I’m a GP and longevity knowledgeable, for this reason I imagine treating leaky intestine syndrome can provide you an extended, more healthy and happier life

As interest in living longer – and staying healthier into old age – continues to grow, doctors are increasingly looking beyond obvious lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise.

One area now attracting attention, according to Dr Mohammed Enayat, an NHS GP and founder of London-based longevity clinic HUM2N, is the health of the small intestine.

When people talk about gut health, they often think broadly about digestion. But Dr Enayat says attention is increasingly turning to the lining of the small intestine itself.

Specifically, he says he will be encouraging patients to test for leaky gut syndrome – a controversial condition that some practitioners believe may be linked to a range of inflammatory and autoimmune conditions.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘When we talk about the gut, we’re talking about the small intestine in particular.

‘It’s only one cell-wall thick, and on on the inside is the internal environment of the guts—where the food comes into—and the outside is wrapped in blood supply, where the nutrients are taken away and delivered around the body to the cells. 

‘When that cell small, intestinal wall, becomes leaky—when the proteins between these cells start to break down—it becomes too porous and undigested food, viruses parasites, bacteria, can break into the bloodstream. 

‘The body sees these foreign objects and launches a low grade immune response, and it can continue indefinitely, until the leaky gut wall is repaired.’ 

Leaky gut syndrome has been linked to a slew of medical issues

Leaky gut syndrome is not a recognised medical condition, with a clear split between traditional doctors and functional medicine practitioners—like Dr Enayat—debating its effect on the body. 

The latter believe that it can trigger a smorgasbord of autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, including eczema, skin rashes, psoriasis, digestive problems and inflammatory bowel disease, joint pain and swelling, and brain fog and fatigue.

The former group believe that those conditions are caused by something else, not because your small intestines are too porous. 

Leaky gut syndrome sounds horrific, but before you start panicking that you might have traces of faeces floating around your veins, Dr Enayat says that the issue is higher up. 

‘The stomach is responsible for digestion, producing acid, breaking food down into a liquid,’ he said.

‘The small intestine is responsible for absorbing from that liquid what it wants to take—the good stuff—and then the large intestine is responsible for excreting, getting rid of the waste product.’ 

Testing for the condition is quick, simple and nearly painless, with many clinics, including Dr Enyat’s, offering a pin prick test. 

Sent off to a laboratory, the blood is tested for traces of zonelin, the protein which binds the intestinal wall together. 

‘Higher levels can indicate there has been a breakdown of those junctions,’ said Dr Enayat.

Treatment is simple and takes between just one and three months. 

It involves following a specific diet which reduces exposure to the foods and substances the immune system reacts to, which helps lower inflammation, along with taking a series of supplements.

‘People notice that their symptoms and their quality of health improves by just going through a diet plan for a few couple of months,’ said Dr Enayat. 

Leaky gut can cause mild symptoms for years before a full autoimmune condition develops—and becomes harder, if not impossible, to cure.

With Britons living longer, the focus on our ‘health span’, the number of years we have living without being hindered by avoidable illnesses, has never been more pertinent.