For about a year there has not been a topic that has occupied people as much as the corona virus. Since then, everyone has been thinking about how best to protect themselves from infection. An elementary building block is undeniably a strong immune system. If this is healthy and efficient, it has been proven that the risk of infection with viruses and infections is reduced. In this blog article we tell you about an important point that is crucial for the defense function of the immune system - gut health, more specifically your gut microbiome.
Did you know that over 70% of all immune cells are in your gut? Conversely, this means that the intestine is significantly involved in your general well-being and your immune system. Covid 19 is a disease that mainly affects the respiratory tract and brings with it symptoms such as fever, cough and difficulty breathing. But Covid is not just a lung disease, as initially assumed, because many sufferers also suffer from diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, for example. This means that the intestines are also affected by Corona.
Studies are showing more and more clearly how strongly the intestine is really connected to a strong immune response - i.e. the body's reaction to pathogens. There are two important factors here: on the one hand, the intestinal mucosa, on which the majority of the immune cells that produce B cells and antibodies are located. On the other hand, the intestinal flora, which in the best case is populated with a large number of different strains of bacteria, which in turn are responsible for the utilization of food components. They prevent pathogens from spreading in the intestines and the body and thus support the normal function of the immune system. A healthy intestinal flora also reduces the risk of type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and obesity. Exactly these are also factors that have been proven to negatively influence the course of a Covid-19 disease. A recent study published in the BMJ Journal Gut explains that the corona risk group in particular usually suffers from a weakened intestinal flora and suggests that people are able to negatively affect the course of the virus through diet and lifestyle to influence positively. Your diet is therefore directly related to intestinal health and thus also to the ability of the immune system to defend itself. It is therefore advisable to support the body with high-fiber foods, because these are exactly what the “good” bacteria in the intestines use.
Another study supports this assumption - An analysis of blood samples from the examined patients showed that imbalanced gut microbiome was associated with increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and markers of tissue damage. This result suggests that the microbiome can help determine the immune response, i.e. the body's ability to defend itself against infection with SARS-CoV-2, and can influence the severity of the course of the disease. However, these assumptions have not yet been fully scientifically proven.
The microbiologist Dr. Heenam Stanley Kim from University of Korea in Seoul wrote a review dealt with this topic in the journal "mBIO". Here the scientist explains that a disturbed microbiome - i.e. a microbiome in which the number of "good" and "bad" intestinal bacteria is out of balance - leads to a disruption of the intestinal barrier. If the intestinal barrier is not intact, it is easier for toxins to penetrate the organism. Studies also show that the diversity of bacteria in people infected with Covid-19 is significantly lower than in healthy people. Your intestinal flora and thus also the variety of bacteria in your intestine can be supported very effectively by probiotics. An example of this is our Dailybacs. This is a high-dose probiotic - consisting of 60 billion. "good" gut bacteria, prebiotics, minerals and botanicals, which contributes to the microbial diversity in your gut, normal functioning of the immune system and your overall well-being.
How is the virus related to the gut?
It has been shown that when infected with SARS-CoV-2, the intestine is usually also affected and the sick people often suffer from diarrhea. This finding is supported by a study published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine. Here, people who were infected with the corona virus were divided into two groups. Both groups were treated with medication, but some of the subjects also received a probiotic containing various strains of bacteria. In this group, on the one hand, the intestinal problems were reduced in almost all patients, on the other hand, the risk of lung complications was reduced eightfold - and that within 72 hours.
However, the number of studies on this research is still very limited, so it is not yet possible to draw 100% proven conclusions. We are very excited to see what the future holds and what exciting insights science will bring to us in relation to the treatment of Covid-19 and the use of probiotics.
Sources:
- https://www.aerzteblatt.de/nachrichten/112987/Multiorganvirus-SARS-CoV-2-Autopsie-zeigt-Befall-zahlreicher-Organe
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2020.00389/full
- https://gut.bmj.com/content/70/2/276
- https://www.aerzteblatt.de/nachrichten/119602/COVID-19-Diabetes-und-Hypertonie-erhoehen-Sterberisiko-vor-allem-bei-Komplikationen
- https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.03022-20?permanently=true
- https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/covid-19-hinterlaesst-auch-im-darm-spuren-123113/seite/2/
