Keeping you healthy.
That’s the number one job of your immune system. And you need your immune system performing at its best every day… especially when you’re surrounded by health threats (as most of us are).
The last thing you need is an ineffective response that increases your risk of catching whatever’s going around. You need to make sure your immune system knows when and how to act to properly address any and all threats.
And that’s why you need to protect your immune system against its most dangerous foe… an enemy that can take down your immune system before you even realize it…
Quick Answer: Roughly 70 to 80% of your immune system lives in your gut, so the balance of your gut microbiome has a major influence on how well you stay healthy. When beneficial bacteria outnumber harmful ones, your immune system gets the signals it needs to respond appropriately. But when the gut falls out of balance, a state called dysbiosis, pathogens take over and disable immunity in several ways, from releasing toxins and crowding out helpful bacteria to damaging the gut barrier and sending confusing signals that trigger overreactions or weak responses. The most reliable way to rebalance is daily spore probiotics, which reach the gut alive and help beneficial bacteria flourish.
Does Your Immune System Need to Be Balanced or Strong?
Your immune system needs to be both balanced and strong. A sluggish response leaves you vulnerable to infections, while an overreacting one can drive chronic and autoimmune issues, so the goal is a well-regulated response.
Your immune system does a lot more than fight off colds and viruses. It’s also responsible for:
- Preventing infections
- Healing wounds
- Stopping disease
- Neutralizing toxins
It takes a lot of effort to keep you healthy, and your immune system is on the job every minute of every day that you’re alive. That’s why supporting your immune system is so crucial!
When your immune response is sluggish, you’re more likely to contract all sorts of infectious viruses and bacteria… and take longer to recover.
At the same time, an immune system that doesn’t function right may overreact, increasing your risk of chronic conditions, autoimmune diseases, and dangerously excessive immune system responses.
So what makes your body’s number one protector stop working the way it should? The answer lies in your gut.
How Does Your Gut Affect Your Immunity?
About 70 to 80% of your immune system is located in your gut, and beneficial gut bacteria help train it to respond appropriately. When the microbiome falls out of balance (dysbiosis), immune function suffers.
Trillions of bacteria – both helpful and harmful – live in your gut microbiome. When the good bacteria (probiotics) outnumber the bad bacteria (pathogens), your well-balanced gut microbiome helps keep you healthy and heal you quickly if an infection does take hold.
That’s because about 70-80% of your immune system is found in your gut. And because the beneficial bacteria in your gut microbiome help your immune system develop and function properly.
They teach your immune system how to balance its responses, so it doesn’t overreact or underreact – either of which can negatively impact your health.
But when your gut microbiome falls out of balance – a condition called dysbiosis – pathogens outnumber probiotic bacteria. And, unfortunately, it doesn’t take much to trigger dysbiosis. In fact, all it takes is:
- One round of antibiotics
- Processed foods
- Exposure to chemicals like glyphosate
- A viral infection
- Stress
When your gut gets plagued by dysbiosis, your entire immune system suffers. And that can leave you vulnerable to all sorts of infections and disease states.
What Are the 7 Ways Dysbiosis Disables Your Immune System?
When the gut is in dysbiosis, pathogens disable immunity in seven main ways: releasing LPS toxins, crowding out beneficial bacteria, activating abnormal immune signals, suppressing proper responses, damaging the gut barrier, escaping to infect other organs, and sending confusing signals that cause both weak responses and overreactions.
When your gut microbiome is in a state of dysbiosis, it has a doubly negative effect on your immune system. First, pathogenic bacteria interfere with your healthy and balanced response. And, second, reduced populations of beneficial bacteria equate to an unsupported and vulnerable immune system.
Add that up, and dysbiosis really does a number on your immunity. Here are the 7 main ways dysbiosis – fueled by pathogen overgrowth – disables your immune system:
- Pathogens produce toxins called lipopolysaccharides – or LPS toxins – that can overload your immune system.
