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PROBIOTICS AND IMMUNE HEALTH

According the the NIH (National Institutes of Health), “Probiotics are live microorganisms that are similar to beneficial microorganisms found in the human gut. They are also called ‘friendly bacteria’ or ‘good bacteria’. Probiotics are available to consumers mainly in the form of dietary supplements and foods.”

Probiotics help keep our immune systems healthy by fostering a balanced gut ecosystem. Probiotics support an environment where a milieu of beneficial microflora thrive and pathogenic organisms (and their toxins) are kept in check.

By supporting a rich and diverse gut ecosystem with key beneficial strains, probiotics promote a healthy gut lining — where much of the immune system resides.

Conversely, without a healthy microbiome, the mucosal lining can become inflamed and compromised, precipitating a challenge to the immune system.

Inflammation, Leaky Gut Syndrome and Immune Health

Inflammation of the gut mucosa brush-like microvilli allows pathogenic organisms to get past the mucosal barrier and establish themselves on the deeper surface lining of the GI tract.

Once they have established this foothold, the junctions in the gut often become less tight and the gut becomes abnormally permeable.

This allows foreign invaders (pathogenic microbes and toxins) and larger than normal macromolecules to leak through, hence the name, “leaky gut syndrome.”

These foreign invaders initiate an immune reaction. It is believed by many medical scientists that a chronic situation may develop into an autoimmune disease.

Probiotics, Antibiotics and Immune Health

Antibiotics are often prescribed when you have an infection to kill pathogenic bacteria in your system. Unfortunately, when the “bad” bacteria are killed, so are many of the “good” bacteria like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

Doctors commonly suggest that patients taking an antibiotic also eat yogurt or take a probiotic supplement to repopulate the good bacteria, keep antibiotic resistant strains such as Candida from overgrowing, and support the intestinal walls.