What do a cold, depression, and hayfever have in common? If you said “they’re all health conditions”, or even “they’re all inflammatory health conditions”, you would be right. However, there is something more unusual that connects the three.

Give up?

All three are influenced by your gut microbiome, the microorganisms that call your digestive tract ‘home’. You may be wondering how these tiny gut inhabitants could have any bearing on your throat, joints, and/or brain. In this article, we will find out how your gut influences these seemingly unrelated areas, as well as how to prevent your gut from making you sick, sad or inflamed.

Cold-Busting Colleagues: Your Gut and Immune System Work Hand-in-Hand

Your immune system’s main job is to defend you from pathogens (disease-causing microorganisms). Since pathogens are typically inhaled or swallowed, it makes sense for the immune system to concentrate on your respiratory and digestive tracts. In fact, 70% of the immune system is housed in your gut. It lies beneath the lining of your intestines, ready to spring into action if a pathogen enters your gut, to try to prevent you getting sick.

By contrast, some bacteria have a positive influence on your immune system. A healthy gut microbiome interacts with the intestinal immune system in ways that increase your body’s immune defences. However, a microbiome out of balance, which does not contain high levels of beneficial bacteria, is less likely to help you resist infection, including colds and flu.

Fortunately, certain strains (types) of probiotic bacteria improve the bacterial balance in your gut, with beneficial flow-on effects for your immune system. Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG), Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus plantarum all stimulate the immune system and improve resistance to infection. In fact, the combination has been shown to reduce the severity and duration of common cold symptoms. If you struggle with frequent colds and flu, working with a natural healthcare Practitioner to strengthen your gut microbiome may help.

A healthy gut microbiome interacts with the intestinal immune system in ways that increase your body’s immune defences. However, a microbiome out of balance, which does not contain high levels of beneficial bacteria, is less likely to help you resist infection, including colds and flu.

Jumping at Shadows: The Overactive Immune System

Another possible consequence of poor gut bacterial balance is inflammation, a key feature of autoimmune (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis) and allergic disease (e.g. hayfever). In these conditions, the immune system misidentifies harmless substances as threats, and launches an immune response against them. The resulting inflammation creates the symptoms you associate with allergy and autoimmunity, e.g. a blocked nose and watering eyes in hayfever, or joint pain and swelling in rheumatoid arthritis.

Fortunately, certain probiotic strains, namely LGG and Lactobacillus paracasei, can stimulate your immune system to produce anti-inflammatory compounds, reducing inflammation and symptoms. For example, research in hundreds of people has shown that  Lactobacillus paracasei significantly improves hayfever symptoms. Interestingly, LGG, when taken during pregnancy and breastfeeding, can reduce the incidence of eczema (an inflammatory skin disease) in children, by supporting the healthy development of the gut microbiome and the immune system. If your immune system is in overdrive, make an appointment with a natural healthcare Practitioner to help bring it back into line.

Gut Feelings: How Bacteria Make or Break Your Mood

More and more research is supporting an unexpected cause of depression: inflammation. Specifically, inflammation throughout the body (known as systemic inflammation), and even inflammation of the brain, may contribute to depression.

As you have already learned, the interaction between bad gut bacteria and the immune system can cause inflammation. However, did you know that the inflammatory chemicals released within your gut can also cause an inflammatory response in your brain?

If gut inflammation can influence mood, you may be wondering if specific probiotics can improve mood or reduce the symptoms of depression. While this is a hot topic in scientific research, we do not currently know which specific probiotic strains can influence mood. However, a good start in supporting healthy mood is taking steps to reduce inflammation in the body.

What we do know is maximising your gut health, e.g. by eating plenty of fibre-rich wholefoods (to provide your gut bacteria with their preferred food), can also increase the numbers of good bacteria, which is the best way to influence your mood via your gut. If your bacterial balance has become disrupted due to a stomach bug, antibiotics, or other causes, strains which support beneficial bacteria, such as LGG, Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii, and Bifidobacterium animalis ssp lactis  may help improve the composition of your gut microbiome.

