Inside Health Magazine: A Better You Starts With What's Inside May. 2016 | Page 11

waste and debris (including CO2) are moved into
the lymphatics (which eliminate fats and heavier
molecules) and venous capillaries, for elimination
from the body.
If the small intestine is damaged (by drugs,
toxins, or free radicals) or diseased (as with celiac
disease, infection, or inflammatory conditions
such as Crohn’s disease), it can develop “leaky gut
syndrome,” in which the normally tight junctions
between the small intestine cells essentially have
holes punched in them, allowing material to flow
freely into this interstitial space and be circulated
within the body—often creating big problems.
This is a problem in celiac disease, when the
gluten molecules enter into this space and are
circulated—even as far away as the brain. It’s
often hard to know for sure if you have leaky gut,
though if you have food allergies or sensitivities,
it’s likely that you do. If so, the treatment is to
eliminate from your diet and lifestyle all things
that might cause further trauma—such as food
allergens, charbroiled beef, food additives, toxic
plasticizers (to name but a few of hundreds)—
and allow the gut to heal itself.

The Liver Spot
Everything—and that means everything —that
passes into the interstitial space from the small
intestinal cells is absorbed into the portal vein.
This is a big vein whose only purpose is to carry
all absorbed things into the liver, which as you
recall is the body’s main organ of detoxification.
We’ve already said that the liver creates bile to
help digest fats. It also produces many other
molecules that are cri