Probiotics treatment seems to improve leaky gut syndrome

A recent peer reviewed publication presented evidence that probiotics may significantly improve the symptoms of leaky gut syndrome. While the study was done on athletes there is no reason to believe that the findings wouldn’t apply to normal people. Essentially the findings were “The probiotic treatment decreased Zonulin in feces, a marker indicating enhanced gut permeability. Moreover, probiotic supplementation beneficially affected TNF-α and exercise induced protein oxidation.” So what does this mean? First you need to know that zonulin is a protein that is believed to modulate the permeability of tight junctions between cells of the wall of the digestive tract. Zonulin was discovered in 2000 by Dr. Alessio Fasano and his team at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine. Based on Dr. Fasano’s research, we know that the two most powerful triggers to open the zonulin door are gluten and gut bacteria in the small intestine. As the zonulin level rises, the seal between the intestinal cells diminishes, opening up spaces between cells that allow all sorts of things to pass right through. This is called “leaky gut”. So by showing the probiotics can decrease the volume of zonulin that means the space between the cells is diminishing and leaky gut is being successfully treated.

Ref: J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2012 Sep 20;9(1):45. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-9-45.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22992437