Gut bacteria are vast and mysterious. About 100 trillion bacteria, both good and bad, live inside your digestive system. Most people are aware of how important it is for our well-being to have a healthy gut, which depends on healthy gut microbiota.

Science has begun to look more closely at how this enormous system of organisms influences and even improves health conditions, from heart disease to arthritis to cancer. 

We are born with a naive immune system and are at first protected by antibodies from our mother. However, the immune cells need to be educated further in order to learn how to protect the body from harm when the maternal antibodies are gone. This education is essential for our future health.

The immune system is the main link between our gut bacteria and their influence on our health and disease. The balance of bacteria in our gut influences the balance of our immune system.

• Bad gut bacteria
• Good gut bacteria

Bad gut bacteria can shift the immune system to an increased inflammatory state with a so-called “leaky gut”. This inflammatory state may then affect other body systems and increase the risk of obesity, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and even depression.

Good gut bacteria support a healthy immune system. But how??

Fiber Supplements and probiotic foods contain good bacteria that populate your gut and support its health.
Good gut bacteria can impact how your body extracts nutrients from your diet, including vital minerals and nutrients like zinc, iron, and vitamin B12.

There are pathways between the central nervous system and microbiome that send signals back and forth to one another, your gut flora can affect how you produce neurotransmitters, which impacts your energy, outlook, and sleep.