Great Health is All in the Gut

By interacting with your immune system, your gut bacteria influences your ability to resist infection, reduce inflammation, and maintain a healthy mood. If you are wondering whether your gut may be making you sick, sad or inflamed, make an appointment with a natural healthcare Practitioner today. Together, you can assess your bacterial balance, and make a plan to improve your specific symptoms.

If uncomfortable bloating, constipation and smelly gas are a part of your daily life, chances are you’ve been looking for relief…

Did you know symptoms such as these often reflect a deeper issue related to your gut bacteria? For this reason, getting to the core of the problem requires an understanding of the complex relationship between the 38 trillion microorganisms living in your digestive tract (your microbiome), and you.

While that may sound like a big task, modern technology has made it possible for you to get to know your gut microbiome, allowing you to find out the number, type and function of the microorganisms that call your gut ‘home’. In this way, microbiome testing helps you discover how your unique microbial composition relates to your symptoms, and how to create harmony within your gut with the aid of a natural health Practitioner. Just as a road map helps you find the quickest route to your destination, a detailed ‘map’ of your microbiome can show you the best way to a healthy gut.

With the MetaBiome™ Microbiome Sampling Kit, you can get to the bottom of your digestive discomfort and receive guidance on how to manage it. This simple, easy-to-perform, at-home stool test delivers a detailed snapshot of your gut microbes, and how they might be causing your symptoms.

Microbiome ABCs

Your microbiome has been with you since day one, growing and developing throughout your life. Your microbiome supports your health in many ways, including:

• Breaking down the fibre from your meals, creating compounds known as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that help keep your gut healthy and allow it to repair itself in cases of damage (e.g. gut infections);
• Using that broken down fibre to feed other beneficial species (a process known as cross-feeding, performed by certain bacterial species, such as Bifidobacteria species); and
• Producing essential vitamins, such as folate and vitamin B12, and feel-good brain chemicals, such as serotonin, for your body to use.

At the same time, these mechanisms help to maintain a healthy gut environment that best supports your microbiome, allowing your good bugs to thrive, and continue to nourish you. However many factors, including consuming a low fibre diet, or taking medications such as antibiotics, can negatively influence your levels of good bacteria, causing you to lose their beneficial functions. This usually means less beneficial species are able to take their place, and the resultant imbalance between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ species may be responsible for uncomfortable gut symptoms.

For this reason, testing can be useful. By finding out about the balance of beneficial versus non-beneficial species in your gut, you can discover how your microbiome may be helping, or hindering, your health.

Several microbiome markers can be used to determine the microbial causes driving your symptoms. Let us take a further look at these markers.

D is for Diversity

Having an abundance of different species enhances the health-promoting abilities of your microbiome. In fact, having a large number of diverse, beneficial bacteria is one of biggest factors in maintaining optimal gut health. A high level of bacterial diversity has been shown to reduce the risk of digestive symptoms, whilst a lower level of diversity has been linked with symptoms such as constipation, bloating and diarrhoea, due to a lack of functional and protective gut bacteria. The MetaBiome™ Microbiome Sampling Kit measures diversity, to help you and your Practitioner determine whether low diversity is keeping you from overcoming digestive issues.

A high level of bacterial diversity has been shown to reduce the risk of digestive symptoms, whilst a lower level of diversity has been linked with symptoms such as constipation, bloating and diarrhoea, due to a lack of functional and protective gut bacteria.

Unlocking Your Very Own Chamber of Microbiome Secrets

Certain bacteria are associated with gut symptoms, and discovering these bacteria within your microbiome can help guide your treatment. For example, having high levels of sulfide-producing bacteria (e.g. Bilophila wadsworthia) is a common culprit behind smelly gas (specifically, the kind that smells like sulfur), whilst methane-producers (e.g. Methanobrevibacter smithii) have been linked to constipation.

