117 - Gut Health & Chronic Pain: Unveiling the Connection with Leigh Brandon

Could improving your gut health hold the key to alleviating chronic pain? Join us on the Radical Health Rebel podcast as we uncover the compelling connection between the gut health and your body's pain response.

We promise you'll emerge with a clearer understanding of how your gut influences neurotransmitter production, impacting everything from mood to pain perception.

This episode unravels the complex interplay of dysbiosis, leaky gut, and systemic inflammation, offering fresh insights into managing pain. You'll see firsthand the profound impact of addressing gut health on chronic pain and overall well-being.

Explore with us how inflammation acts as a critical bridge between gut health and chronic pain, influenced by pro-inflammatory cytokines and microbiome imbalances.

We also tackle neuropathic pain and conditions like IBS and fibromyalgia, revealing how neuroinflammation and immune responses can amplify discomfort.

As we navigate the psychological dimensions, discover how gut dysbiosis can fuel a vicious cycle of mood disorders and chronic pain. Our discussion extends to the potential of diet in breaking this cycle, providing hope for those seeking relief from persistent pain.

I discussed:

0:00

The Gut-Brain Axis and Chronic Pain

5:02

Connecting Gut Health and Chronic Pain

17:18

Exploring Gut Health and Pain Connections

Don't forget to check out recommended episodes 13, & 14 with Matt Wallden, 41 with Stephen Lawrence, 86 with Marc McLean, 90 with Dr Jason Hawrelak & 95 with Dr Josh Dech for even deeper insights into the gut's role in health..

Chapters

• 0:00 The Gut-Brain Axis and Chronic Pain
• 5:02 Connecting Gut Health and Chronic Pain
• 17:18 Exploring Gut Health and Pain Connections

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

The microglia are the primary producers of brain-derived neurotropic factor, which stimulates the ability for learning and memory. Whether those memories are helpful or harmful largely depends on how you interpret and engage with them. If we look at pain as an opportunity to learn something, we are likely to gain from the experience. If we look at pain as an inconvenience and something to be eliminated or just got rid of, there is no opportunity to learn and grow from the experience. If we look at pain as an inconvenience and something to be eliminated or just got rid of, there is no opportunity to learn and grow from the experience. Welcome to the Radical Health Rebel podcast. I'm your host, lee Brandon. This work started for me several decades ago when I started to see the impact I could make on people, helping them to identify the root cause of their health problems that no doctor could figure out, including serious back, knee, shoulder and neck injuries, acne and eczema issues, severe gut health problems, even helping couples get pregnant after several IVF treatments had failed. And it really moves me to be able to help people in this way, and that is why I do what I do and why we have this show. Welcome back to the Radical Health Rebel podcast.

Speaker 1: 1:09

This week I'm flying solo to dive into a topic that's absolutely vital in the work I do, yet is often overlooked in modern medicine. Today we're discussing how poor gut health can cause chronic pain in the body. Now, I'm sure many of you either suffer from chronic pain or know someone who does. It's incredibly common. Yet the medical advice out there often misses a key piece of the puzzle the profound connection between our gut health and chronic pain. So today I want to shed some light on this crucial topic. This episode will be shorter than usual, short, sweet and to the point, but by the end of it I hope you'll walk away with a fresh perspective on pain, whether it's your own or someone else's. So let's dive in. So let's kick off things with the gut-brain axis axis a term that might sound a bit technical, but it's actually quite fascinating and central to understanding the link between gut health and pain.

Speaker 1: 2:18

The gut brain axis is essentially a two-way communication system between your gastrointestinal tract, aka your gut, and your central nervous system, which includes your brain and your spinal cord. To put it simply, your gut and brain are in constant conversation with each other. But how do they communicate? One of the key players here is the vagus nerve. Think of it like a direct telephone line between the gut and the brain. This nerve allows signals to travel back and forth, meaning what happens in your gut can directly impact your brain and what happens in your brain can directly impact your gut. Now here's where it gets really interesting. Your gut produces neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. You know those feel-good chemicals that we associate with mood, but they also play a crucial role in how we perceive pain. So if your gut isn't functioning well, these signals can get scrambled, increasing your sensitivity to pain and potentially leading to chronic pain conditions. The gut also affects inflammation, which we'll touch on shortly, but keep this in mind the gut-brain connection is a major pathway through which poor gut health can cause pain throughout your body, and we'll go into it in more detail later.

Speaker 1: 3:51

Next up, let's talk about microbiome imbalance, which is also known as a dysbiosis. This happens when the delicate balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut is disrupted. When dysbiosis occurs, the intestinal lining can become more permeable, a condition often called leaky gut syndrome. This increased permeability allows toxins, bacteria and undigested food particles to leak into the bloodstream, and once those unwanted guests are in your system, they trigger systemic inflammation, a major contributor to chronic pain. But that's not all. Dysbiosis can also activate your immune system, leading to an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines, and these are molecules that promote inflammation and are often found in chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. So when your gut is out of balance, it can throw your whole system into a state of heightened inflammation and pain.

