The Importance of Gut Health and Immunity
Did you know that around 80% of your immune system lives in your gut?
In this blog you will learn about the crucial relationship between the health of your gut and the resilience of your immune system.
Gut Health and Immunity: A Dynamic Duo
You have trillions of microscopic bacteria, viruses and fungi living within your digestive system, collectively known as the microbiome. Over millions of years the microbiome has lived together happily in symbiosis which means, living together in companionship. There are around 40 trillion bacterial cells and only 30 trillion human cells meaning you are more bacteria than human!
Your microbiome is unique to you and without it, it would be very difficult to lead a healthy life.
As a baby you first encountered these tiny microbes while inside your mother’s womb and then encountered many more when entering the world via the birth canal. As you grew your microbiome did too and it began to diversify meaning that it welcomed in new and different microbial species. A diverse microbiome is essential for your health.
Here’s why.
Some species of beneficial bacteria are responsible for digesting the fibre from the fruits and vegetables that we eat. This produces short chain fatty acids, helping feed and protect the barrier of the digestive tract, keeping it healthy and functioning well and stopping toxins from escaping into your blood stream causing inflammation.
The bacteria is also in control of producing enzymes needed to synthesise key vitamins – B1, B9, B12 and K.
Bacterial Showdown: The Good, The Bad, and The Beneficial
Beneficial or “good” bacteria within your microbiome communicates with your immune cells, controlling how you respond to infections. This helps to clear out many pathogens and unhelpful bacteria and viruses that pass through every day.
Often unknown to you there is a territory war going on inside your gut. The beneficial bacteria are always trying to outnumber the less beneficial bacteria but sometimes that fight goes array, and you can end up with an imbalance of too many “bad” versus “good” bacteria. This causes an increase in inflammation levels resulting in a hyper-active immune system. High levels of inflammation are associated with autoimmune disease and can play a role in other diseases too.
How Environmental Factors Influence Your Microbial Landscape
Much like a garden, your gut microbiome can be affected by the pests, weeds, and toxins it’s exposed to. To keep a garden healthy and flourishing you must tend to the quality of the soil - think of your microbiome as the soil of your internal garden.
Eat The Rainbow: by now you know that the quality and diversity of your diet plays a crucial role in the diversity and health of your microbiome. Eating plant foods rich in colour such as blueberries, purple cabbage, bell peppers, broccoli, and carrots. Anything brightly coloured that grows in nature contains powerful antioxidants that can help you to fight off infections.
Chemical storms: A diet that is high in sugar and highly processed, nutrient devoid food causes the delicate balance of gut bacteria to swing from mostly “good” to mostly “bad.” Processed foods not only lack fibre and vital nutrients but often come with additives that are damaging to the gut and the beneficial bacteria.
Environmental toxins such pollution, tobacco and chemicals found in many household items like air fresheners, perfumes and cosmetics can also seriously knock off the delicate balance of gut bugs and damage the lining of the gut wall causing it to pull apart, allowing toxins into the blood stream.
Interesting fact: your skin is the largest organ in the body and what you put on it is directly absorbed into your blood stream.
So, it’s not so much “you are what you eat” but “you are what you digest and absorb.”
Did you know: Here at Revive Active we pride ourselves on the fact that we do not use harmful chemical fillers and binders in our products.
Empowering Your Immune Fortress – Six Practical Steps for Optimal Support
So, what do you do armed with all this gut bug knowledge?
1. Eat the rainbow – stick to the outside edges of your supermarket where all the brightly coloured fruits and veggies live.
Tip: slaws, soups, stews, smoothies, and casseroles are quick ways to incorporate plenty of diverse plant foods into your diet.
2. Start the day off well: we love to kick the day off with a Zest Active drink. Not only is it packed with immunity supporting nutrients like Zinc, B vitamins and Vitamin D it also gives a big burst of hydration first thing in the morning.
3. Try something new - incorporate at least one new vegetable into your meals this week.
4. Sunshine therapy – during the summer months aim to get out in the midday sun for 10 -20 minutes without sun protection to expose your skin to the UVB rays of the sun.
5. Reduce the sugar: try to eliminate highly processed and refined foods from your diet and swap for homemade meals where you can. Overtime you won’t crave sugar and your vitality will soar.
Tip: Revive Active’s super supplements are clean and free of chemical nasties that harm the gut.
6. Prioritise sleep: while you are sleeping your body is clearing out the toxins and stressors of the day.
