Gut Health

5 Ways a Well-Balanced Gut Supports Immunity

Now more than ever, you need your body to be ready and able to handle anything life throws your way.

And while supporting the strength of your immunity is critically important, you’ll want to take the necessary steps to ensure your immune system responds in the right way.

Too much, too little, or the wrong immune response can result in immune disorders such as allergies or hypersensitivity. On top of that, an OVERactive immune response can lead to  autoimmune disease, in which your body attacks its own tissues.

Boosting your immunity effectively – without making it hyperactive – requires balance. But not in the way you might think.

Because the secret to a healthy, balanced immune response starts somewhere unexpected… 

Your Gut Microbiome Influences Your Immune System  

The trillions of bacteria in your gut – your gut microbiome – affect every cell, organ, and system in your body… and that includes immunity. 

In fact, your immune system NEEDS your gut microbiome in order to develop and respond the right way.  

In a healthy gut microbiome, beneficial probiotic bacteria outnumber harmful pathogenic bacteria. And those beneficial bacteria profoundly influence the actions of your immune system.

Here are 5 important ways your gut microbiome supports a strong, resilient, responsive immune system.

1. Beneficial gut bacteria train and direct your immune system to deliver the right response in the face of a threat.  Your good gut bugs literally teach your immune system how to tell the difference between friends – like other probiotic bacteria – and enemies, like infectious bacteria and viruses

2. A healthy gut microbiome promotes immune homeostasis – constant balance and stability. When your gut is healthy, your immune system is better able to decide when to send in troops and how many to mobilize in order to handle threats. In this way, your gut ensures your immune system won’t under-react – which increases your risk of infection – or overreact – which can cause serious health consequences.

    3. Probiotic bacteria produce essential nutrients  and other health-promoting compounds such as short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). These crucial compounds include:

    • B vitamins, necessary for proper immune system function, including protection against infectious microbes 
    • Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which boosts healthy immune system performance and provides energy to key immune cells 
    • Butyrate, a SCFA that teaches immune cells how to recognize infectious microbes 

    4. A healthy gut microbiome maintains the integrity of your protective gut barrier. This barrier lines your gut, and selectively allows nutrients and other healthy compounds like antioxidants into your circulation. At the same time, the gut barrier makes sure that food particles, toxins, and pathogens stay trapped inside your gut where they can’t do any harm and provoke immune system overreactions.

    5. A strong gut microbiome neutralizes harmful pathogens. Beneficial gut bacteria serve and protect in three important ways: 

    • They produce compounds that kill harmful bacteria
    • They prevent pathogens from colonizing and reproducing
    • They compete for nutrients, effectively starving out pathogens

    You can see the many ways your gut microbiome affects your immune system –That’s why gut health is so important to overall health! 

    But when your gut microbiome becomes unbalanced, your immune system will suffer as well... 

    An Unbalanced Gut Confuses Your Immune System

    When your gut microbiome is out of balance – a condition called dysbiosis –pathogens outnumber probiotics. That state of dysbiosis interferes with proper immune function. 

    With dysbiosis, your immune system gets overworked and confused. It reacts at the wrong times in the wrong ways… and that can make you much more vulnerable to infection

    Dysbiosis has been linked with immune system overreactions, autoimmune conditions, chronic inflammation, and dozens of diseases, including: 

    Dysbiosis also damages your protective gut barrier, which is supposed to keep pathogens and other toxins out of your bloodstream. When that barrier weakens, it can quickly cause a condition known as “leaky gut,” which has been linked with an increased risk of infections

    Luckily, there’s a simple way to restore balance to your gut microbiome, and it starts with choosing the right probiotic…

    Spore Probiotics and Your Immune System

    Unlike regular off-the-shelf probiotics, spore probiotics arrive in your gut 100% alive and active. They quickly get to work neutralizing harmful bacteria and clearing space for a rich, diverse population of beneficial bacteria. This allows beneficial bacteria to grow and flourish and reestablish a healthy gut microbiome. 

    In turn, you’ll enjoy a healthier, more balanced immune system!

    To support a strong, resilient immune function that can drive your optimal health all year long, you’ll want to replenish beneficial bacteria every day with Just Thrive Probiotic.

    Just Thrive Probiotic contains four clinically studied strains of spore probiotics that keep gut bacteria well balanced and support healthy immune responses. Each of these four spore probiotics delivers unique support to your immune system:

    Keep your gut microbiome healthy and balanced with Just Thrive Probioticand give your immune system the support it deserves.