Our intestinal lining is a protective barrier between us and our environment. However, in some people this barrier may be compromised, this is often referred to as ‘leaky gut’. Basically, this is when holes form in the intestinal lining allowing substances such as antigens, toxins and bacteria to move through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream when normally they shouldn’t. These substances can go on to initiate and perpetuate an array of immune dysfunction and autoimmunity.

Optimal gut health is vital for a robust immune system and for prevention of most chronic diseases but especially autoimmunity. Leaky gut can initiate or exacerbate autoimmune conditions such as coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), multiple sclerosis (MS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Type 1 diabetes and autoimmune hepatitis (Mu et al. 2017 p. 1-10).

References:

Mu, Q. Kirby, J. Reilly, C.M. Luo, X.M. (2017). Leaky Gut As a Danger Signal for Autoimmune Diseases. Frontiers in Immunology, 8:598. Doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00598. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5440529/pdf/fimmu-08-00598.pdf