How To Rebuild The Mucus Layer In Your Gut Naturally

This video is another one of a few I’ve made recently on various parts of the gut microbiome. It’s important to learn how to maintain the integrity of this important ecosystem, because almost every disease you can think of has its origins here.

So if you want to learn how to keep yourself healthy or reverse a disease process, this should be your starting point.

What Is the Mucus Layer in the Gut?

Today I’d like to discuss the mucus layer in the gut. Most people don’t realize it, but the intestinal mucus layer is one of the most fascinating and most often overlooked parts of the human physiology and it plays a huge role in the health of the gut microbiome.

The gut is basically two layers: the mucus layer, which is the first line of defense against invading pathogens. And the intestinal epithelial cells layer — the second line of defense.

The epithelial cell layer is only one cell thick and it lines the intestines. The cells in this layer are joined together by tight junctions, which act like tiny seals, controlling what can pass between the cells — nutrients can pass into the bloodstream while toxins continue on into the intestines and into our bowel movement.

This is the layer that becomes leaky if we’ve taken antibiotics, birth control pills, immunizations, steroids, acid reflux medicines or if we’ve been under prolonged stress. When this layer becomes leaky then both infections and toxins can pass into the bloodstream, sending the immune system into a frenzy, and causing inflammation. Since this layer is only one cell thick, it is important that the mucus layer protects it from constant exposure to microbes.

A Living Barrier That Renews Itself Every Day

The mucus layer is not just inert slime — it is a living ecosystem and is a dynamic environment composed mostly of water, immune molecules, specialized proteins called mucins and beneficial microbes.

This mucus coating is constantly being renewed. Specialized cells lining the intestines, called goblet cells, continuously secrete mucus.

Here’s an interesting fact: your gut produces enormous amounts of mucus every day: anywhere from 1 to 1.5 liters a day! This is important because the mucus layer is constantly worn away by digestion, bacterial activity and the movement of food.

The large intestine has two mucus layers: an inner mucus layer that is dense and almost completely free of bacteria, and an outer mucus layer that is looser and serves as a home for trillions of beneficial microbes.

Some of the friendly bacteria actually eat the mucus. One of the best-known examples is Akkermansia muciniphila. In fact the word “muciniphila” means “mucus loving.” It feeds on the mucin, the primary protein in mucus, which actually stimulates the body to produce fresh mucus, which maintains a healthy barrier.

The mucus layer is one of the body’s first immune defenses. It contains antibodies (especially IgA), and enzymes and other antimicrobial peptides that help neutralize harmful microbes before they reach the intestinal wall.

There is dust, pollen, pollutants, fungus, bacteria and viruses in every breath you take, but the various microbiomes, such as in the mouth, nostrils, eyes, sinuses and lungs are the first line of defense against these invading organisms.

I always tell my patients that if they keep getting sick over and over, one of the first things we have to look at is the gut microbiome. Even the bladder has a microbiome, and as just described, if you keep getting bladder infections, it means that the microbiome in the bladder has been compromised.

An interesting way to look at it is that every surface of the body that is exposed to the outside world — whether the mouth, lungs, intestines, eyes, bladder, and reproductive tract — is protected by some form of mucus. It is one of the body’s most sophisticated defense mechanisms.

Why Probiotics Alone Are Not Enough

That’s why people of many cultures and countries make yogurt each week to keep feeding their friendly bacteria as they get depleted throughout the weeks and months. As a side note: the yogurt sitting on the supermarket shelves doesn’t have a therapeutic effect, so it’s important you learn how to make your own yogurt using a live yogurt starter culture. If you’re sensitive to dairy there are some other options you may have. As a last resort you can take a probiotic, but even here, many of the probiotics on the market have very few active cultures left by the time they are done manufacturing them and those that do need to be made in a way where they can survive the stomach acids, bile acids and pancreatic enzymes.

But even if you are making homemade yogurt with active beneficial bacteria or taking good quality probiotics — these are like the seeds you are trying to plant into the gut lining. Nurturing your mucus layer is like bringing in new topsoil so those seeds can grow.

Without mucus the digestive enzymes and stomach acids would damage the intestines. The mucus layer protects the intestinal lining from these substances while still allowing nutrients to be absorbed.

