A phrase I've been seeing a lot lately in my searches is "all disease starts in the gut." The quote comes from none other than the father of medicine himself: Hippocrates.

Gut issues like IBS, Leaky Gut and Candida overgrowth are all controversial in the medical community. However, when is anything not controversial nowadays? I believe these are all real issues, and Hippocrates statement is interesting, especially once you figure in the issue of leaky gut. The questions is whether or not gut problems are the root cause/catalyst of all disease in body.

What does your gut instinct tell you?

First of all, what is the gut exactly?

Well, the gut or GI tract (gastrointestinal tract) is a very important system in the body that aids the body in digestion. It allows you to process and breakdown food as well as helps to expel waste from your body. The GI tract is a long tube that starts in the mouth and ends in the anus.

Now if part of the GI tract has to do with expelling waste from your body, imagine what happens if one of the systems in the GI tract is thrown off or not working properly. Not pretty, right?

Now consider the problem of Leaky gut. Leaky gut is an issue that starts in the small intestine. The small intestine is the part of the digestive system where a majority of food and minerals are absorbed before they are passed on to the large intestine. What leaky gut does is cause the pores of the small intestine to widen, creating holes in the lining. This allows food particles and other bad bacteria into your blood stream.

Over time, it can cause your body to have an autoimmune reaction where your body starts to recognize the food in your system as an allergen and causes a severe histamine response (severe allergic reaction).

Leaky gut can cause a whole slew of problems. Prolonged leaky gut has even been known to create permanent autoimmune issues. Eventually, your body will start to recognize everything as an invader, and your body will start attacking itself. Leaky gut has been linked as the cause of many autoimmune diseases. Leaky gut can impact the whole entire body.

But, let's counter Hippocrates argument for a moment, shall we? Something I've seen in my searches as well is that "all diseases start with the liver."

I'm not quite sure if it's medically accurate, and it's definitely not as popular as Hippocrates' claim. Regardless, almost everyone knows that without your liver you'll go caput. Once your liver is done, your whole body starts to shut down. Also, the liver is an important organ because it removes toxins from the body. When the body is overburdened with toxins, you can become extremely sick.

A common issue we often associate with the liver is jaundice: yellowing of the skin and eyes. Some naturopathic doctors even hold the belief that other issues like anger are tied to the state of a poor functioning liver.

Clearly, issues with your liver can impact your health severely as well.

So, which is it? Is it the gut, the liver or neither? Is disease as simple as one system or one organ in the body? Or, is it more complex and multi-faceted?

What I will say is this: I'm not a doctor, but it's common sense that the lack of support from one system or organ in your body can open you up to some pretty nasty issues health wise. While I believe that some diseases can start from the lack of poor gut health/issues or a bad liver, I'm not sure that those areas are the start of all illnesses. Sometimes a disease is multifaceted, and it can involve multiple underlying factors. So, yes, the gut can be the start of disease, and the liver may be the start of some significant health problems. However, I'm not certain that it's the root cause of all disease.

Hippocrates does make a good point, though, and it definitely makes me question why we aren't taking gut issues more seriously. Gastrointestinal problems should be getting more attention.