Every day more and more people are learning about the importance of gut health, but what many people don’t know is just how essential gut health is to the health of our immune system. In fact, the gut comprises more than 75% of the immune system.
Here’s how
Understanding The Gut
What we call “the gut” is really the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, the long tube that starts at the mouth and ends at the back passage (anus). Most often the term “gut” refers to the major organs of the GI tract, including the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, or colon.
The health of the gut is largely determined by the healthy balance of the microorganisms that live within the gut. This community of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, yeast, etc.) is collectively referred to as the “gut microbiome.”
The gut microbiome contains about 100 trillion live microorganisms that promote normal GI function, protect the body from infection, and regulate metabolism and the mucosal immune system. They play a crucial role in both our digestive health and in our body’s immune response.
Gut Health
Whether we have good gut health or not depends largely on this community of microorganisms and on what microorganisms make our internal gut community. For example, a healthy gut is considered one that has a balance of primarily “good” bacteria (like Lactobacillus Acidophilus and Bifidobacterium Bifidum) with a smaller amount of “bad” bacteria that help to maintain a balance in the gut.
The ideal ratio is about 80-90% “good” bacteria and 10-20% “bad” bacteria. Unfortunately, most people have the inverse ratio of about 10-20% “good” bacteria and 80-90% “bad” bacteria. This is the result of poor dietary and lifestyle habits that harm the gut and create an environment for bad bacteria and other harmful organisms to thrive.
Because of this, gut health issues like Candidiasis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), and others are on the rise and are part of the reason that awareness around the importance of gut health is also on the rise.
Parasitic Infection
Having a compromised immune system and an imbalanced gut microbiome due to unhealthy diet and lifestyle practices creates an environment in the body that allows certain organisms to thrive. One of the most damaging groups of organisms is parasites, and many people are affected by parasitic infection—and most have no clue about it.
Parasites are so common, that some studies estimate 3.5 billion people suffer from them globally, while the CDC recognizes that hundreds of millions of Americans suffer from them as well.
Parasites are often microscopic, but the damage they cause can be detrimental. They wreak havoc on our gut health, steal nutrients from our food, and also release toxic waste inside of us.
Improving Gut Health & Immunity
One of the greatest things that anyone can do to improve gut health is to reset the gut by detoxifying the body of parasites, cleansing the colon, and reintroducing healthy foods and eating habits, along with beneficial strains of bacteria (probiotics) that can help to restore balance to the gut microbiome.
The nutrition brand Zuma Nutrition offers an amazing Parasite Detox Supplement (https://www.zumanutrition.com/products/parasite-detox), as well as a therapeutic grade multi-strain probiotic supplement, that together can help to cleanse and restore the gut. Doing so will naturally contribute to the optimal functioning of the immune system, as the microorganisms in the gut play such a key role in our immune system, both directly and indirectly, as they are also crucial to digestion and overall health.
Gut health is the key to good health and the key to a strong immune system. To keep the gut in good health, make sure your gut microbiome is taken care of. Take steps to cleanse the body of harmful organisms like bad bacteria and parasites, and restore the body with beneficial bacteria and nutritious food.
