So why isn’t it?
Admittedly, part of the problem is the name. “Leaky gut” has a deeply unserious ring to it. Dr. Fasano also believes there’s another reason the medical establishment remains skeptical about leaky gut. “Some alternative medicine practitioners have made claims that are simply ridiculous,” he offered. When I asked what he meant by ridiculous, he was clear: “That all diseases of human kind are due to leaky gut.”
“Leaky gut” may not be the unified field theory of medicine, but so far the evidence is good that its effects go way beyond the intestine. And that’s not a novel idea. As far back as the 1860s “auto-intoxication” by nasty gut microbes was thought to cause systemic disease and mental illness—and for decades well-respected scientists agreed. This idea fell out of favor in the last century—and was looked on with scorn as “unscientific.” These days when patients suggest leaky gut, doctors usually dismiss them with a hand wave and some partially informed statement about a lack of evidence.
But that’s a deeply unscientific stance. Evidence does not only come in the form of pharmaceutically-funded drug trials; it also comes from basic science and through careful observation. And those observations should not be dismissed because they do not conform to our current medical dogma. We are simply missing too many opportunities to help people get well.