Speaker 1: 5:02

Now let's zoom in on inflammation, a critical link between poor gut health and chronic pain. Chronic inflammation is like your body's alarm system, being stuck in the on position, constantly fighting off perceived threats even when there are none. When your gut is inflamed, it releases pro-inflammatory cytokines into the bloodstream, which travel throughout your body and sensitize the pain pathways in your nervous system. This means you can become more sensitive to pain, and again, I'll explain this in more detail later as we go. Another player here is short-chain fatty acids produced by the good bacteria in your gut. Short-chain fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties, but when dysbiosis occurs, short-chain fatty acid production drops, leading to more inflammation and you've guessed it more pain.

Speaker 1: 6:07

Let's talk about neuropathic pain, a type of pain caused by nerve damage or dysfunction. This kind of pain can be particularly debilitating and, as it turns out, it's also linked to gut health. Examples of neuropathic pain include carpal tunnel syndrome, trigeminal neuralgia and sciatica, fultonal Syndrome, trigeminal Neuralgia and Sciatica, dysbiosis and leaky gut can lead to something called bacterial translocation, and this is when bacteria and their toxins cross into the bloodstream, causing neuroinflammation, which is inflammation in the nervous system. Neuroinflammation can contribute to neuropathic pain, adding yet another way that poor gut health leads to chronic pain. Activated immune cells in the brain called microglia are activated. Immune cells in the brain, called microglia, are part of this process. Once activated, these cells ramp up inflammation and neuropathic pain. So if you're struggling with this kind of pain, your gut health might be playing a bigger role than you think.

Speaker 1: 7:19

I first met amelia at a health club where I was hosting an event offering back screenings to the members. The first thing I noticed about Amelia was a dullness in her eyes, which I later realized was due to extreme pain, and I noticed that she was unable to turn her head and had to turn her whole body if she wanted to look in a different direction. Amelia informed me that she had a history of repeated shoulder and neck pain for the last two years and was diagnosed with spinal stenosis at C45, c56 and C67, and a stenosis is a blockage which, in Amelia's case, was in the spinal canal of her neck, irritating her spinal cord. She had extreme tenderness over her neck and trapezius muscles on both sides and she suffered from severe neck pain continuously. Amelia informed me that she'd been advised that spinal surgery was the only option, but the surgery came with great risks, including potential paralysis and no guarantee of success, which made Amelia fearful of the surgery. In addition to this, amelia suffered from continuous exhaustion, painful intestinal gas and bloating, even though she felt she was following a healthy diet. After a thorough evaluation, I designed Amelia a corrective exercise, nutrition and lifestyle plan. Plus, I referred her to a new chiropractor for specific adjustments to her neck. After following the plan religiously, amelia is much stronger and much more flexible than she's ever been before and no longer suffers from repeated neck pain and has full range of motion in her neck. Amelia also reported that her energy was maximized and that she no longer suffers from the gripping stomach pains that had dominated her life for a very long time. If you're suffering like Amelia was and you'd like to find out more about getting to the root cause of your pain, go to wwwbodycheckcouk that's B-O-D-Y-C-H-E-Kcouk to request your consultation.

Speaker 1: 9:21

Now let's touch on the psychological factors that often go hand in hand with chronic pain. As alluded to earlier, poor gut health doesn't just affect your body, it affects your mind too. Gut dysbiosis is linked to mood disorders like anxiety and depression, which can make chronic pain worse. Psychological stress and altered pain perception often go hand in hand. It's a vicious cycle. Chronic pain leads to stress, stress worsens gut health and gut issues exacerbate pain. And don't forget, chronic stress itself can harm your gut by altering the microbiome and increasing gut permeability, which only makes things worse. It's a complex web, but understanding it can be key to managing chronic pain.

Speaker 1: 10:14

There are also specific conditions where the connection between gut health and chronic pain is especially clear. For instance, irritable bowel syndrome or IBS often coexists with chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia and migraines. This is largely due to the gut-brain axis. Similarly, chronic inflammation seen in conditions like ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease can contribute to widespread pain. I recommend checking out episodes 86, 90 and 95 of the podcast for more deep dives into these conditions with experts like Mark McLean, dr Jason Horlach and Dr Josh Deck.

