Inside Health Magazine: A Better You Starts With What's Inside May. 2016 | Page 15
Immune Health and
Your Digestive Tract
Natasha Trenev
President & Founder
Natren, Inc.
Your digestive tract is not only responsible for
breaking down and absorbing the food you eat –
it also acts as a barrier against foreign substances,
including undesirable bacteria. Most people
are surprised to learn that 70 to 80% of their
immune system lies in their intestinal tract – but
this shouldn’t be surprising at all. After all, your
digestive tract is one of the main entry points
for harmful substances, including bad bacteria,
to get into your body. That means there has to
be safeguards for making sure these undesirable
microorganisms can’t take up residence in your
gut or be absorbed into your blood stream.
That’s where the immune system comes in.
During birth your intestinal tract rapidly became
colonized with gut bacteria from your mom
and from the surrounding environment. If your
mother was not in great health, you were born
by Caesarian section (C-section), you were not
breast fed or you were not a full-term baby the
bacteria transferred may not have been the ideal
bacteria for inducing health and establishing
your immune system, and if your first exposure
was the microbes found in the hospital room, it’s
possible your health may be jeopardized. David
Mills Lab at the University of California, Davis,
recently published an astonishing research article
on this very topic showing that one specific
bacteria, Bifidobacterium infantis, dominates
the healthy breast fed infant gut. When they
provided it, as a probiotic, to premature infants
it was restorative and protective for those poorly
colonized babies.
Properly selected beneficial bacteria, like those
transferred from a healthy mom to a healthy
baby during birth, defend against foreign
invaders and prime the immune system,
teaching it to recognize friendly bacteria from
undesirable bacteria. Beneficial bacteria make
it harder for undesirable bacteria and yeast to
survive by establishing themselves along the
intestinal lining creating a natural defense barrier
and “hogging” resources those undesirable
bacteria need to survive.
Based on this, it is easy to see why it’s important
to maintain a healthy bacterial balance in your
intestinal tract. When there’s an optimal balance
of good bacteria, the immune system in your
gut functions best and you have a better chance
of keeping unwanted bacteria and yeast from
gaining a foothold and causing problems. Plus,
beneficial gut bacteria produce short-chain fatty
acids (SCFAs), which have an anti-inflammatory
effect. This anti-inflammatory effect keeps the
immune response from over-reacting like we
in your gut. That’s where probiotic supplements
come in. They seed your gut with good bacteria
and help maintain a healthy digestive tract – and
a healthy digestive tract is important for immune
support and overall health.
Unfortunately selecting the right probiotic
bacteria can be difficult, especially today when
the health store shelves are full of options, many
of which do not adhere to or follow a published
standard. Probiotics are live microorganisms
so protective packaging and careful handling
is imperative. Buy products that clearly list the
potency (CFUs). Probiotics are the foundation of
see in some bowel disorders. In addition, a
healthy population of gut bacteria aids digestion
and nutrient absorption and is required for the
synthesis of some vitamins, including certain
B-vitamins and Vitamin K.
health for the 21st century; educate yourself and
get to know the published standards to make
certain you are getting the right product foryour
money.
Unfortunately, a number of factors can upset the
delicate balance of bacteria in your gut. Drugs
can destroy unfriendly bacteria as well as good
bacteria. This creates disharmony in your gut
and produces an environment where resistant
bacteria can take up residence. Eating a poor diet
and physical and psychological stress are other
factors that can cause gut bacteria to become
unbalanced. The population of bacteria in your
gut is very much influenced by what you eat and
drink.
THE NATREN STANDARD
How can you restore peace to your digestive
tract or maintain the peace? After all, it’s pretty
hard to completely control factors like stress
that can disrupt the normal balance of bacteria
• Non-porous, amber glass bottles protect against
damaging light and moisture
• Products are refrigerated at time of manufacture, and
shipped second day air in thermally controlled boxes
• Clearly listed potency (CFUs) of each strain guaranteed
through an expiration date
www.natren.com
UNIQUE & POWERFUL PROBIOTICS
INSIDE HEALTH • 15