This One Food Rapidly Heals Leaky Gut And Protects You From Every Major Disease

If  you’ve been a paleo adherent for some time, it’s likely that you have heard the term “leaky gut.” Leaky gut, or intestinal permeability, is a condition where undigested food particles, bacteria or viruses penetrate the intestinal wall and make it into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, these prematurely digested particles stimulate an immune response.

Most of us eat at least 3 times every day. As a result, a leaky gut may cause a chronic immune system activation. This incessant immune response increases your risk for several diseases including heart conditions, autoimmune diseases such as Crohn’s disease, lupus, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, celiac disease, Lyme disease, Addison’s disease, pernicious anemia and endometriosis to name a few.  It may also result in irritable bowel syndrome, psoriasis, asthma or diabetes. Most commonly it has been misdiagnosed as depression, anxiety, digestive issues, obesity and fatigue. In other words, no matter what your ailment, a leaky gut could be at the root and healing this condition should be on your list of priorities.

Fortunately, we are here to help. We offer one of the highest quality, non-denatured whey protein concentrates on the market that can help with this ailment.  Here are some of the highlights from an article entitled, Whey Protein: Your Leaky Gut Fix? found in Paleo Magazine’s June/July edition. Before we get into the incredible benefits of whey protein, let’s discuss how leaky gut develops.

According to this article,

“In an normally functioning digestive tract, your intestinal cells are packed tightly together and your food is absorbed one of two ways: trancellular absorption through the enterocytes (intestinal cells) lining the gut wall, or paracellularly though small gaps between each gut cell. These gaps between cells are key players in a leaky gut. They are held together by a special complex of proteins called tight junctions that function like a nightclub bouncer, allowing desired foods and nutrients into the body and keeping out the foreign intruders like bacteria, viruses and undigested proteins and so on. A leaky gut can develop when these tight junctions are damaged, allowing the free passage of these unwanted molecules into the bloodstream.”

What causes a leaky gut, you ask?

“Common causes of leaky gut include alcohol, stress, antibiotics, gluten consumption and chronic infections. In addition recent research shows that the regular use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) directly leads to intestinal permeability or leaky gut.”

How do you know if you have a leaky gut?

“A leaky gut is a much more common condition than you might expect….If you experience symptoms of gas, bloating, abdominal pain, fatigue, dysbiosis (imbalance of “good” to “bad” gut bacteria), inflammation, loose stools, constipation, chronic joint pain, chronic muscle pain, foggy thinking, poor immunity or an autoimmune condition, then you may have a leaky gut. However, leaky gut can also be a silent condition that negatively impacts your health and performance without your being aware of it.”

So, what does grass-fed, non denatured whey have to do with all of this?

“New research is highlighting that whey protein concentrate may provide strong protection from leaky gut and support optimal gut health. Key players in preventing a leaky gut are a family of proteins called claudins (from the Latin word ‘claudere,’ which means ‘to close’) that control the function of tight junctions.”

“Effectively, claudins keep your gut wall robust by controlling the permeability of tight junctions. Preliminary research shows that if you can improve your caludin protein expression, you can keep your tight junctions and intestinal barrier strong, and thus keep leaky gut at bay.”

*This was determined in a 2013 study entitled, Claudins, dietary milk proteins and intestinal barrier regulation, published in the journal Nutrition Reviews.

According to a study published in April of 2010 in the Journal of Dairy Science….

“Whey protein concentrate (WPC) is loaded with health-promoting factors, in particular transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-b), which literally tells your DNA to increase the production of claudins. This increased claudin production has been shown to protect you from the damaging effects of a leaky gut, which is critical if you are training intensely, driving to lose weight or simply trying to upgrade your health."

Research has also shown that WPC supplementation can help reduce the number of flare ups in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis reducing inflammation. One last important factor to consider:

“While WPC may be the right fix for most people to keep your gut strong and prevent leaky gut there are a few factors to consider. First, if you have an intolerance to the lactose sugar found in WPC, then it’s not the right fit for you. It will lead to the accumulation of ‘bad’ gut bacteria and cause more problems than it fixes.”

and as always,

“Next, the quality of your whey concentrate is critical. It’s very important to choose grass-fed whey, cold pressed WPC sources in order to maximize the natural growth factors in WPC that help to heal a leaky gut and support superior overall health. The most common processing practices for WPC occur at much higher temperatures, denaturing the fragile growth factors and nutrients.”

My take on this:
I absolutely love high quality whey protein concentrate! Its ability to help prevent a leaky gut can essentially protect you from a litany of modern day diseases. Research has shown that for those who exercise regularly (and I hope that includes YOU), whey protein can help provide antioxidants which combat exercise-induced free radicals. It is a great source of the gut-healing amino acid glutamine and the building blocks for glutathione, our body’s master antioxidant. My father credits his daily regimen of whey protein concentrate for the remission of his prostate cancer. The benefits of this miracle food are literally endless!

I suggest using it daily in your morning shakes like I do! For delicious smoothie recipes that include our Paleovalley Grass-fed whey protein, please check out our 60 Fat Burning Smoothies recipe book.

Here’s to healing your gut with grass-fed, non-denatured whey protein!