Speaker 1: 10:59

I'd also like to share a personal story. A few years ago, I started experiencing medial knee pain in my left knee and the range of motion was reduced to 90 degrees instead of the normal 135 degrees. Just bending down would make me feel like an old man, and it was affecting my tennis game and left me sore for days after playing. After some digging I discovered the cause, which was porridge oats. I cut them out from my diet and within three weeks the knee pain was gone and I regained full range of motion in my knee. So this taught me a valuable lesson about how food, gut health and inflammation can directly impact pain levels. It's why I leave no stone unturned when working with clients to uncover the root cause of their pain.

Speaker 1: 11:51

Another concept that needs to be discussed, but also includes most of the subjects already covered, is central sensitization of the spinal cord. Central sensitization is defined as a persistent nociceptive stimulus or pain stimulus, which creates excitation at the spinal cord level, lowering pain thresholds and increasing pain perception. Central sensitization often begins with pain signals being sent to the spinal cord from an injury, from a muscle or a joint, etc. Which then triggers a long-lasting increase in the excitability of the neurons in the spinal cord. This excitation of the spinal cord reduces the threshold to perceive pain. However, excitation of the spinal cord does not just occur via pain inputs to the spinal cord.

Speaker 1: 12:46

Other inputs that can excite or sensitize the central nervous system are emotions such as depression, anxiety and fear, dysregulation of the HPA axis, which is the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis, which is often due to mental stress, poor dietary choices and inflamed or diseased internal organs, to name a few. Also, poor nutritional choices may both cause or arise from emotional stress, and they contribute to oxidative stress, increased peripheral and gut inflammation and negatively impact the microbiome. Both gut inflammation and a gut dysbiosis can increase the central sensitization of the spinal cord which, as previously stated, influences the gut-brain axis and predisposes to more emotional stress. All of these factors, independently or in conjunction with tissue injury, can increase pro-inflammatory cytokines or activate toll-like receptors, both of which excite the microglia in the central nervous system which were previously mentioned. The microglia are the primary producers of brain-derived neurotropic factor, which stimulates the ability for learning and memory. Whether those memories are helpful or harmful largely depends on how you interpret and engage with them.

Speaker 1: 14:17

If we look at pain as an opportunity to learn something we are likely to gain from the experience. If we look at pain as an opportunity to learn something we are likely to gain from the experience. If we look at pain as an inconvenience and something to be eliminated or just got rid of, there is no opportunity to learn and grow from the experience. So I learned that when I eat porridge oats I experience medial knee pain. I've learned my lesson and I no longer eat porridge oats and my knee is 100% free from pain.

Speaker 1: 14:50

Sharon, a 52 year old business consultant, came to see me because she was waking up every night and not able to get back to sleep, leaving her exhausted during the day, which was very concerning for Sharon. She occasionally had a dull ache in her stomach and she also suffered from acne. But Sharon was most desperate to get to the bottom of her sleep issue. Following a series of tests, it was found that Sharon had a gut infection, which was the likely cause of her waking at night. Found that Sharon had a gut infection, which was the likely cause of her waking at night and causing the stomach ache, and she also had a leaky gut and food sensitivities which may have played a role in her acne. Sharon went on a low FODMAP diet and supplementation plan to rebalance her gut microbiome and help repair her gut lining and to support her immune system. Within days, sharon felt much better. Within weeks, sharon was sleeping through the night, her stomach ache vanished, her skin was clear, her energy levels increased and her weight particularly around her middle in her own words simply dropped off.

Speaker 1: 15:55

If you're suffering with sleep, gut or skin issues and want to get to the root cause, and you'd like to achieve a great result, just like Sharon, then go to wwwbodycheckcouk to request your consultation. Now back to the podcast. So if you're struggling with chronic pain, here are some of my top tips. Firstly, seek professional help. Look for someone who takes a holistic approach addressing gut health, posture, core stability and more. Make sure you examine your diet. Consider working with a professional to identify food triggers that may be affecting your gut, causing inflammation and contributing to your pain.

Speaker 1: 16:49

Next, you need to address stress. So mindfulness techniques, meditation and ensuring your diary isn't too full can go a long way in managing the stress that can worsen both gut health and pain. Next, you need to mind the gut-brain connection. So remember that taking care of your gut through diet, stress management and lifestyle changes can have a profound effect on your overall health. So that's it for this week's episode.

Speaker 1: 17:18

I hope you found this discussion on the connection between poor gut health and chronic pain insightful. If you know someone who's been suffering from pain, please share this episode. It might just be the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle that they've been looking for. And don't forget to check out episodes 13 and 14, on the purpose and potential of persistent pain, with Matt Walden, as well as episode 41, called Invisible Extinction, with Stephen Lawrence, to learn more about the importance of gut health. So that's all from me today on this solo episode and I'll see you same time, same place, next week on the Radical Health Rebel podcast. Thanks for tuning in, remember to give the show a rating and a review and I'll see you next time.