to be four major natural treatments:

 

(1) increasing dietary fiber, (2) eliminating allergic/intolerant

foods, (3) controlling psychological components, and (4) using a

special preparation of peppermint oil that is " enteric coated. "

 

Enteric coating involves coating the capsule in a manner that will

not allow the capsule to break down until after it has passed

through the stomach and into the small intestine.

 

Enteric coating is necessary, as menthol (the major constituent of

peppermint oil) and other volatile compounds in peppermint oil would

cause relaxation of

the sphincter separating the esophagus and the stomach.

 

Without enteric coating, a significant amount of heartburn can be

produced.

Several double-blind studies have shown enteric-coated peppermint

oil capsules to be a very effective treatment of the irritable bowel

syndrome.

 

Roughly eight out of people gain benefit from their IBS

symptoms. The typical recommendation for enteric-coated peppermint

oil is (0.2 ml) three to four times daily, 15-30 minutes before

meals, for one month.

 

http://www.doctormurray.com/Qarchive/bowel.htm

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Enteric-coated Peppermint Oil:

Beneficial for IBS, Leaky Gut, Crohn's & Gallstones

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Peppermint and other Mints

Key Uses of Peppermint and other Mints:

 

Oral:

Gallstones

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Common Cold

 

Topical:

Musculoskeletal pain

 

General description-

Peppermint is a natural hybrid of garden spearmint (Mentha spicata)

and water mint (Mentha aquatica). First described in England in

1696, peppermint and other members of the mint family grow almost

everywhere. The two most popular varieties are white peppermint and

black peppermint. Both are typical members of the mint family, that

is, herbs with square stems, horizontal rhizomes and lanceolated

leaves with a serrated edge.

Both varieties produce purple flowers during the summer months. For

medicinal effects, the aerial portion of the plant is the

most widely used.

 

Chemical composition-

The major medicinal component of peppermint is the volatile oils,

which can be found in concentrations of up to 1.5 percent in the

herb, but is usually present in the 0.3 to 0.4 range.

 

The principal

components of the oil are menthol 29-28 percent, menthone 20-31

percent, and menthyl acetate, although analysis of peppermint oil

will typically show more than forty different compounds. Most of the

volatile oil components are terpenoids.

The proportion of menthol relative to other components in peppermint

oil depends on climate and latitude, as well as the maturity of the

plant.

 

Pharmaceutical-grade peppermint oil is produced by distilling the

fresh aerial parts of

the plant harvested at the very beginning of

the flowering cycle.

 

The oil is standardized to contain not less than 44 percent free

menthol and a minimum of 5 percent esters calculated as menthyl

acetate.

The ketene component (calculated as menthone) usually ranges from 15

to 30 percent, with the remainder of the oil being composed of

various terpenoids.

 

Other components of peppermint that may contribute to its medicinal

effects include polymerized polyphenols (19 percent of dry weight),

flavonoids (12 percent), tocopherols, carotenes, betaine, and

choline.

 

Pharmacology-

The pharmacology of peppermint focuses almost entirely on its

menthol components. Peppermint and menthol possess carminative,

antispasmodic, and choleretic properties, and are also used as an

external analgesic and nasal decongestant.

 

Carminative effects

Carminatives promote the elimination of intestinal gas. Peppermint

and peppermint oil are well accepted carminatives. Although the

exact mechanism of action has not been determined, one proposed

mechanism is by relaxation of the esophageal sphincter, leading to

released gas pressure in the stomach.

 

Antispasmodic effects-

The mechanism behind peppermint oil's antispasmodic effects has

recently been determined. Researchers believe that peppermint oil's

inhibition of isolated smooth muscle contractions occurs via

blockage of calcium influx into the muscle cells.

Researchers hypothesize that the clinical effectiveness of

peppermint oil in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome results

from inhibition of the hypercontractility of intestinal smooth

muscle, thereby returning the muscle to its proper tone.

 

Choleretic effects-

Choleretics stimulate the flow of bile. Menthol and related terpenes

exert a choleretic effect as well as improve the solubility of the

bile.

 

External analgesic effects-

The external analgesic and counterirritant effects of menthol are

well accepted. When applied to the skin, peppermint oil or menthol

stimulates the nerves that perceive cold, while simultaneously

depressing those for pain. The initial cooling effect is followed by

a period of warmth.

 

Clinical Applications-

Peppermint oil is the most extensively used of all the volatile

oils.

Pharmaceutical preparations often utilize peppermint oil or menthol

for its therapeutic and flavoring properties. For example, it is

used extensively in antacid products and irritant laxatives both for

its flavor and its therapeutic effects. The same is true for its

inclusion in mouth wash preparations and after dinner mints.

