A Helpful Analogy
It may be helpful to consider the following analogy. You may compare your damaged intestinal villi to a neglected lawn. Grass cannot grow because it is being choked off by weeds, debris, stones, and all manner of things that prevent nutrition from reaching the roots of each blade of grass. Before long the grass withers, dries up, and dies.
But if the caretaker rakes the lawn, pulls the weeds, and picks up the dead leaves and debris, he will be preparing the land for the next step, re-seeding. He will then scatter the new seed and add nutrients to the soil. With regular watering, new sprouts will begin to show. Then he maintains the lawn with proper watering and regular care to keep the weeds and other destructive elements under control. All things being equal, a new lawn will beautify his property.
In essence, repairing a damaged, compromised gut wall is a similar process, only this time the blades of grass are the millions upon millions of microscopic villi that line the lumen of the intestinal tract. All in all, that twenty-two to twenty-eight feet of small intestines, if spread out, would cover the same area as a tennis court! The weeds, debris, stones, and dead leaves which cut off the normal elements (including sunlight) that provide growth, are analogous to the destructive elements that coat the deep recesses of the villi and microvilli. These deleterious elements are yeast and fungi in particular, but include bacteria, germs, viruses, fats, acids, undigested protein, and anything else the host consumes that can clog the junction of where the villi meet the intestinal wall. When this happens a slow, but steady, deterioration of the gut wall takes place.
To complete the analogy, the re-seeding of the internal lawn of the intestinal wall takes place when the probiotics (L. acidophilus and B. bifidus) are ingested and these good bacteria grow and populate the intestinal wall, overwhelming and replacing the bad bacteria and bringing about a state of symbiosis. The watering of the internal lawn occurs through the intake of large quantities of pure water that flush the toxic elements out of the system.
The problem is one doesn’t really know that the pathologic process is taking place since initially there are few, if any, warning signs. It is not until the end organ, i.e., the area infected, raises its head by one symptom or another clueing you in to the fact that something is amiss. It may be an effect upon the eyes and vision, it may be irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or Crohn’s disease, an inflammation at the junction of the small intestine and the large bowel (ileocecal valve), asthma (the lungs), migraine headaches, skin diseases like psoriasis or eczema, celiac disease—first recognized in young children who do not grow and have a bulbous abdomen. (See my chapter on Celiac Disease.) Whatever it is, it may very well be due to a gut that leaks toxins into the bloodstream which in turn travels throughout the body in search of a weak spot to muscle in on and take over, so to speak.
We have just covered what causes the perforations that take place in the gut wall. Knowing that answers a great many questions. This is, of course, the most important aspect of this study, for it not only provides us with a cause of the disease, but the solution as well.
To summarize, the scientific procedure that we have described is known as the “4 Rs”—Remove—Replace—Reinoculate—Repair. Each of these will be covered in Part II of this book.
5
The Spinal Connection
Of all the references that give reasons for the breakdown of the intestinal walls, I know of only one that recognizes the role of spinal misalignments (subluxations)—the Edgar Cayce readings, specifically readings 4000-1 and 4001-1.
Here we learn for the first time that there is a spinal connection that can, and probably often does, play a part in the integrity of the intestinal walls as they relate to the leaky gut. It is a matter of basic anatomy and physiology.
Reading 4000-1 states in part:
. . . there is somewhat of a complication of disturbances. These arise primarily from a subluxation existing in the upper dorsal areas which in the beginning or in times back slowed the circulation through the abdominal areas.
Thus we have an impoverishment to the alimentary canal—a thinning of the walls. This allowed the circulation to draw, through absorption, the alimentary canal poisons which accumulate in the lymph producing great splotches—first as pimples and then red, scaly blotches that cause disfigurement and aggravation to the body. To correct the situation, we first give the body some eight to ten spinal adjustments, especially the 5th and 6th dorsal vertebrae and also align or coordinate the lumbar and sacral area.
(Author’s note: A “subluxation” is a vertebra out of its normal alignment that affects the nerve[s] emitting from between vertebrae. The above reading mentions the 5th and 6th dorsal vertebrae; however, most of the readings center on the 6th and 7th dorsal for the leaky gut. I personally adjust the 5th through 9th dorsal region and balance it out.)
Fig. P6—A Spinal Subluxation
Reprinted through the courtesy of Chiropractic Public Relations (CPR), 141 Blauvelt St. Teaneck, NJ 07666
In my opinion, this justifies the application of spinal manipulations (adjustments or stimulations) as an integral part of the healing process where leaky gut is involved. The chiropractor and the osteopath are the only health practitioners who are specifically trained in the technique of spinal manipulation; in fact it is the mainstay of their professions.
The areas of the spine designated are the 5th, 6th, and 7th thoracic (dorsal) vertebrae, located between the shoulder blades to be precise. This is the area where the spinal segments emit the nerves of the sympathetic chain that supply the entire upper intestinal tract. Emanating from these segments are the afferent (going out) and efferent (going in) nerves that supply the intestinal walls. To be in a healthy state, they must be flowing freely in both directions, or, a sort of short circuit takes place, which is often imperceptible for many years. The adjustments, and/or stimulations of these areas by the chiropractor or osteopath, can greatly influence the normal functioning of the alimentary canal, which of course includes the entire intestinal tract. As noted above, I personally center my efforts on the 5th through the 9th thoracic vertebrae, but also the 3rd cervical, and the 4th lumbar since they are the spinal segments that supply the primary nerve centers (ganglia) of the body.
The nerves that emit from the 5th through the 9th dorsals come together and form the celiac ganglion, sometimes referred to as the abdominal brain or solar plexus. It supplies the nerve channels to the heart, lungs, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, stomach, and small intestine (our focal point of investigation).
In reading 4000-1, Cayce attributes the basic cause of a person suffering from the skin condition psoriasis to one subluxation in the thoracic spine! The reason for such a dramatic declaration was also explained: As mentioned earlier, the spinal misalignment has an adverse influence on the blood circulatory system of the walls of the intestine, as well as organs of the entire viscera, and cause an “impoverishment” of the cellular structure of the organ(s) involved. If the misalignment is not corrected by manual or other means, the cells begin to break down for lack of proper nourishment, and thus the walls of the intestine gradually deteriorate. This may take time to develop and is often difficult to detect. X-rays or even MRIs may not reveal the insidious process, but nevertheless, it is taking place.
When this occurs, the patient’s immune system is compromised. The patient becomes less able to ward off infection, allergies, foreign invaders (or what are interpreted as foreign invaders), etc. until at last the last organ supplied cries out for help—be it the skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, or brain!