In addition, the MetaBiome™ Microbiome Sampling Kit can reveal the compounds your bacteria might be producing. For instance, helpful species will often produce high amounts of SCFAs, such as butyrate, which reduce inflammation, controls appetite and stimulates serotonin production. However, unhelpful species may produce high levels of harmful compounds, such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which can damage your gut lining, causing you symptoms such as abdominal pain.

Once you have mapped out the microorganisms in your gut and the compounds they produce, your healthcare Practitioner can help you strategically modify your microbiome (through food and strain-specific probiotics). This will enhance beneficial compounds and reduce damaging influences on your gut health, helping restore balance in your microbiome and reduce your symptoms.

Testing, Testing, One, Two…

Having access to cutting-edge microbiome testing that provides a detailed snapshot of your entire microbiome is a game changer. This is because it allows your healthcare Practitioner to combine their professional experience with information about your unique microbiome to create a personalised treatment plan to help you improve your digestive health.

The MetaBiome™ Microbiome Sampling Kit can illuminate which bacterial species are living in your gut, and how they may be contributing to your symptoms, allowing you to take control of your digestive issues and improve your overall wellbeing. Speak to a Practitioner about exploring your microbiome to resolve bloating, constipation and other gut symptoms for better health, today!

Sharing is caring – a delightful virtue when it comes to little humans; but when it is a plaguing cold or a nasty tummy bug, it can be nothing short of a family catastrophe! Whilst these kinds of experiences can help children build a robust immune system, evidence indicates that recurrent bouts of infection may be associated with a reduced presence of beneficial bacteria in the gut.

The bacteria (and the trillions of other microorganisms) in the gut, are known collectively as the gut microbiome, the health of which is essential for immune resilience and resistance to infection. These beneficial organisms directly interact with the immune system (a large proportion of which is also housed in the gut), helping to boost the overall immune response against pathogens. In other words, a healthy microbiome helps to build immune function, whilst a compromised microbiome reduces immune resilience.

Cultivating the Microbiome

Babies inherit their microbiome initially from vaginal flora at birth, in addition to skin -to- skin contact via breastmilk. This exposes infants to a wide range of bacterial species and specific carbohydrates (from breastmilk) that feed these bacteria, helping to establish a healthy gut microbiome.

Babies inherit their microbiome initially from vaginal flora at birth, in addition to skin -to- skin contact via breastmilk. This exposes infants to a wide range of bacterial species and specific carbohydrates (from breastmilk) that feed these bacteria, helping to establish a healthy gut microbiome.

That said, not all babies share these microbiome-building experiences. For example, caesarean section, premature birth, limited amounts of breastmilk, and antibiotic use can all impact the diversity of the gut microbiome. This can have a flow-on effect, leading to reduced immune resilience and a greater chance of developing recurrent infections in childhood.

This is perhaps most obvious when kids face one of the greatest immune challenges, where there is no shortage of germ-sharing… daycare (or school). Additionally, kids that experience recurrent ear, chest and/or gut infections also tend to require a greater number of antibiotics;  leading to a vicious cycle of poor microbiome health and impaired immune function. Fortunately, research reveals that probiotics may be the key to microbiome recovery; helping to improve digestive health and subsequent immune function.

Probiotics to the Rescue!

Probiotics are live bacteria, which offer beneficial effects on the microbiome and help to support childhood health in several ways including:

1. Increasing the quantity and diversity of bacterial species in the gut;
2. Enhancing immune activity; and

While several probiotics species have been shown to boost immunity, it is important to choose the specific probiotic strain for the condition you are looking to treat.

Probiotics species have been shown to boost immunity.

Less illness means more time for childhood

While the occasional cold or flu is a normal part of growing up, recurrent infections can be a sign that the immune system requires a little extra support. As discussed, resilience against infection draws greatly on the health of the microbiome, with probiotics offering a solution to help boost immunity and resistance to infection. To ensure you choose the right probiotic seek the advice of a qualified health care Practitioner who can prescribe the right probiotic for your child’s needs.