The pharmacological effects of peppermint and peppermint oil are

useful in a number of clinical situations; the most notable include

irritable bowel syndrome, intestinal colic, gallstones,

musculoskeletal pain, and the common cold.

 

Irritable Bowel Syndrome-

Peppermint oil has been used to treat irritable bowel syndrome for

many years. Irritable bowel syndrome can include a combination of

any of the following symptoms. Abdominal pain and distension, more

frequent bowel movements with pain, or relief of pain with bowel

movements; constipation or diarrhea; excessive production of mucus

in the colon; symptoms of indigestion such as flatulence, nauseas,

or anorexia; and varying degrees of anxiety or depression.

 

Hypercontractility of intestinal smooth muscle is one of the central

findings in irritable bowel syndrome. As described above, peppermint

oil inhibits the hypercontractility of intestinal smooth muscle,

making it useful in cases of irritable bowel syndrome as well as

intestinal colic.

 

The preferred delivery of peppermint oil is the treatment of

irritable bowel syndrome is via enteric-coated preparations, which

prevent the oil from being released in the stomach. Without enteric

coating, peppermint oil tends to produce heartburn, with the

coating, the peppermint oil travels to the small and large

intestines, where it relaxes intestinal muscles. Several clinical

studies have demonstrated that enteric-coated peppermint oil is

quite effective in reducing the abdominal symptoms of irritable

bowel d\syndrome.

 

Gallstones-

A formula containing menthol and related terpenes (menthone, pinene,

borneol, cineole, and camphene) helps dissolve gallstones, as shown

in several studies.

This nonsurgical approach to gallstone removal offers an effective

alternative to surgery and ahs been shown to be safe even when

consumed for prolonged periods of time (up to 4 years). Terpenes,

like menthol. Help dissolve gallstones by reducing bile cholesterol

levels while increasing bile acid and lecithin levels in the gall

bladder. As menthol is the major component of this formula,

peppermint oil, especially if enteric-coated, may offer similar

benefits.

 

External analgesic-

Menthol and related substances can be used as counterirritants in

the treatment of arthritis, fibromyositis, tendonitis, and other

inflammatory conditions involving the musculoskeletal system.

 

Dosage

Peppermint is most widely used as a tea (diffusion), on its own or

in combination with other herbs. The infusion is usually prepared

with 1 to 2 teaspoons of the dried leaves per 8 ounces of water.

The dosage of peppermint oil administered in an enteric-coated

capsule for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome is 1-2

capsules (0.2 milliliter per capsule) three times daily between

meals. This dosage is also appropriate in the treatment of

gallstones.

 

Menthol as an external analgesic should be applied as a cream or

ointment (containing 1.26-1`6 percent menthol) to the affected area

no more than three or four times daily.

 

Excerpted from

" The Healing Power of Herbs "

by Michael T. Murray, N.D.

Co-author of " Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine "

 

 

Peristalsis is the normal rhythmic muscular action of the intestine

to push food down and outward, out of the body.

 

Mucoid plaque is formed as the intestine keeps producing mucous as a

normal response to an irritant: undigested food. Food is not

supposed to just sit there and rot. We're only supposed to store

three meals (Jensen.)

 

But most Americans store nine, twelve, or even more meals before

one comes out. This increased transit time is

irritating to the intestinal lining.

 

Mucous is not powerful enough to move the toxic, enzymeless sludge

of Taco Supremes and Curlie Fried Onion Rings with ketchup.

But the body keeps on valiantly trying, and more and more mucous is

constantly being produced.

 

Eventually the mucous becomes matrixed with the most indigestible

elements, like trans fatty acids from the Barbecue and Sour Cream

chips.

And it goes on day after day, week after week, month after

month, etc. And the layers get thicker and harder and the colon

grows in diameter.

And we absorb less and less nutrients and we lose more and more

water and minerals.

 

Want to discover your own transit time? Try this simple test: eat

something you usually don't eat that will be easily identifiable

when it comes out.

 

Frozen corn, peanuts, and pistachios are some good examples. Simply

note the time from when you eat the markers to

the time when you see them leaving. That's your transit time, at

least of the matter that is not cemented to the colon walls.

 

The intestinal walls contain long muscles whose job it is to keep

things moving along. These muscles gradually become overstretched

and weakened by the pressure of too much waste pushing against them,

expanding outward, like blowing up a long thin balloon.

 

Thus peristalsis - the normal wavelike muscular motion of the

colon - is further inhibited and blockage is again promoted.

