THE GUT - JOINT CONNECTION
“My knees and feet are killing me. I’ve had to cut way down on my hiking and even just walking if painful. I already have a touchy stomach so I can’t take too much ibuprofen.” Those were some of Ted’s comments on his initial visit.
I told him that we were going to treat his gut and reduce his inflammation levels and then his joints would be feeling much better. Ted argued that other than lots of bowel gas and loose stools, he didn’t have any gut problems. I explained to him that he indeed had a gut problem and that there is a huge connection between the health of the gut and the joints.
When Ted retired at 55, he started going to Mexico every winter and every winter he would get traveller’s diarrhea and it would be treated with an antibiotic and the symptoms would clear up.
His current bowel gas and loose stool were symptoms of an existing gut issue. The recurrent traveller’s diarrhea had started the process of leaky gut (the lining of the small intestine becomes overly porous). Also, every time he received antibiotics they would kill all the good bacteria too and this created an environment for the yeast in the gut to thrive. Yeast also produces toxins that contribute to leaky gut.
This leaky gut allowed bacteria, large improperly digested food particles, and toxins to migrate into the blood. How does this affect the joints?
Toxins, especially the type produced by the gram negative bacteria in the gut are extremely inflammatory and can migrate to the joints.
The debris flooding into the blood can upset the immune system and cause it to attack healthy joint cartilage.
Some gut bacteria have proteins on their surface that resemble the proteins found on joint tissue and when the immune system attacks the bacteria, joint tissue can be damaged as well.
Every treatment for arthritis whether it is medical/pharmaceutical or naturopathic is merely a band-aid without first treating the gut. An untreated leaky gut only perpetuates the problem.
Working with your Naturopathic Doctor, starting by identifying and removing the irritants to the gut. These might be food sensitivities, medications, overgrowth of unfriendly microbes, stress, alcohol, and so on. Then heal the lining of the gut. Next, repopulate the gut with lots of friendly bacteria. Finally, fertilize and feed the friendly bacteria with lots of prebiotic fibres.
Follow these steps and you will not only have a healthier gut, but also happier, less painful joints. They sure worked for Ted and he is now pain free!