Before antibiotics were discovered in the 1900s, bacterial infections were a feared enemy of modern society. Antibiotics changed everything – saving millions of lives and offering an effective tool to battle deadly infections. Fast forward to now, and antibiotics, while still incredibly useful, are sadly claiming the lives of our beneficial gut bacteria which has been linked to uncomfortable side effects such as antibiotic-associated diarrhoea (AAD).

Of course, losing a bit of gut bacteria to save you from a nasty infection is a no-brainer; however, the loss of beneficial bacteria from multiple courses of antibiotics can cost you so much more over a lifetime. In fact, losses of good bacteria have been linked to a greater risk of chronic diseases, such as digestive disorders, cardiovascular disease and even mental health symptoms; this is why protecting your gut bacteria is a top priority for good health.

The most important thing when taking antibiotics is managing loss of good bacteria during and after every treatment. This means having strategies to help protect your inner health, so that you can deal with AAD, and other issues linked to a loss of good bacteria. This comes down to two things: protecting your bacteria when you need to take antibiotics, and, reducing your need for antibiotics.

The most important thing when taking antibiotics is managing loss of good bacteria during and after every treatment.

Probiotic Protection to Reduce Diarrhoea

A combination of specific probiotic strains (types) can reduce AAD while also helping recover your gut microbiome after antibiotics. Using Ultra Flora Intensive Care, a scientifically formulated probiotic, can assist in rebuilding beneficial gut flora (bacteria), and provide some of the most researched bacterial strains that reduce AAD, including Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG^®) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (boulardii). In a nutshell, Ultra Flora Intensive Care can help you restore healthy gut bacteria after antibiotic use, and this can maintain healthy gut function.

It’s important to note that antibiotics can affect your gut bacteria for up to two weeks after you stop taking them. Ensuring you take your probiotic from the start of your antibiotic course until a minimum of two weeks after you finish will give your gut bugs the support they need.

To date, these specific strains have been the most successful in preventing AAD. So, to ensure you are getting the right bang for your hard-earned buck, see a natural health Practitioner to access these strains.

It’s important to note that antibiotics can affect your gut bacteria for up to two weeks after you stop taking them.

Support Your Immune System to Reduce Your Need for Antibiotics

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised us to limit the use of antibiotics to the most essential situations. This is because using them too frequently or inappropriately can help infectious bacteria develop resistance to their antibacterial mechanisms, eclipsing their utility. For this reason, limiting your chances of needing antibiotics in the first place does the world a huge favour.

Bolstering your immunity against infection is the smartest way to reduce your need for antibiotics and curb your risk of related side effects. Here are our best tips on how to do this:

• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water;
• Cough or sneeze into a tissue (or into your elbow if you don’t have tissues), and use alcohol-based hand sanitiser;
• Try to avoid touching your face, and wash your hands before and after if you do;
• Improve your health with nutrition, better sleep and stress management to avoid getting sick in the first place, and,
• Have a handy natural ‘First Aid’ kit equipped with remedies to limit the severity of an infection, so you can recover quickly and get back to doing what you love.

Let Your Bugs Bounce Back!

Thanks to modern medicine, we’ve been afforded the freedom to thrive without bacterial infections cutting our lives short. However, with this comes the responsibility of ensuring that antibiotic therapy is used wisely, by being mindful and modest in how often we use antibiotics. When you do need them, it is important to support your gut bacteria with probiotics in order to prevent side effects such as AAD. Chat to a natural health Practitioner to learn more about taking care of your gut health for good health, today.

In Resisting Colds and Flu Part One, we learned about the immune system and how seeing a Practitioner can help you strengthen it in time for illness. In order to prevent illness, your immune cells are constantly on the lookout for infectious bacteria and viruses, ready to mount defensive attacks against them.