 

Mucoid plaque blocks inflow and outflow, resulting in lack of

nutrient, water, and electrolyte absorption, as well as retention of

toxic putrefaction in balloon-like blocked outpocketings of the

intestine.

 

In addition, pathogenic bacteria, parasites, and Candida

thrive in the mucoid plaque layer and are actually protected by it

from prescription or natural herbal remedies and efforts to remove

them. Researchers refer to the mucoid plaque as a " culture medium "

for these organisms. (Forstner)

 

Mucoid plaque is described as a natural response to an unnatural

stimulus. It is a necessary protection the body produces to try and

shield itself from poisons.

 

Mucoid plaque is a product of the constant production of mucous by

the glycocalyx lining cells,

brought on by the modern American diet of fake, empty, processed,

chemical-laden, hormone-laced, antibiotic-soaked foods.

 

Many doctors have noted that when the plaque can be removed by a

*cleanse*, remission from virtually any disease may result.

 

Simple cause and effect.

 

Mucoid plaque has been definitely linked to gastric cancer by the

simple mutation of the lining cells - metaplasia. (Sipponen, Filipe)

 

No big surprise here - cell damage is caused by inflow/outflow

blockage, and after a certain time, mutation occurs.

 

Another mechanism is that the constant secretion of mucous captures

the

 

toxins, but since normal transit is blocked, the toxins become

locked in one location, often for years, resulting in irritation and

eventual cell mutation.

 

The cells steep in their own wastes, month after month.

 

In a lecture in San Jose California on 26 Sep 98, Dr. Richard

Anderson told the story of one of his patients who underwent the

cleanse in Hawaii a few years ago.

 

The patient was passing long strands of the rubbery mucoid plaque,

some

over 20 feet in length!

Fascinated, the patient hung the strands over his clothesline in the

back yard. He then took a length of the plaque, and packaged it in a

box to send to the mainland to prove what happened to him. He mailed

the package at the local post office in Hawaii.

 

A few days later, two serious-looking officials in ATF windbreakers

knocked on the patient's door and asked him if he had sent such and

such a package to such and such an address.

 

The patient said yes, and asked what was the problem. They answered

that

the post office

has dogs that sniff out all packages mailed off the island, and that

one of them had become very excited about this package.

 

The patient asked what were the dogs trained to detect.

Only two things, came the answer: drugs and explosives. Which dog

was

it?

The one for explosives.

 

The patient was incredulous, especially when he recalled

that he had worked with munitions some 25 years ago, and his job was

to handle explosives!

 

He explained the detox cleanse to the two agents and they were

satisfied. This story illustrates the power of such an intestinal

cleanse:

the body had retained these strong toxins in the mucoid plaque

lining of the colon, stored in a

concentration powerful enough to be detected by dogs through the

layers of wrapping of a sealed package some 25 years later!

 

Of course it's anecdotal, but Anderson has been doing this for 15

years and has cleansed several thousand patients.

 

He has amassed a ton of clinical data, but not through double blind

studies. (Only drugs require double blind studies.)

 

The rubbery mucoid plaque layer seals in toxins and prevents

absorption

of water and nutrients.

 

Toxic sludge promotes proliferation of pathological bacteria and

yeasts, like Candida.

 

Now for the bad news.

There's another separate demon at work in the blocked colon. His

name is

 

AUTOINTOXICATION

 

Here's how he works: The sludge that's stopping up the works is

undigested food.

 

Undigested means rotting: putrefying, fermenting, going rancid.

 

Proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, respectively.

 

Want to see what that looks like? Leave some meat, some french

fries,

and some bread out on the counter for a week.

 

A blocked colon can be even worse, because of the time frame

involved: in many people the sludge sits in the colon for weeks or

even longer.

 

The colon walls are normally very well sealed in order to protect

the body against reabsorbing the waste that is about to be

eliminated.

 

It's a sophisticated design, set up to allow water and

electrolytes back into the body, but no toxic poisons.

 

Stay with me now. In long-term buildup of undigested food in the

colon, eventually a situation emerges that

 

doctors call " Leaky Gut Syndrome " .

 

Essentially what's happening is that the sludge has built up so much

blockage that the inner membranes of the colon develop leaks.

 

Some of the toxic debris is forced through the walls of the colon,

along with the water and electrolytes,

 

back into the bloodstream.

Hence, the name autointoxication: you're poisoning yourself.

 

Once in the bloodstream, the undigested debris, now a foreign

irritant,

can take up residence in any organ or tissue it finds room.

