The Blood-Brain Barrier, or BBB, is a single-layered lattice of cells joined together by tight junctions that keep most substances out and allow few substances into the brain.Toxic substances typically kept out include heavy metals, pesticides, germs, plastics as well as damaging proteins while substances allowed in are oxygen, hormones, and nutrients. Your bbb has tight junctions that become loose or broken with a protein called zonulin. Zonulin also breaks down the protective layer of your intestinal wall creating leaky gut. Zonulin is increased in the body due to glyphosate (an herbicide found in our food from Roundup made by Monsanto). To find out what foods contain glyphosate go to Detox Project website. Zonulin is also made in response to eating wheat. With too much zonulin the bbb leaks letting toxins come into the brain causing damage and inflammation on the brain. In other words, a Leaky Brain is an Inflamed Brain.
What are the Signs and Symptoms of a Leaky Brain?
Leaky Brain manifests as multiple signs and symptoms, so pay attention to these as opposed to ignoring them:
ADD/ADHD/Autism spectrum disorders
Brain fog or difficulty concentrating
Chronic fatigue that does not improve with rest or sleep
Headaches or migraines that come on suddenly, become worse with standing, and grow more severe as the day progresses
Memory loss or another cognitive decline which may lead to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
Mood disorders, particularly anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia
Peripheral neuropathy
Seizures
It is important not to ignore these signs and symptoms because those living with Leaky Brain are at an increased risk of developing neurological or psychiatric conditions.
What Causes Leaky Brain?
The profound connection between the brain and the gut cannot be underestimated as research repeatedly confirms that microbes living in the gut affect the brain both positively and negatively.
In fact, the stomach and small intestine contain a lining similar to the blood-brain barrier which also keeps harmful substances from entering the gut.
Therefore, many of the same factors that cause a leaky gut—poor gut health, unhealthy diet, food intolerances, food sensitivities, toxins and infections—can also create a leaky brain. For more information on Leaky gut listen to my podcast #13 Digestion Leaky Gut and Lectins.
Studies from Harvard show that wheat creates leaky gut because it contains a protein called gliadin, which increases the zonulin. Again it’s this Zonulin that weakens the tight junctions of the gut lining and BBB thereby contributing to leaky gut and leaky brain.
Five causes of Leaky Brain:
1.Gut Dysbiosis (infections)
2.Leaky Gut
3.Autoimmune Disease
4.Mental Health Conditions
5.Stress & Vagus Nerve Dysfunction
All five of these categories have inflammation as a basis for the problem, yet they become even more problematic in the following disease states:
Bacterial infections deteriorate the BBB allowing bacteria into the brain where they do not belong.
Mold toxins trigger inflammation, promote oxidative damage in the brain, and disrupt the BBB.
Excess glutamate overstimulates nerves causing the BBB to breakdown increasing permeability to potentially harmful agents.
High blood sugar and diabetes represent dramatic changes in blood sugar which produce oxidative stress and inflammation
Elevated homocysteine, seen in individuals living with heart disease, autoimmune disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative disease or those who survive a stroke, changes tight junction function and prevents the BBB from functioning properly.
Obesity increase oxidative damage and deprive the brain of oxygen.
Low quality sleep interrupts the sleep-wake cycle interrupting the uptake of nutrients and offload of toxins while increasing inflammation.
While it is more obvious that leaky brain causes inflammation which then drives mental health conditions, it is less known that mental health conditions can also drive inflammation and leaky brain. The contributing factors could be:
The Brain-Gut Axis: The Vagus Nerve Connection
The brainstem connects to the vagus nerve, which in turn connects to all the digestive organs. The brain sends signals through the vagus nerve to the organs. The organs also send signals through the vagus nerve to the brain.
The vagus nerve initiates many important digestive functions such as stomach acid secretion, enzyme production, gallbladder function and intestinal motility.
If there is poor brain communication to the vagus nerve there can be many negative effects including:
Chronic inflammation
Poor digestion
Leaky gut
Inflamed brain
How to Reverse and Heal a Leaky Brain – Stop, Start, and Seek
Treating a leaky brain starts by healing a leaky gut. This involves eliminating all the causative factors of leaky gut and leaky brain and then adding dietary and lifestyle factors that support brain health.
Following these steps will lower inflammation in the body and brain, maximize the transport of oxygen, glucose, and other nutrients into the brain, facilitate better removal of toxins out of the brain, reduce oxidative stress, and help rebuild tight junctions to restore the integrity of the BBB.
STOP:
Consuming gluten and foods that you cannot tolerate including sugar and processed foods in meals
Ignoring stress
Allowing bacterial and viral infections to fester before getting treatment
Drinking alcohol in excess
Exposure to environmental toxins in air, water and food
Eating nonorganic food that contains glyphosate
START:
Detoxifying the body of pesticides, and heavy metals
Taking in probiotic foods to keep the gut balanced
Eating essential fatty acids, which are vital for the brain, including avocado, coconut oil, flaxseed, hemp seed, oily fish, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts
Reducing inflammation through the diet - Listen to our podcast on Chronic Inflammation
Making quality sleep a priority
Reducing psychological and emotional stress through exercise, meditation, journaling
SEEK:
Figure out what supplements you need to take to help repair the BBB including:
Acetyl L-Carnitine, Alpha-Lipoic Acid, Alpha-GPC, Angelica (Dong Quai) Extracts, Astragalus, Astaxanthin, Apigenin, B12-B6-Folate Mix, Berberine, Bitter Melon, Butyrate, Catechins, Chlorogenic-Acid, Citicoline, Collagen, Curcumin, Vitamin D3, Fish Oil, Ginseng, Licorice, Luteolin, Lycopene, Myoinositol, Magnesium, Melatonin, Methylene Blue, Olive Leaf Extract, Oxaloacetate, Parthenolide (Feverfew), Progesterone, Pterostilbene, Resveratrol, Rosmarinic Acid, Shilajit, Selenium, Sulforaphane, Ursolic Acid
There's lots of different supplements for support so it's best to get muscle tested for your exact nutritional support.
No comments:
Post a Comment