However, to help your army of immune cells protect you from infection, you need to create the right conditions for them to effectively defend you. In other words, just as unfavourable conditions (e.g. harsh weather) affect a soldier’s efforts in battle, the following conditions make it more difficult for your immune soldiers to defend your body:

• Poor gut health;
• Low nutrient levels;
• Poor sleep quality;
• Chronic stress; and
• Not enough exercise.

Read on to learn more about how these five areas can make or break your ability to triumph over illness this winter.

1. Engage your Gut Bacteria

It might surprise you to learn that the gut is the key to your immune health. Within your gut, your resident bacteria (and other microscopic organisms), known as your microbiome, directly interact with your immune army, (a large proportion of which is housed in the gut). This affects your overall immune response against infection.

Put simply, a healthy microbiome full of beneficial bacteria helps to build immune function, whilst a compromised microbiome can hinder your immune army’s response against infection.

Unfortunately, many things can reduce your levels of good bacteria. A common example is antibiotics, which is often what you are prescribed when infection keeps getting the better of you. Repeat courses of antibiotics may cause a loss of beneficial bacteria every time you get sick, making you more susceptible to future infections.

Put simply, a healthy microbiome full of beneficial bacteria helps to build immune function, whilst a compromised microbiome can hinder your immune army’s response against infection.

If this pattern sounds familiar to you, consider seeking out the care of a natural healthcare Practitioner who can assess and address the health of your gut bacteria. Your Practitioner can also prescribe specific probiotic strains (types) that have been shown to boost immunity and reduce the risk of catching a cold, such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG®), Lactobacillus plantarum (HEAL 9), Lactobacillus paracasei (8700:2).

2. Stock up on Nutritional Ammunition

Your immune system’s ability to protect you also depends upon on your nutritional health. Several nutrients, including zinc and vitamin C, are involved in keeping your immune cells in good shape, as they help your body to create them on a daily basis. As such, without enough of these nutrients to create your immune army, your chance of getting sick is higher.

If you’re usually on the losing end of colds and flu, and haven’t considered topping up your nutritional stores, there’s a fair chance that supplementing zinc and vitamin C can increase your resistance to infection and support faster recovery, buying back your time and health over winter.

To discover which specific nutrients you may be lacking, and what supplements you need to help boost your levels, speak to your Naturopath or health Practitioner.

If you’re usually on the losing end of colds and flu and haven’t considered topping up your nutritional stores, there’s a fair chance that supplementing zinc and vitamin C can increase your resistance to infection and support faster recovery, buying back your time and health over winter.

3. Maximise Your Sleep Quality

You’ve probably experienced the difference between a restful and sleepless night, and you know which  you would prefer, right? Your immune system feels the same, especially when it’s faced with the threat of illness. Put simply, sleep is the body’s time to rest and regenerate itself, so it can create enough immune cells to defend you from illness.

4. Keep an Eye on Your Stress

High and prolonged levels of stress take a toll on the immune system, weakening your defences and making you more susceptible to sickness. Managing stress helps more than just immune function; it also improves the overall health of your body. This is why having a few stress-busting strategies built into your daily routine can fortify your health and keep infection from taking hold.

5. Stay Fighting Fit with Exercise

Exercise helps you to build strong muscles and allows you to extend the limits of what you’re physically capable of. Similarly, exercise also strengthens your immune system, making it more powerful and effective in its response to nasty infections. Even just 30 minutes of walking has been shown to boost the quantity of immune cells in the body, which is why regular exercise is a key weapon in beating back illness.

Winter is Coming

To prepare your immune army for cold and flu season, see a health Practitioner to equip yourself with the best strategy to shut down infection before it becomes a battle. By taking professional advice on board and focusing on these five areas (for at least four weeks before winter hits), you will be setting yourself up to triumph against illness, so you can spend more time appreciating the magic of winter.