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Alcohol And Leaky Gut

Blaze422

By Blaze422
in Food Intolerance & Leaky Gut

Recommended Posts

Blaze422 Rookie
Blaze422
Posted

In dealing with my DH, I am open to eliminating anything and everything that worsens the itch. So not only am I gluten-free, I am low iodine and low salycylates. (Lot as obsessed about the low Sal)

I was drinking 2-3 glasses of red wine and 2-3 cups of instant caffeinated coffee, then in my attempt to go low Sal I switched to de-caf coffee and gin (lLOL)

The more I investigate leaky gut, the more I concluded that I need to stop drinking. And I have...for 2 weeks so far.

Here's my question... If alcohol was contributing to my leaky gut, is it like gluten, and even one glass of wine will yield serious consequences? I don't want to be taking probiotics, digestive enzymes and eating healthy and have a drink if it's going to cause a "relapse". It is y understanding that leaky gut takes months to heal, and it is my assumption that an occasional drink is ok, but I'm curious how many of y'all avoid alcohol completely.

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pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

I have no idea about the leaky gut (and alcohol undoing progress)....but I can tell you to proceed with caution when you do decide to take your first (few) drinks.

Somewhere on this board is my Wine Tasting Story, which isn't pretty. In short, when Celiacs heal something (can) happens with the metabolism or absorption of it when we start drinking again. It's about 3x more potent and some things that were favorites before you may lose a taste for (especially if you get sick on it).

I have a nice day of wine tasting 30 minutes away and I will forever be the designated driver because the local wine definitely has a distinctive flavor and if I ever taste it again it will turn green. Smelling it may cause issues.....

On the other hand, I can drink the heck out of any other reds and I've learned to like bourbon.

I did drop alcohol completely for a period - I was afraid it would make the dh flare. About four months in was the Wine Fiasco. I switched to distilled non glutenous grains and cider for a while after that. I didn't feel I went backward in recovery except for noticing some drinks fave me a headache - cheap distilled mixed drinks....so I started drinking good quality rum, tequila and bourbon up :).

Pegleg84 Collaborator
Pegleg84
Posted

Alcohol can irritate your gut regardless, so if you've got gastritis, then it's probably a good idea to ease up on it. If you were drinking 2-3 glasses of wine and 2-3 cups of coffee A DAY then yeah, that would definitely cause some problems. However, unless you have a sensitivity/allergy to alcohol itself (some people do), then its not like gluten, in that you can have a little bit and be ok. You'll have to figure out how much your gut can take, though it's probably not a bad idea to lay off it for a while and let your gut recover. When you start drinking again, go easy. 1 glass.

Cutting back on coffee is also a good idea for the gastritis, but if you're going to have it, have real coffee not instant. That stuff is nasty (watch out for possible gluten contamination in some brands). Get a french press. It's just as easy. 

Basically, give your gut a rest, Let it heal up, then you can see what it can handle, but go easy. Quality over quantity (I can't drink the cheap stuff anymore either, other than the fact that it tastes like s$#&e)

 

Good luck!

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

Alcohol is "not like gluten", no...

 

but, alcohol and coffee (decaf or not) can bother a GI tract and cause gastritis. So, if you have symptoms of gastritis, you should avoid those for a few weeks and it should heal.

 

Does a gut  actually "leak?" Perhaps...possibly.....to some small degree if the villi are so damaged and the junctures are wide enough for things to "slip through".  The best explanation of leaky gut I ever read was Dr. Fasano's theory of it, (check it out!) but in essence, if you have severe intestinal permeability, you'd be hooked up to machines, clinging to life (according to the medical research).

 

So before you assume you have a "leaking gut", let me ask you this.... if you have a few glasses of wine, what happens exactly?

 

Symptoms may tell us more.

Blaze422 Rookie
Blaze422
Posted
  • Author

In contrast when my son in law has gluten and gets cramps, foggy brain and flu like symptoms...gluten makes me itch and have rashes.(dermatits herpetaformis)...not necessarily immediately.

Ingesting iodine makes itching worse.

I have found no connection between caffeine, wine in my symptoms...however...,

I take probiotics, digestive iodine, black seed oil, l- glutamine etc to heal my gut...

My understanding is there is a link between the immuno response to gluten in my rash can mitigated by healing my gut.

pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

In contrast when my son in law has gluten and gets cramps, foggy brain and flu like symptoms...gluten makes me itch and have rashes.(dermatits herpetaformis)...not necessarily immediately.

Ingesting iodine makes itching worse.

I have found no connection between caffeine, wine in my symptoms...however...,

I take probiotics, digestive iodine, black seed oil, l- glutamine etc to heal my gut...

My understanding is there is a link between the immuno response to gluten in my rash can mitigated by healing my gut.

Digestive iodine?

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

In contrast when my son in law has gluten and gets cramps, foggy brain and flu like symptoms...gluten makes me itch and have rashes.(dermatits herpetaformis)...not necessarily immediately.

Ingesting iodine makes itching worse.

I have found no connection between caffeine, wine in my symptoms...however...,

I take probiotics, digestive iodine, black seed oil, l- glutamine etc to heal my gut...

My understanding is there is a link between the immuno response to gluten in my rash can mitigated by healing my gut.

