Probiotics and the Immune System
Our bodies, including our gut, are full of bacteria — both good and bad. Probiotics are live bacteria that are considered good bacteria because they help with your gut health.Probiotics can be found in fermented foods like yogurt and kefir or as supplements. Not only are they good for your gut health, research shows that they could be beneficial to your immune system as well. So let’s take a look at probiotics and how they could give your immune system a boost.
Gut Health and the Immune System
The gastrointestinal system — gut — plays an important role in our immune system. “A huge proportion of your immune system is actually in your GI tract,” says Dan Peterson, assistant professor of pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In fact, about 70% of our immune system is housed in our gut.3
Our immune system has a starring role in protecting our bodies from outside invaders such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and toxins. It’s made up of a group of cells, proteins, and organs that work together. When your immune system is working, you feel healthy. And when it’s not, well, you don’t feel so very healthy. An unbalanced immune response leads to inflammation and uncontrolled tissue damage and disease. Since so much of your immune system is in your gut, it’s important to maintain proper gut health.
The mucosal lining in our guts is the first line of defense we have against the harmful bacteria and toxins we eat, but it’s a delicate thing. When it’s weakened, you’re more vulnerable, and when your gut doesn’t have enough good bacteria your immune system is negatively affected.4
Probiotics for Gut Health and Immune Health
How can you improve your gut health to boost your immune system? Research is beginning to point towards probiotics to help restore balance in your gut and your health because healthy bacteria (like probiotics) not only help digest food and produce vitamins, but also destroy disease-causing cells.
The main job of probiotics — good bacteria — is to help your body maintain a healthy balance. When you’re sick, bad bacteria not only enters your body, but increases in number causing your body to become out of balance. But good bacteria, which can be found in probiotics, can support the body’s efforts to fight off the bad bacteria restoring balance, support your immune system, and control inflammation.8
Choosing the Right Probiotic for Immune Health
It’s important to remember that not all probiotics are created equally. Some may not undergo the necessary testing to develop the probiotic supplement that meets your specific needs, in this case supporting overall immune health. Our probiotic supplements go through rigorous testing and are proven to be effective. When you’re looking for probiotic supplements for immune health, Floradapt™ Immune Defense has been shown to support your body’s immune defenses. And, as a bonus, it contains vitamins C, D3, and zinc for additional immune support.
To learn more about choosing probiotics, we’ve put together a Probiotics 101 guide to teach you more about choosing the right probiotic for your needs.
[1] https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/what-are-probiotics
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4006993/
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2515351/
[4] https://gilbertlab.com/immune-system/gut-microbiome-symbiosis/
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4006993/
[6] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.4161/gmic.19320
[7] https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/probiotics-what-you-need-to-know
[8] https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/14598-probiotics
