Intestinal Bacteria Modulate Key Signaling Systems With Your Body

The lining of your gastrointestinal tract… is the largest interface…. between your      body and the external environment — it has even more surface area than your skin. At that interface your body has 3 types of chemical detectors: nerve cells, endocrine cells, and immune cells. Signals from those detectors affect tissues and organs throughout your body.

Those detector systems are more extensive than those of any other organ: there are nearly a billion neurons in the intestinal nervous system, the intestinal endocrine system uses more than 20 identified hormones, and the gut immune system contains 70 to 80% of the body’s immune cells.

All of those detectors are profoundly influenced by the composition of your intestinal microbial population. When you use probiotics to maintain or restore a healthy balance in your intestinal tract, you are directly and indirectly promoting health in many of your body’s most vital systems.

Probiotics are beneficial organisms, most of which are normally found in the healthy human gastrointestinal tract. Many different strains of probiotic organisms are in use, which have different but overlapping benefits. Probiotic organisms work through several interrelated mechanisms to promote health at the molecular level. They conquer potentially dangerous organisms in the intestine, reducing the risk  of infection or toxin-mediated diseases. They regulate immune responses which enhance healthy reactions to dangerous infectious organisms, and they suppress excessive inflammation. Additionally, probiotics promote the function of the intestinal inner lining, enhancing its ability to act as a barrier to the entry of potentially dangerous organisms and chemicals.

All of these actions depend on a system of biochemical signals between your intestinal bacteria and the human cells  that  comprise  the  rest  of  your  body.      When things go wrong in the balance of intestinal organisms, the consequences   can be tremendous. The Negative changes in the intestinal microbiome are firmly associated with chronic diseases that include inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and the metabolic syndrome.  We can now recognize that allergic disorders, asthma, and even obesity are related to an unhealthy population of intestinal bacteria.

Due to modern diets and lifestyle, as well as environmental factors such as pollution and the irresponsible overuse of antibiotics, the beneficial bacteria in your microbiome is at risk which can lead to an increased incidence in metabolic and inflammatory chronic diseases. Even simple aging can gradually shifts your intestinal bacterial population towards a disease-promoting, rather than a disease-preventing, state.

The good news is that probiotics can also help restore balance and cellular communications with regard to the body’s healthy bacterial population. In the digestive tract, probiotic therapy has been used to prevent or treat lactose intolerance, intestinal infections and diarrhea, gastritis and ulcers caused by        the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, colitis caused by excessive antibiotic use, inflammatory bowel diseases, and irritable bowel syndrome.

They are also proving instrumental in preventing colon cancer.

All of those benefits within the intestine might be expected. But probiotics also have profound beneficial effects throughout the body, especially on metabolic and inflammatory conditions.

Overweight people have lower levels of beneficial bacteria than do slender people, and chronic exposure to unhealthy bacterial cell walls can trigger system-wide inflammation. Together these effects contribute to development of the metabolic syndrome, with its pathological disturbances in lipid and glucose metabolism.

Probiotics can favorably alter the composition and activities of the intestinal bacterial community, potentially reversing major contributors to chronic disease.

Studies show that probiotics can improve hypertension, lower total and LDL-cholesterol, and improve insulin sensitivity, all components of the human metabolic syndrome. Human and animal studies show that probiotics also attenuate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) due to obesity and a high-fat diet. Probiotics may also have a major role in preventing cancers outside of the gastrointestinal tract, by several different mechanisms. Probiotic organisms can bind to potential carcinogens, promoting their excretion. They also suppress growth of bacteria that convert harmless procarcinogen molecules into carcinogens. Finally, probiotics stimulate expression of liver enzymes that detoxify carcinogens, while down — regulating those that convert harmless molecules into carcinogens. Together these effects have been shown to reduce the risk, incidence, and number of tumors in the colon, liver, and bladder.

Probiotics also modulate your immune system, an effect that has impact not only on cancer but also on your overall health status, as we’ll now see.

Probiotics Boost Immunity

In recent years the enormous importance of the gastrointestinal tract in modulating the immune system has been increasingly recognized. Not only does more than 70% of the human immune system reside in the gut, but the intestinal immune system produces more antibodies than the rest of the body put together. As a result, gastrointestinal secretions are as rich as breast milk in health-supporting and disease-preventing factors.

A poorly functioning immune system is at the root of many chronic degenerative diseases. Too little response makes us vulnerable to the infections that claim the lives of so many older adults. But inappropriate overactivation can produce chronic inflammation that contributes to the litany of age-related disorders such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and the metabolic syndrome.

The Role of Probiotics

Bifidobacteria are used as a probiotic to improve intestinal flora balance, inhibit harmful bacteria, promote good digestion, boost immune function, and increase resistance to infection. Your intestinal organisms form an integral part of who you are (there are 10 times as many of their cells as there are of yours). Beneficial members of your intestinal bacterial community promote critical cellular signaling that influences the health of your intestine and your whole body. Aging, lifestyle, and environmental influences threaten to perturb the balance of your intestinal organisms, leaving you vulnerable to immune disturbances and chronic, age-related conditions. You can strengthen your intestinal organisms by supplementing with probiotics, cultures of beneficial organisms that exert multiple favorable effects. Bifidobacteria in particular have been shown to protect humans against inflammation, infection, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. A clinically validated strain of bifidobacteria, BB536, arrives in the colon largely intact and ready to boost your intestinal microbial population. BB536 has demonstrated potent immune modulatory effects, reducing inflammation while protecting against infections and promoting cardiovascular health.

Probiotics can restore and rebalance your gut microbiome, strengthening its ability to interact with your immune system in many ways. These friendly bacteria can stimulate healthy immune surveillance, boosting populations of cells that seek out and destroy infecting organisms and cancers. They up regulate inflammatory cytokines during the acute stage of an infection, cancer, or other threat to your body’s integrity, but they also contribute to suppression of the inflammatory response as the threat fade. Top 10 Probiotic Foods To Add To Your Diet