Leaky gut synrome is a diagnosis prevalent in various branches of alternative medicine. Its proponents hypothesize that damage to the bowel lining, caused by antibiotics, toxins, poor diet, parasites or infection (e.g. with the yeast Candida albicans) can lead to increased permeability of the gut wall to toxins, microbes, undigested food, waste or larger than normal macromolecules. Some versions posit that these substances affect the body directly, while others postulate an immune reaction to these substances.