Tight junctions and cancer metastasis or, in other words, cancer cells ‘leaking’ out through the gut wall into blood circulation

New research linking ‘leaky gut’ and the spread of cancer

I admit when it comes to anything to do with intestines, guts and bugs, I’m a bit of an anorak.

OK, I’ve known for years that the integrity of the lining of the gut wall is extremely important, not just for the health of the intestines, but for our general health.  After all, if the content of the lumen (gut) begin to leak (ugghhh!) into the blood circulation, this is not exactly conducive to good health.

So the gut may leak a few endotoxins, some large undigested food molecules, or even some nasty bacteria or virus.  That’s bad enough, and may make us feel quite poorly, but imagine cancer cells ‘leaking’ out of the intestines and causing cancer to spread to other organs (metastasis).  New research appears to show that this is one of the mechanisms by which cancer can spread.

http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-94-007-6028-8/page/1

That’s one of the reasons I make no apology for re-iterating, on a regular basis, the importance of maintaining good gut health.  It’s important to eat a high fibre diet, rich in vegetables, fruits, wholegrains, good oils etc, reducing the amount of processed food, particularly processed meats. The importance of taking a daily, multi-strain probiotic capsule to ensure the gut is re-colonised and re-populated by strains of lactobacilli and bifidi cannot be over-estimated either. This will help maintain healthy levels of pro-health bacteria, and create a ‘barrier’ so that the contents of the bowel, remain in the bowel. This new research has convinced me all the more of taking a regular probiotic to maintain the health of my gut. I’m taking no chances, and neither should you!

Linda Booth

Naturopath & Registered Colonic Hydrotherapist

www.nottmphysio-colonics.co.uk