What Is Leaky Gut?

By james

Reviewed: Dr. Gromatzky

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3. Barrier

Our bowels are lined by a single layer of cells that form a barrier; this barrier is known as the mucosal barrier. This barrier is important for us because it prevents pathogens and molecules passing from the bowel into the rest of the body. At the same time, however, it allows important nutrients to be absorbed into the blood stream.

There are some instances where this mucosal barrier can become affected in a way that it allows the wrong particles to pass through it. However, this is not thought to cause problems for the patient and the particles that do pass through are dealt with by the immune system.