Trust Your Gut for Stronger Immunity
As temperatures drops, it becomes crucial to prepare our immune systems for the upcoming winter season. Instead of waiting to fall ill and then reactively scrambling to try and “boost” our immune function, it’s much more intuitive and practical to nourish our immune systems beforehand so that we’re ready to mount an effective defence when the time comes.
Did you know that 70% of our immune system is in our gut? It’s called the mucosal immune system and gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) – basically a network of specialised immune cells and tissues that protect our bodies from harmful invaders (Agraib, 2021).
The gut microbiome, consisting of thousands of beneficial organisms that inhabit our digestive tract, plays a crucial role in maintaining the health of our immune system. Probiotics interact with our GALT to regulate immune responses (Yan & Polk, 2011)
Unfortunately, modern lifestyles, stress, medications (especially antibiotics), alcohol and poor diet can have a detrimental effect on this delicate community of friendly helpers living in our gut. As we age the number and diversity of beneficial bacteria in our gut reduces. Imbalances in the gut microbiome can significantly impair immune function, especially given that such a large part of our immune system is in the gut. In fact, research shows that when there are imbalances in the gut microbiome vaccines don’t work as well due to reduced immune responses (Vlasova, 2019).
Supplementing with probiotics can stimulate the immune system and enhance immune responses (Maldonado, et al. 2019). Some of these beneficial microbes even produce their own version of antibiotics, that can kill off harmful bacteria, viruses, and fungi. An increasing body of research is showing that using probiotics can improve immune function (Mazziota, 2023).
Different probiotic strains offer specific health benefits, and no single strain provides all the benefits associated with probiotics. Therefore, Sfera selected five different strains to ensure a broad spectrum of benefits useful for people of all ages. Sfera Biotic includes some of the most well-researched species of probiotics for immune benefits (Ashraf & Shah, 2014).
For instance, Bifidobacterum longum has shown to help prevent preschool-aged children from getting the common cold (Lau, et al., 2018). Bifidobacterum bifidum increased the number of protective microorganisms in elderly adults (Bartosch, et al. 2005). On the other hand, Lactobacillus rhamnosus helped the body produce more active white blood cells. Children between the ages of 5 and 12 who were given L. rhamnosus had higher levels of immune cells (Jerzynska, 2016), and in fact had fewer viral colds than those who didn’t receive the probiotic (Luoto, 2014).
Sfera Biotic utilises clinically proven HOWARU® strains that are beneficial for immune health across all stages of life. Get your defences ready because, in the famous words of House Stark – “Winter is Coming.”
Isn’t it time that you trusted your gut?
References:
Ashraf, R., & Shah, N. P. (2014). Immune system stimulation by probiotic microorganisms. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 54(7), 938–956. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2011.619671
Bartosch, S., Woodmansey, E. J., Paterson, J. C., McMurdo, M. E., & Macfarlane, G. T. (2005). Microbiological effects of consuming a synbiotic containing Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium lactis, and oligofructose in elderly persons, determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction and counting of viable bacteria. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 40(1), 28–37. https://doi.org/10.1086/426027
Gill, H. S. (2003). Probiotics to enhance anti-infective defences in the gastrointestinal tract. Best Practice & Research Clinical Gastroenterology, 17(5), 755-773
Hatakka, K., Savilahti, E., Pönkä, A., et al. (2001). Effect of long-term consumption of probiotic milk on infections in children attending day care centers: Double-blind, randomized trial. British Medical Journal (BMJ), 322(7298), 1327
Jerzynska, J., Stelmach, W., Balcerak, J., Woicka-Kolejwa, K., Rychlik, B., Blauz, A., & Stelmach, I. (2016). Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and vitamin D supplementation on the immunologic effectiveness of grass-specific sublingual immunotherapy in children with allergy. Allergy and Asthma Proceedings, 37(4), 324-334
Lau, A. S., Yanagisawa, N., Hor, Y. Y., Lew, L. C., Ong, J. S., Chuah, L. O., Lee, Y. Y., Choi, S. B., Rashid, F., Wahid, N., Sugahara, H., Xiao, J. Z., & Liong, M. T. (2018). Bifidobacterium longum alleviated upper respiratory illnesses and modulated gut microbiota profiles in Malaysian pre-school children. Beneficial microbes, 9(1), 61–70. https://doi.org/10.3920/BM2017.0063
Luoto, R., Ruuskanen, O., Waris, M., Kalliomäki, M., Salminen, S., & Isolauri, E. (2014). Prebiotic and probiotic supplementation prevents rhinovirus infections in preterm infants: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 133(2), 405-413
Maldonado Galdeano, C., Cazorla, S. I., Lemme Dumit, J. M., Vélez, E., & Perdigón, G. (2019). Beneficial Effects of Probiotic Consumption on the Immune System. Annals of nutrition & metabolism, 74(2), 115–124. https://doi.org/10.1159/000496426
Mazziotta, C., Tognon, M., Martini, F., Torreggiani, E., & Rotondo, J. C. (2023). Probiotics Mechanism of Action on Immune Cells and Beneficial Effects on Human Health. Cells, 12(1), 184. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12010184
Romeo, J., Nova, E., Warnberg, J., Gomez-Martinez, S., Diaz Ligia, L. E., & Marcos, A. (2010). Immunomodulatory effect of fibres, probiotics and synbioitics in different life stages. Nutrición Hospitalaria, 25(3), 341-349
Vlasova, A. N., Takanashi, S., Miyazaki, A., Rajashekara, G., & Saif, L. J. (2019). How the gut microbiome regulates host immune responses to viral vaccines. Current opinion in virology, 37, 16–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coviro.2019.05.001
Wuehler, S. E., Peerson, J. M., & Brown, K. H. (2005). Use of national food balance data to estimate the adequacy of zinc in national food supplies: methodology and regional estimates. Public health nutrition, 8(7), 812–819. https://doi.org/10.1079/phn2005724
Yan, F., & Polk, D. B. (2011). Probiotics and immune health. Current opinion in gastroenterology, 27(6), 496–501. https://doi.org/10.1097/MOG.0b013e32834baa4d