How Fiber and Butyrate Feed the Mucus Layer

Here’s how it works: the fibers from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and legumes nourish the beneficial bacteria which produce short-chain fatty acids — especially butyrate which provides fuel for the colon’s goblet cells to help stimulate the production of mucus.

However, when dietary fiber is scarce, such as in our modern diets which are lacking in fiber and filled with processed foods, some of the bacteria in your gut are now forced to turn to the mucus layer for food. And if this continues over time, the mucus barrier can become thinner, potentially making the intestinal lining more vulnerable to inflammation.

Also, as we enter the Vata-stage of life, usually after age 40 or 50, we tend to literally dry up from the drying effects of Vata which results in reduced lubrication both internally within our internal microbiomes and the microbiome which resides on the skin. This is one of the reasons Ayurveda recommends an unctuous diet using ghee, olive oil, whole milk, avocados, nuts and seeds, and instructs people in performing daily oil massages.

The good news is that the mucus layer renews itself quickly once you change your diet to a healthier one. Much of the intestinal mucus is replaced within hours, allowing the gut to continually repair and maintain its protective barrier.

The mucus layer communicates with the immune system — it is not merely a physical shield. The mucus layer, along with the friendly bacteria in the gut and immune system cells, help the intestines with a very important job — deciding if organisms are dangerous or not.

Nearly all chronic intestinal diseases involve disruption of the mucus barrier. A thinner or altered mucus layer has been associated with conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, infections and metabolic disorders.

What Depletes the Mucus Layer

Let’s look at some of the major factors which could deplete the mucus layer. This usually happens when the balance between mucus production and mucus breakdown is disrupted. Here’s some examples:

1. A low fiber diet: As just stated, the beneficial bacteria normally feed on dietary fiber. But when fiber is scarce, as in a highly processed diet, some bacteria begin consuming the mucin proteins that make up the mucus layer, gradually thinning it.

2. Chronic inflammation: Conditions such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease can alter both the amount and the quality of the mucus produced. Inflammation may also damage the goblet cells that make mucus.

3. Damage to goblet cells. Infections, certain toxins, some medications such as NSAID’s and anti-inflammatory pain killers, chemotherapy, radiation and severe inflammation can reduce the number or function of these mucus-producing cells.

4. An unhealthy gut microbiome. A loss of beneficial bacteria and an overgrowth of mucus-degrading organisms can accelerate mucus breakdown.

5. Chronic stress. Long-term stress can create changes in the gut microbiome when the nervous system, hormones and immune responses go out of balance due to the stress.

How to Rebuild the Mucus Layer Naturally

If you are a patient of mine, you now know that one of the first areas of treatment is the gut microbiome. And as part of that treatment, we usually introduce certain herbs such as slippery elm, marshmallow root and DGL powder, all of which build up the mucus layer.

We also recommend various fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes to provide fiber to help the friendly bacteria make butyrate. Here’s how it works:

You eat fiber from foods such as fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and whole grains. Humans cannot digest many of these fibers but these undigested fibers reach the colon where the friendly bacteria ferment it.

During fermentation, these bacteria produce short chain fatty acids, the three main ones being butyrate, acetate and propionate. Butyrate however is the preferred fuel for the cells lining the colon. It provides about 70-80% of their energy needs helping them to stay healthy and maintaining the intestinal barrier.

Here is what butyrate does:

— it stimulates the production of the protective mucus layer

— it strengthens the tight junctions between the intestinal cells

— it helps regulate inflammation by influencing immune system cells

— it supports the growth and function of the intestinal lining

— it creates an environment that favors beneficial microbes over many harmful ones.

Look at the video I made on butyrate for even deeper information on this very beneficial short chain fatty acid.

Seaweed: An Overlooked Mucus Builder

And one final thing: eating seaweed 1-3 times a week (but not everyday because it is so high in iodine), also helps increase the mucus layer in the gut. If you’ve ever put a strip of dried kombu in your soup or dahl, you see how slippery and slimy it becomes!

Especially recommended are Irish moss, wakame, kelp and kombu. They contain compounds which increase the thickness of the mucus, reduce inflammation, improve the integrity of the gut barrier and promote the growth of beneficial bacteria, including the species that produce butyrate.

I hope you learned a little bit more about the gut microbiome. The mucus layer is definitely one area you need to understand in order to keep your friendly bacteria happy and healthy, which in turn will make you happy and healthy.