- Pathogenic bacteria crowd out beneficial bacteria, which effectively:
- Reduces production of essential nutrients like B vitamins
- Decreases levels of healing short chain fatty acids
- Interferes with “quorum sensing,” a system where beneficial bacteria quickly identify viruses for the immune system
- Pathogens activate proteins called TLRs (toll-like receptors) that set off abnormal immune system responses.
- Pathogen overgrowth can suppress proper immune system responses.
- Pathogens and the compounds they create attack the protective lining of the intestines – the gut barrier – that normally prevents them from escaping the gut and entering the bloodstream.
- Escaped pathogens circulate and infect organs outside the gut.
- Pathogens send confusing signals to the immune system which both weakens appropriate responses and causes severe overreactions.
You can see the alarming effect an unbalanced gut microbiome can have on your immune system, leaving it all but unable to protect you.
Fortunately, you can optimize your immunity by getting your gut back into healthy balance… and letting a robust, diverse population of beneficial bacteria drive proper immune system responses.
How Do You Rebalance Your Gut for a Healthy Immune Response?
You rebalance your gut by restoring a diverse population of beneficial bacteria, and the most reliable way is daily high-quality spore probiotics. They survive harsh conditions to arrive in the gut alive and crowd out harmful bacteria.
Just like your gut microbiome, your immune system is all about balance. Under ideal conditions, it reacts quickly and effectively to true threats, then stands down once those threats have been dealt with. It knows the difference between friend and foe, so it attacks only invaders and doesn’t mistakenly attack your body’s own cells and organs.
But your immune system can only present a balanced response when it’s getting the right messages from the beneficial bacteria in a well-balanced gut microbiome.
That’s why it’s critically important to keep your gut microbiome in healthy balance – especially in times of high stress or when your immune system faces novel threats.
The best way to do that is to supply your gut with high quality, spore probiotics every day. Spore probiotics can survive through extreme environments, like 3 weeks on a delivery truck in the dead of winter or the burning acid of your digestive system. They arrive in your gut 100% alive, and . quickly get to work crowding out harmful bacteria to make space for a new, diverse population of other probiotic bacteria to grow and flourish.
Frequently Asked Questions About Gut Health and Immunity
How much of the immune system is in the gut?
About 70 to 80% of your immune system is found in your gut. The beneficial bacteria there help your immune system develop and learn how to balance its responses.
What is dysbiosis?
Dysbiosis is when the gut microbiome falls out of balance and harmful pathogens outnumber beneficial probiotic bacteria. It can be triggered by things like a single round of antibiotics, processed foods, chemical exposure, viral infection, and stress.
How does an unbalanced gut weaken immunity?
Pathogens release LPS toxins, crowd out helpful bacteria, set off abnormal immune signals, suppress proper responses, attack the gut barrier, and send confusing signals that lead to both weak responses and overreactions.
Can you restore a balanced gut microbiome?
Yes. Reintroducing and supporting a diverse population of beneficial bacteria helps restore balance. Daily spore probiotics are a reliable approach because they reach the gut alive and help good bacteria flourish.
Why spore probiotics for immune support?
Spore probiotics can survive extreme temperatures and stomach acid, arriving in the gut 100% alive. Once there, they crowd out harmful bacteria and make room for a diverse, beneficial population that supports balanced immune signaling.
Support Balance in Your Gut and Immune System with Just Thrive
The key to a healthy immune response is a well-balanced gut microbiome. And Just Thrive Probiotic contains four clinically-proven spore probiotic strains that help keep your gut microbiome in healthy balance.
Bacillus subtilis HU58™ which has been proven to be a hyper-potent fighter of harmful bacteria that seek to negatively impact the gut.
Bacillus indicus HU36™ which transforms your gut lining in your intestines into a antioxidant factory.
Bacillus coagulans which is proven to soothe occasional diarrhea, bloating, abdominal pain, and unusual stool frequency.
Bacillus clausii which is the only strain of probiotic known to resist damage from a variety of common antibiotic.
Support your gut and your immune system with Just Thrive Probiotic every day.
