Having a diverse, healthy colony of beneficial gut microbes may be key in getting the body to defend the brain and central nervous system. Spurred by a rise in multiple sclerosis cases, researchers found themselves wondering if gut microbes played a role.
It turns out it works like this: good bacteria produce compounds that trigger immune cells to more quickly and efficiently clear harmful viruses from the body, minimizing or preventing damage like paralysis.
While more research is needed before that research is officially medically useful, there’s a lesson anyone can take away (and that’s backed by many, many other studies): it’s critical to our health and wellness to support our gut bacteria.
Plentiful, beneficial, diverse. Those are the three goals to aim for when you want a healthy digestive tract.
Plentiful—good bacteria thrive when we eat prebiotics (vegetables). They are destroyed by illness (fever), antibiotics, and sometimes other pathogens.
Beneficial—cultivating good bacteria goes hand in hand with good habits like exercise, reducing stress, and eating well. Bad habits like loading up on sugar or never getting up from the couch create an atmosphere in the body that help bad bacteria thrive (and it’s a feedback loop because they will tell you you’re hungry for junk and rest).
Diverse—make sure to restock your bacteria with high quality probiotic foods and supplements. Yogurt and fermented foods (without much added sugar) Â are a good dietary addition. Flora MGR is a good supplement for a daily boost.
With all the ways probiotics support our health they’re worth a little attention.
