Two Secrets for Your Best Immune System Ever
You are more than human; you are an ecosystem.
Your interconnected body systems and a universe of microbial life work together to keep your entire being healthy and in balance.
An effective approach to immune health must address the complexity and sophistication of your whole being: mind, body, and microbiome.
You already know a healthy body is vital for immune strength. But there are two overlooked champions that can influence your immune system more than you think...
1. Your Microbiome: The Immune Ally Within
You host a dazzling multitude of tiny allies—bacteria, protozoa, archaea, to name a few—that are essential partners in immunity and so much more.
The densest population lives in your gut, but their influence ripples to every corner of your body, including your immune system, brain, lungs, and even your skin.
Not only is your gut a microbial Grand Central Station, but it’s also your largest immune ally—in fact, it houses up to 70% of your immunocytes and over 90% of all immunoglobulin-producing cells! [1]
Your gut and microbiome team up with the rest of your immune system to keep you healthy through a bidirectional communication pathway called the gut-immune axis.
How does it work? Science is still counting the ways, but for one, your gut microbiome teaches immune cells how to tell friend (e.g., your tissue) from foe (e.g., external invaders).
Your microbes also help modulate your immune system through short-chain fatty acids, which they make from the prebiotic fiber you eat.
In short, your immune system would be lost without your microbial co-pilots.
What can you do to help your microbes, so they can help you? As in all ecosystems, microbiome health is found in diversity—and diversity begets diversity. [2]
Here are a few ways to help your gut microbiome:
- Consume varied plants and polyphenol-rich herbs (microbes love polyphenols). [3]
- Spend time outside—exposure to nature is linked to healthier microbiomes. [4]
- Take a probiotic proven to promote gut microbiome diversity (like L. plantarum DR7, found in our Gut-Lung Therapy).
2. Your Mind: An Unsung Immune Hero
Like clasped hands, your mind and body are deeply intertwined via hormonal and neurological messages flowing between your brain, nervous system, gut, microbiome, and immune system—this is the gut-brain-immune axis.
That’s partly why you might more easily get the sniffles or indigestion when you’re under prolonged, intense stress. Long-term stress can also lead to gut changes that cause "bad” bacteria to edge out beneficial gut microbes.
While it’s not easy to deal with long-term stress and negative thoughts that accompany it, nature has your back.
Profoundly calming flowers like rose, chamomile, saffron, and passionflower can help soothe your feelings of anxiousness and bring peace to your heart—and when properly dosed, can even awaken communication in your gut-brain axis and promote beneficial gut bacteria.
That translates to more energy, balanced nerves and gut function, better focus, and a stronger immune system.
How to tap into the immune power of your mind:
- Numerous studies show that mindfulness practices lead to improvements in the immune system. [5, 6, 7]
- Forest bathing can both calm your mind and strengthen your immune system. [8]
- Try our clinically proven Stress Therapy 7-Flower Infusion: it works to support the immune system and initiate an immediate impact on the central nervous system and a lasting impact on the gut microbiome.*
Truly, Obsessively Holistic
The bottom line is that your immune system doesn’t work in isolation.
This is True Holism, the lens through which For The Biome views the human body and formulates our products.
For truly holistic and effective immune support, we offer a 3-part solution that reveres your body’s complexity. Our formulations diversify your ecosystem with multiple whole herbs, mushrooms, and microbes that strengthen your immune system in two hours* and support digestive, respiratory, and emotional health.*
When used together, our clinically proven products and ingredients give you the nourishment your body, mind, and microbiome crave.
You can learn more about our Immune Therapy Set here: https://forthebiome.com/products/immune-therapy-collection
References
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Leischner C, Burkard M, Pfeiffer MM, Lauer UM, Busch C, Venturelli S. Nutritional immunology: function of natural killer cells and their modulation by resveratrol for cancer prevention and treatment. Nutr J. 2016;15(1):47. Published 2016 May 4. doi:10.1186/s12937-016-0167-8
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Hills RD Jr, Pontefract BA, Mishcon HR, Black CA, Sutton SC, Theberge CR. Gut Microbiome: Profound Implications for Diet and Disease. Nutrients. 2019;11(7):1613. Published 2019 Jul 16. doi:10.3390/nu11071613
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Etxeberria, Usune, et al. Impact of polyphenols and polyphenol-rich dietary sources on gut microbiota composition. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 61.40. Published 2013 Oct 9.
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Das B, Ghosh TS, Kedia S, et al. Analysis of the Gut Microbiome of Rural and Urban Healthy Indians Living in Sea Level and High Altitude Areas. Sci Rep. 2018;8(1):10104. Published 2018 Jul 4. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-28550-3
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Davidson RJ, Kabat-Zinn J, Schumacher J, et al. Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. Psychosom Med. 2003;65(4):564-570. doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000077505.67574.e3
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Jacobs TL, Epel ES, Lin J, et al. Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2011;36(5):664-681. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.09.010
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Witek-Janusek L, Albuquerque K, Chroniak KR, Chroniak C, Durazo-Arvizu R, Mathews HL. Effect of mindfulness based stress reduction on immune function, quality of life and coping in women newly diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. Brain Behav Immun. 2008;22(6):969-981. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2008.01.012
- Li Q. Effect of forest bathing trips on human immune function. Environ Health Prev Med. 2010;15(1):9-17. doi:10.1007/s12199-008-0068-3