 

 

Why would you take iodine if you have DH?  Iodine aggravates DH.  Maybe that's your answer?

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IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

Have to ask...why are you taking iodine?  that's terrible for DH, so says anyone with DH.

 

Ingesting iodine makes itching worse.

I take probiotics, digestive iodine,

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

Have to ask...why are you taking iodine?  that's terrible for DH, so says anyone with DH.

 

Ingesting iodine makes itching worse.

I take probiotics, digestive iodine,

 

 

That is odd.  OP said low iodine in the  first post.  Maybe a typo?  Or one of those odd auto-corrects?  I don't know why my iPad often thinks it knows what I want to say - its usually wrong!   :o

bartfull Rising Star
bartfull
Posted

I bet the OP meant to say digestive ENZYMES. ;)

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

I bet the OP meant to say digestive ENZYMES. ;)

 

yes...maybe...OP??

Blaze422 Rookie
Blaze422
Posted
  • Author

Foods that have iodine make me itch...hence ingesting iodine.

Prickly...help me out!

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

Foods that have iodine make me itch...hence ingesting iodine.

Prickly...help me out!

We understand that you don't eat foods with iodine. What we don't understand is why you are eating extra iodine in the form if a supplement. We thought that might have been a typo.

Honestly, if ingesting iodine in food is bad - ingesting iodine in a little pill is bad, too.

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

Foods that have iodine make me itch...hence ingesting iodine.

Prickly...help me out!

Maybe I do not understand.

 

So if you are iodine deficient, you take oral iodine, but doesn't that make you itch too? 

pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

Foods that have iodine make me itch...hence ingesting iodine.

Prickly...help me out!

Blaze, I'd love to but I don't know what you mean. Are you taking an iodine supplament? Was that an autocorrect typo that should have been digestive enzyme?
Blaze422 Rookie
Blaze422
Posted
  • Author

I give up...no I am not ingesting iodine....no I am not taking an iodine supplement.

What I said is that when I ingest iodine...ie when I ingest a food that has iodine I react...ie I get itchy.

I was trying to find out more about the link wine has to leaky gut.

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

I give up...no I am not ingesting iodine....no I am not taking an iodine supplement.

What I said is that when I ingest iodine...ie when I ingest a food that has iodine I react...ie I get itchy.

I was trying to find out more about the link wine has to leaky gut.

hon, we asked because right here, you say this:

 

I take digestive iodine. Now do you see why we all asked??

 

I take probiotics, digestive iodine, black seed oil, l- glutamine etc to heal my gut...

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

In contrast when my son in law has gluten and gets cramps, foggy brain and flu like symptoms...gluten makes me itch and have rashes.(dermatits herpetaformis)...not necessarily immediately.

Ingesting iodine makes itching worse.

I have found no connection between caffeine, wine in my symptoms...however...,

I take probiotics, digestive iodine, black seed oil, l- glutamine etc to heal my gut...

My understanding is there is a link between the immuno response to gluten in my rash can mitigated by healing my gut.

Look at this post . That's where we got it from. We asked if it was a typo as taking an iodine supplement didn't make any sense. We all saw that, and thought " there is the problem! Extra iodine".

And this also says you don't have a link to wine....... I'm so confused!

Blaze422 Rookie
Blaze422
Posted
  • Author

Oh crap...

I am sooooo embarrassied.

Yes...y'all are correct ...and I am going to hide now.

Digestive enzyme was changed. By auto correct.

I am sorry...

pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

Oh crap...

I am sooooo embarrassied.

Yes...y'all are correct ...and I am going to hide now.

Digestive enzyme was changed. By auto correct.

I am sorry...

Don't worry about it. You should see some of the stuff I've texted....

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

Oh crap...

I am sooooo embarrassied.

Yes...y'all are correct ...and I am going to hide now.

Digestive enzyme was changed. By auto correct.

I am sorry...

 

 

:D No worries and no hiding 

 

I have seen some really racy stuff posted with auto-correct. It's pretty funny actually. 

GFinDC Veteran
GFinDC
Posted

Hi Blazing autocorrecter, :D

 

Tipos rn't unusual aroun hear.  Mispeelings hapn 2.  So no biggie.  Brain fog can get  the best of us.  Autocorrect gets me pretty often.

 

Oh yeah, you had a question about alcohol and leaky gut.

 

I don't think there is any definitive info or research available on the topic.  But the fact that alcohol does damage the digestive system is well known, and there is research on that if you want to look it up.  If alcohol makes the leaky gut process worse is a great question though.  Since nobody knows for sure, maybe it's best to err on the side of caution though.  Another reason to consider going low alcohol for a while at the beginning of the gluten-free diet is liver issues.  People with celiac disease can have elevated liver enzymes.  They tend to go down to normal levels over time on the gluten-free diet though.  So it may be helpful to the liver to take it easy on the alcohol for a while.  Give the liver a break.

 

Dr. Fasano's research on zonulin and leaky gut was looking at the chemical reaction involving zonulin and gluten, not alcohol.  So it's an unanswered question at this point.

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

 

 

Dr. Fasano's research on zonulin and leaky gut was looking at the chemical reaction involving zonulin and gluten, not alcohol.  So it's an unanswered question at this point.

 

Jess has a pretty good article on this topic

 

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