 

Chronic inflammation begins, and gradually, degeneration of

that organ.

 

Here are some of the diseases that such a sequence can cause:

 

Chronic Allergies

Jaundice

Kidney disease

Acne

Hepatitis

Psoriasis

Blinding headaches

AIDS

Arthritis

Pancreatitis

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Depression

Infections

Fibromyalgia

Septicemia

Multiple Joint Pain Syndrome

Dermatitis

Autoimmune Disorders

Candida albicans

Cancer

 

to name just a few.

This list is taken from an article by Leo Garland, MD who has done

extensive research in this area of

hyperpermeability, as illustrated by the list of over 150 references

at the end of the article.

 

It's funny, when people with average intelligence first hear about

Leaky Gut Syndrome,

they usually understand it right away because it

seems logical.

 

Very often, it is the nutritionists, dieticians, and doctors who

seem

more apt to question the existence of

*hyperpermeability*, or Leaky Gut Syndrome.

 

Even though there has been years of copious research in the best

medical journals thoroughly documenting its characteristics and

nature,

Leaky Gut Syndrome is not commonly taught as part of the medical

curriculum,

or the abbreviated curriculum presented to nutritionists and

dieticians.

 

 

Many of these people therefore conclude that since they got their

degrees without hearing about hyperpermeability or Leaky Gut

Syndrome,

it must not exist!

 

Very curious.

 

Dr. Garland suffers from no such illusion. He traces the physiology

of how large molecules of the " toxic/antigenic load " (undigested

sludge) work their way through the intestinal walls and are first

introduced into the liver before they are available to the

bloodstream.

 

Dr. Garland describes the " high cost " of the liver's detox work:

 

creation of free radicals and other " reactive intermediaries " which

themselves may be passed into the bloodstream if the toxic burden

becomes too great for the liver's defenses.

 

Here we see the particulars of autointoxication, not just some New

Age literary theory.

Dr. Garland points out the wide range of pathological conditions,

listed

above, which may come about exactly

through this mechanism.

 

Very sophisticated markers have been devised which can measure the

toxins that " leak " into the body. (S. Martin)

Jensen has an axiom that the disease is named by where the toxins

finally settle.

 

Candida albicans, the opportunistic yeast, can be both a cause and a

result

of " Leaky Gut Syndrome " .

 

Once Candida gets a foothold in the gut, it puts down " roots "

through the gut wall, causing openings through which large molecules

and

toxins can leak.

 

Candida cells can themselves be introduced into the bloodstream in

this

same fashion. (Simon Martin)

 

Sherry Rogers MD, implicates " Leaky Gut Syndrome " as a *primary*

cause

for autoimmune diseases

like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus.

 

She says such conditions can be the

result of the " formation of auto-antibodies due to leaking of body

tissue look- alike antigens... "

 

TRANSIT TIME

 

Let's talk propulsion for a minute. Normal elimination involves

rhythmic contraction of the muscles in the colon wall, to push the

waste outward. Again, this natural, wavelike motion is called

peristalsis.

 

It is normal to eliminate two or more times per day. Transit time:

how much time between food in and waste out.

 

Normal transit time is less than 24 hours. This means that only two

or

three meals should be in transit throughout the digestive tract at a

time.

 

Today's breakfast IN pushes yesterday's breakfast or lunch OUT.

 

Toxic fecal matter is supposed to totally leave the body in one day,

not

hang around to toxify. That's the design. Many people you know have

been

 

brought up to think that it is normal to eliminate only once every

two or three days. Or even longer.

 

That means they are storing NINE meals or more in the tract at all

times. The waste from nine meals or more is always inside them.

 

Want to track your transit time? Use a marker; corn perhaps.

 

Time it.

 

The problem is that the longer the food is in the colon, the more it

begins to rot and toxify the body.

 

Modern soft foods and empty junk foods have greatly increased

transit time,

for two reasons:

 

1. They are indigestible

2. They lack fiber

 

 

 

The colon thus becomes a breeding ground for pathological bacteria

whose toxic byproducts further add to the totality of biochemical

poisons.

 

All this yuk is then available to be reabsorbed into the

bloodstream, because of Leaky Gut Syndrome.

 

From the chapter on Allergies (www.thedoctorwithin.com), you'll

remember that means hyperpermeability of the gut wall: stuff gets

through into the

bloodstream which shouldn't get through, because of the destruction

of the cells of the colon's lining.

 

Large molecules of rotting fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, which

also may drag along with them the toxic wastes of the pathological

bacteria

that have been breeding in the putrid sludge, all this can

leak through into the bloodstream.

 

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JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

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