QUOTE (jasmineflower @ Dec 29 2007, 03:43 AM)

But is having food sensitivity to 31 foods a sign of a leaky gut? Or does everyone have lots of food sensitivies, and we're being overly-paranoid by trying to avoid all these foods?
Being sensitive to yeast... would that really be a sign of candida? Cos otherwise wouldn't I have turned up sensitive to other foods that feed candida, like cane sugar and mushrooms?
I am not an expert - so I can only repeat to you what I have read after a lot of research. From everything I have read, yes, multiple food sensitivities can indicate leaky gut - particularly if you cut out the foods that bother you and then develop new sensitivities to the foods you are consuming most. The idea is that the permeable membrane of leaky gut is allowing food particles that are too large to cross over into the bloodstream. The body then sees these too-large particles as enemies and attacks them. This results in the sensitivity. There does seem to be hope that the sensitivities are reversible. I am not talking about celiac disease here, because with celiac the immune response happens right in the gut, not after too-large particles seep out of the gut. I do personally believe that a lot of celiacs have damaged their intestines and have a permeable membrane and have both the gut response inside the intestines AND the response outside the intestines - particularly the "opiate effect", but that is a side issue.

There seems to be hope that if you heal the gut, you may be able to tolerate some of those foods again.
I sure wish all of this was better understood and it was easier to diagnose. It seems like the gut is so central to all other health, which make sense, but it doesn't seem like it is very well understood within the medical community, even among the experts.
Cathy