Intestinal dysbiosis, parasitosis, candida, dental focus, opportunistic infections, mold toxins are all factors that have in common the ability to trigger inflammatory processes, cause imbalance and weakness of the immune system and contribute to modifying the correct functioning of two of our very important barriers. tissues: the intestinal and blood-brain barrier.
By now you know: intestinal dysbiosis can affect the health and efficiency of organs, even distant from the intestine, including our brain. In fact, in conditions of dysbiosis, our brain can be “attacked” by powerful pathogens such as candida which from harmless yeast turns into a dangerous fungus with powerful hyphae, capable of lacerating the intestinal mucosa, favoring its permeability and therefore its passage in the bloodstream, until it reaches other tissues, even very distant from its “home” of origin.
To protect the brain we have the blood-brain barrier that filters the blood that reaches the brain to prevent the passage of dangerous substances or microorganisms. Unfortunately, all the pathological conditions mentioned above, if repeated over time, can contribute to the deterioration of this specific barrier, with an inevitable consequence: the increase in the systemic inflammatory state, favored by the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, proteins, the excess of which contributes to the unleashing of many disorders and pathologies that concern not only the physical sphere, but also the psycho-emotional one.
Gut and brain work in synchrony, in continuous feedback. The health of one influences the health of the other, but not only that, because both the mental health and that of our Microbiota also affect our immune system, through the mediation of the endocrine and nervous system. Now let’s try to focus on the brain: a very complex organ, the functioning of which is still beyond the understanding of science. Think that each neuron can connect with a thousand others by intertwining networks whose complexity is unimaginable.
Neurons connect to each other via synapses and form 1 billion connections for every mm3 of cerebral cortex. A volume of 1,500 cubic centimeters contains 100,000 million neurons that use up to 19,000 of the 30,000 genes that make up the human genome. Neurons communicate with each other through electrical impulses thanks to certain chemicals (neurotransmitters).
Each nerve cell is connected through synapses with many others, forming a dense communication network in which each group of cells does a specific job. Here, we think, we remember, we learn, thanks to them. They are involved in whatever action we take: they help us see, hear, smell, walk, etc. To carry out this immense work efficiently, neurons must receive a consistent amount of nutrients (food and oxygen).
Every second our brain is busy generating and producing energy, building connections, working in feedback with all the organs of the body system, all accompanied by its primary need to dispose of toxic waste. I have repeatedly stressed the concept that an intoxicated brain loses its ability to perform the myriad of daily functions that keep us healthy. This is why the brain tissue barrier is so important.
If it loses its protective function, allowing the passage of toxic substances and microorganisms, the brain becomes ill. There are more and more scientific studies that connect the excessive permeability of the intestinal barrier and the blood-brain barrier with neurodegenerative diseases such as, for example, Alzheimer’s, one of the most widespread senile diseases in the world.
And we shouldn’t be surprised because most seniors suffer from chronic intestinal dysbiosis. Recent studies have shown that the intestinal microbiota interacts with the autonomic and central nervous systems by means of different communication routes, including the enteric nervous system and the vagus nerve.
In my opinion it is very important to understand that brain degenerations, more and more often, occur in tandem with gastrointestinal ones. It is no coincidence that there are more and more scientific articles that underline how much a candida infestation in the brain (chronic polysystemic candidiasis) can be a cofactor of depressive or anxiety-inducing mental disorders.
In fact, our brain is very susceptible to neurotoxins produced by pathogens present in the intestinal microbiota. Everything is played at the level of the brain tissue barrier, whose functionality is penalized by our wrong lifestyle: junk food and poor in bioactives; sedentary lifestyle and pathological stress; drug abuse; alcohol and drugs.
Chronic viral and bacterial infections, such as those caused by cavitations and improperly devitalized teeth, can also alter this important defensive barrier, which, if it becomes porous, allows the entry of pathogenic microorganisms that colonize the brain. The gut and brain work in continuous feedback.
How many times have I noticed clear improvements on a psycho-emotional level, working on the recovery of the enteric mucous membranes, on digestive function and on the Microbiota. At the same time I realize that most people do not suspect in the slightest that bacteria, fungi and metals can enter our brains!
And the question you ask me is always the same: “… how did they end up in there?”. “Overcoming the blood-brain membrane,” I reply. But upstream of this there is always an alteration of the intestinal mucosa that pours into the bloodstream, all the contents of the intestines: incomplete fragments of proteins, metabolic acids, bacteria, fungi, parasites, metals and various toxins. All this “garbage” is then transported throughout the body, including the brain.
The intestinal mucosa is a selectively permeable barrier that lets only what the body needs through, blocking everything else. This function is determined by the so-called “tight junctions” (gap junctions) which help to maintain an adequate and correct closure. Unfortunately, our wrong lifestyle is causing the loss of integrity of this mucosa, and the diagnosis of “leaky gut” is increasingly read.
The alteration of intestinal permeability is the basis of the etiopathogenesis of important diseases of the gastrointestinal system and of autoimmune, inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. This passage of toxins into the blood, on the one hand activates the immune system which will have to intervene constantly and heavily (favoring food intolerances and allergies), on the other hand it creates the right ground for the increase of inflammation.
The constant hyperactivation of the immune system feeds the local chronic inflammation that gave rise to permeability, creating a very dangerous vicious circle. As always, I’m sorry to repeat myself, but the causes of damage to the intestinal joints are always the same: intestinal dysbiosis, chemical additives, pesticide-laden junk foods, drug abuse, parasites and systemic candidiasis, alcohol, stress, silent inflammation and chronic infections .
To these are added other “protagonists”, responsible for this dangerous degeneration: for example, some metabolic acids deriving from digestion, such as propionic acid, a short-chain fat produced by bacteria, capable of inducing neuroinflammation, oxidative stress and dysfunction at the mitochondrial level.
This acid negatively affects the “gap junctions”, reduces the levels of glutathione in the brain, making the organ much more sensitive to the chemical stress of various pollutants, such as xenobiotics and heavy metals; decreases blood levels of Omega-3 essential fatty acids. Do you see how every day our body has to work hard to try to maintain the integrity and correct functionality of our very important tissue barriers?
It therefore becomes a priority to learn to eat well, choosing foods rich in important bio-nutrients, such as spices and berries, fermented products, lacto-fermented vegetables (sauerkraut, gherkins, etc.), miso (fermented rice or organic soya) and the root of Kuzu (exceptional flaming). Instead, we discard the pro-inflammatory ones such as, for example, sweets and refined cereals and all other substances that cause irritation (alcohol, packaged products rich in chemical additives).
We choose foods rich in glutammina (improves the functionality of the intestinal and immune barrier), di lives. VS (central to the collage) of alpha-lacto-albumin (stimulates the production of PGE2 and increases the production of intestinal mucus) and of butyric acid (pure energy for colonocytes).
Probiotics (lactobacilli, bifids) also make an important contribution. As always, I invite you to make health choices, reminding you that the brain must be preserved and well nourished, like our intestines, if we do not want to live limited in our real abilities, stuck in pathological conditions that force us to a life of suffering and of waivers.