The Secret to Immunity is in Your Gut

Most of your bacteria is living inside your “gut.” The health of your gut is fundamental to the health of your body. 

How so?

80% of your immune system spends most of its time around your gut. The health of your gut bacteria and the health of your immune system are naturally linked. When your gut bacteria is balanced, your immune system is also balanced. But when it’s out of balance, so is your immune system.

Signs that your immune system is out of balance are: food and seasonal allergies, chronic inflammation, and colds and flus that linger for weeks.

Food sensitivities are a major sign and cause of an immune system imbalance. Food, specifically undigested protein, looks just like a virus or bacteria and our immune system creates an antibody to it. We see this in life-threatening reactions like anaphylactic shock to nuts or shellfish. We can also have a much quieter, non-life threatening reaction to a food (undigested protein), which can over-stimulate our immune system and lead to seasonal allergies, eczema, and many inflammatory conditions. These are usually referred to as food sensitivities. What has been discovered is that once we discover the foods that you aren’t digesting properly you can gain control over allergies, eczema, and many inflammatory conditions.

Undigested protein gets into our blood stream through a “leaky gut.” This is when our intestinal tract is damaged and it allows undigested particles to be absorbed into the blood stream. These proteins can stimulate our immune system for up to 5 days. This is why it’s so difficult to figure out our food sensitivities. Even a small amount of gluten, dairy, corn, or soy (our culture’s main food triggers) each week can cause our immune system to remain over-stimulated and we will feel our symptoms continuously… even if we’ve tried our best to reduce these possible triggers. 

The best way to balance our immune system is by having a healthy and strong digestive system, and this means our gut bacteria needs to be in balance. Our American way of eating hasn’t helped to keep our gut bacteria balanced. Most traditional cultures regularly consume fermented foods like natural yogurt, sauerkraut, and kimchi, which feed the beneficial bacteria in our gut. In America, however, we tend to do the opposite. Processed food, refined sugar, and antibiotics are major causes of a gut bacteria imbalance.

When your gut is hosting 75% beneficial bacteria, your body (digestion, immunity, brain) is able to create balance. But when the prevalent bacteria in your gut is “bad” bacteria (bacteria that doesn’t assist us), they allow for an overgrowth of yeast, molds, and fungus – as well as many digestive symptoms, like bloating, foul-smelling gas, distention, pain, constipation, diarrhea, and a “leaky gut.”

5 Things you can do for your gut health

1. Lower your stress level:High stress levels can wreak havoc on your body, including your gut. Some ways to lower stress may include changing your diet, exercise (even if it's for a few minutes), meditation, drinking tea, talking it out with a friend, decreasing caffeine, laughing. Check out this article we wrote on decreasing stress.
2. Taking a "Daily Immune Boost+" supplement. Daily Immune Boost+ contains high amounts of gut balancing ingredients and antioxiants – an important part of finding balance. Not all supplements are high quality and provide benefit. It's best to do a little research or contact your healthcare provider in order to ensure the best health benefit.
3. Understand food intolerances and re-balance them. If you are having symptoms such as bloating, diarrhea, rashes, fatigue, and acid reflux, you may be suffering from a food intolerance. If you are able to identify a food or foods that are contributing to your symptoms, you may see a positive change in your digestive health by changing your eating habits. We also recommend supplementing your diet with Daily Immune Boost+ 
4. Changing your diet.Reducing the amount of processed, high-sugar, and trans fat foods that you eat can contribute to better gut health. Also, getting plenty of plant-based foods and lean protein (we recommend grass fed beef) can positively impact your gut health. A high-fiber diet has also been shown to contribute to a healthy gut.
5. Eat slowly.Chewing your food thoroughly and eating your meals more slowly can help promote better digestion and absorption of needed nutrients. This may help you reduce digestive discomfort and maintain a healthy gut.