The gut microbiome 'leaky' pattern

Stool testing can provide invaluable information on what might be causing your gut and general health issues.

I've posted about the three most common patterns of gut flora dysregulation before.

In our microbiome – or gut flora – we can have normal (beneficial), opportunistic and pathogenic bacteria. When these appear in certain patterns, it can give us clues as to what's going wrong.

For example, there are several patterns related to 'leaky gut' or intestinal permeability.

The first pattern involves a positive result for any high pathogen (a nasty bug), certain low normal bacteria like Lactobacillus, high fungi/yeast and zonulin, and high other intestinal health markers such as gut immunity.

The second pattern that can indicate leaky gut involves low short chain fatty acid production e.g. butyrate, which we needs to feed the cells of our gut lining. This can result from several low to undetectable normal bacteria that we need.

The third pattern for leaky gut is about poor mucosal health. Our gut mucosa (inner lining) also plays a vital protective role. This can be caused by low normal bacteria, including the keystone bacteria Akkermansia and entire Bacteroidites kingdom (this is not uncommon).

Stool testing can be an invaluable too for achieving better health. Our gut is where most of our immunity and brain cells live, and many other functions happen like hormone production and balance, nutrient breakdown and absorption for our cells, neurotransmitter creation and storage, and more.