6 Nutrient Deficiencies Caused by Leaky Gut (Intestinal Permeability)

When our intestine is working optimally, cells of the intestine can seperate away from one another to allow certain nutrients through into the bloodstream to be utilised for the body. The cells will then move back into their original position once the food has passed. I like to use the analogy of automatic doors like at the supermarket opening and closing.

When our digestive system is inflamed or irritated, the gaps between the cells stay open allowing more to pass through than is ideal and larger particles to pass through and this is termed as intestinal permeability or "leaky gut".

You would think that more nutrients would be passing through and therefore you should have greater quantities of nutrients however this is not the case. If the digestive system is inflamed or irritated, this does not only impact the intestinal permeability of the cells, but also the entire function of the digestive system and can lead to food not being broken down well enough to get to the nutrient level to be utilised, food may pass through the digestive system without absorption, or the transit time may be too fast, not allowing for absorption to occur.

This leads us to nutrient deficiencies and the Top 6 Nutrient Deficiencies I see regularly due to Intestinal Permeability:

1. Iron

   Iron is one of the key nutrients which is not absorbed well when the digestive system is inflamed. Iron is an unstable ion so is normally bound to something else such as iron phosphate when found in food, to be absorbed through the intestinal tract, the phosphate part needs to be removed before re-linking with something else in the bloodstream. This leads to iron being one of the most common deficiencies I see in relation to leaky gut.

2. Zinc

   Zinc is a nutrient that is needed for the intestinal cells to function optimally and so it is probably a 2 fold approach as to why zinc is low - there is more demand by the intestinal cells themselves and absorption may be impacted by the leaky gut.

3. Vitamin B12

   Vitamin B12 is very similar to iron in terms of deficiency, it is frequently one of the first couple of nutrients to be impacted by leaky gut due to impacted absorption through the gut. Vitamin B12 causes fatigue and a lack of energy which can therefore impact diet choices also leading to further deficiency.

4. Vitamin D

   Vitamin D is needed for the intestinal cells to function well and a deficiency of vitamin D can contribute to leaky gut as well as impacting the microbiome leading to higher inflammation.

5. Omega 3 fatty acids

   Omega 3 fatty acids come from fat molecules through the diet and fats can be challenging to be broken down as they are rather large molecules, especially in an inflamed or irritated digestive state.

   Omega 3s have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body and are in higher demand if a cell is inflamed leading to further demand on the body. They also have a large effect on the microbiome and potentially causing more inflammation

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6. Magnesium

   Magnesium is slightly different as the correlation comes the other way, studies have shown those with intestinal inflammation or permeability concerns, have lower magnesium levels. This could be contributed to a lower intake of magnesium but also a lower absorption through the intestine.

Nutrient deficiencies are incredibly serious and are important to be addressed as they not only effect the digestive system but other cells in the body and can cause significant symptoms.

Addressing nutrient deficiencies comes down to working out why the deficiency is in place to begin with - is it a lack of intake or is there a reason the body has higher demand or is there something going on within the digestive tract. Many times, that is how I start working on a client's digestive health, not what they present with but on further investigation that is what is impacting their nutrient levels.

Supplementing without guidance is not always the answer and there are many ways naturopathy can assist in optimising your nutrient levels but using the correct supplement in a specific dose as well as looking at the causes for the deficiency.