When we are facing issues of infectious diseases, the first talking point is our immune system. Our immune system helps our body to manage a number of tasks, the most important being fighting against opportunistic pathogens. The relevant part is timing- properly deploying the immune system to fight these bad folks at the time of sickness is the key to improving our health.
Given the fact that 70% of our immune cells are around gut lining, health of our gut plays an important role in determining how well our immune system responds/operates.
Making our immune system work optimally is most important right given that we are in clutches of virus & pathogens attacks & respiratory illness. With increasing concerns about COVID & seasonal infectious diseases, we are finding ways to fine tune our immune system & strengthen our intestinal barrier which is said to be a wall for safeguarding our immune cells. Ongoing research proves that there is a symbiotic & co-dependent relationship between gut microbiome, the food we eat & our immune system.
Let us discuss in detail how we can strengthen our immune system.
We live in a world of microorganisms. Our bodies are far away from microorganisms- free environment. Rather our body is a container of various trillions of microbes that helps in maintaining internal homeostasis & immunostasis- by the way of communication between these microbes & immune cells. These conversations between our gut microbes & immune system is said to impact autoimmunity, inflammation, cancer & our susceptibility to infection.
The gut microbiome orchestrates in facilitating this communication. Depending upon state of equilibrium of our gut microbiome, our immune system can be strong & resilient or weak & compromised. Optimizing & Nourishing our immune system can be one of the most profound ways to fine tune our immune response. The good news is there is a strong correlation between the health of our gut & food we eat, thereby providing an opportunity to either manipulate or adjust our gut flora. The best way to keep chronic diseases at bay & improve our health span is to use food as a preventative medicine. As Hippocrates once said, “ Let food be thy medicine & thy medicine be the food”. However, there is no standard rule or bible to adopt that can improve our health. In other words, fad diets & one solution fits models do not work. Since every individual is born differently ( C-section vs Vaginal), fed differently as an infant (breast milk vs formula fed), different lifestyle, genetic composition, location, dietary choices & environmental factors, dietary solution for every individual is different & unique for their microbiome. Genefitletics’s dietary & lifestyle recommendations would vary for you & your friend/spouse, however the objective would be same- balancing gut microbiome to shelf off chronic diseases.
Think of the gut microbiome as a tool, telling how efficiently a job it is performing. When in an imbalanced state, it can do harm to your health while performing normal tasks. When a microbiome is fed right, it can perform its assigned functions efficiently without any risk to our body & health. In fact a balanced gut microbiome can strengthen our intestinal barrier (thin gut lining). This thin gut lining keeps microbiome safe in their environment & prevents them from renting out real estate in our places of our body such as blood or pancreas.
When our intestinal lining is compromised, our gut microbes can escape the large intestine to hide out somewhere else- other organs in our body. As they relocate, toxins & metabolites they release can lead to inflammatory reaction & can damage immune & other cells, creating multiple chronic health conditions. This is the reason why having a balance gut microbiome is essential not only to strengthen our gut lining but also fine tune our immune system
Many beneficial bacteria help in maintaining integrity of gut lining. This can be by metabolizing fibre & microbiota accessible carbohydrates (MAC) to produce butyrate, healthy food for our gut lining & overpower pathogens for space. When our gut microbiome has a healthy & abundant butyrate production, it helps in strengthening our gut lining, regulating our metabolism & blood sugar level & aids in the digestion process. It is a give & take relationship. In return, our gut lining keeps microbes safe & protects these microbial communities when attacked by pathogens.
When it comes to viruses, bacteria in our gut are just like us. They have a high risk of attracting viral infections & employ various ways to keep them & their environment safe. When our microbiome is diverse & balanced, it makes it convenient for them to talk to each other when they sense attack by viral pathogens. This communication, also referred to as quorum sensing reacts faster to their own immune defense. These communication of defense against viral pathogens are stored as memories in their genetic code which is passed on to future generations.
Some viruses, such as the influenza virus, enter our lungs and require quick antibody responses from our immune system. The faster the recognition of the virus, the faster our immune system can work to kill the infection. Several studies have found that our gut microbiome supports “adaptive immunity” producing antibodies.
If you are focused to right dietary choices that can feed commensal bacteria in your gut, you will be better off at building a strong immune system that can help you right infection & viruses.
Balancing your gut microbiome by eating a diverse diet that enables beneficial bacteria to release short chain fatty acids is key to strengthening your gut lining & hence the immune system.
Our UP THE GUT solution is the answer to your immune response worries. With a quick and easy stool sample, we can help you assess integrity of your gut lining & associated butyrate producing bacteria to help you fine tune your immune system. For more details, sign up here.
