Did you know that you can fight a virus by protecting your gut?

Now, before the hate mail arrives to my inbox, please read that carefully. I said “fight a virus.” I did not say, “Cure a virus.” 

Now that we are clear on that, I want to make something else very clear. Perhaps especially during times like this, the work I do is critical and relevant to all. 

Make no mistake about it. 80%+ of the immune cells are in the gut.

Immune function is one of the gut’s main jobs.

And the immune system is your best chance at fighting any virus.

Dr. Nirala Jacobi summed it up perfectly,

What I CAN promise you is this. If the weakest link in your health right now is your gut, THAT’S what you need to focus on fixing. 

Fight a Virus by Protecting Your Gut

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While the CDC can give us ways to protect ourselves from the current (and all) virus, that is only part of this equation. Here are the factors:

1. how to protect yourself from not getting a virus
2. what to do once you are showing signs and symptoms of a virus
3. what you’ll need to do based on the severity of those signs and symptoms

It goes back to proactive and reactive health.

Focusing on the gut at all times is one of the best way towards minimizing what happens during the 3rd factor. Because again, most of your immune cells are in the gut.

While the best way to alter the gut is through diet and lifestyle, during times like this, boosts (aka supplements) can be particularly beneficial.

There is actually NO true research or studies showing which foods and supplements help for the current circumstances. So I am not suggesting in any way, shape, or form that anything is for the current circulating virus.

What I will present to you in the next few weeks are things that have been shown to enhance the immune system.

And these are two supplements I am taking religiously, on a daily basis, currently.

Probiotic

Did you know that when it comes to your gut microbiome, diversity and richness lead to resiliency? What does that mean? It means that with more bacterial diversity and richness,  your microbiome can adapt and recover better from any stress. 

There are many ways to create this, which I’ve previously explained in How to Achieve Optimal Microbiome Diversity.

Number five in that article is, “take a probiotic.”

But it’s very important to remember that not all probiotics are created equally. The first red flag I want you to become hyperaware of is any probiotic where refrigeration is needed.

What good will a probiotic do for your gut if it never actually reaches the gut? 

Refrigeration is actually a sign of a very weak probiotic. If a probiotic cannot survive at room temperature, how do you think it will survive in your 98-degree body, much less through your extremely acidic digestive tract? Short answer: it won’t. Ask for gastric survivability test results proving the probiotic arrives alive in the intestines and a gut model study showing that it colonizes.

I have chosen the Just Thrive® Probiotic for well over a year now because it  supports the rebalancing of the gut microbiome by increasing protective beneficial bacteria while removing pathogens. It also has proven to arrive 100% alive in your intestines — compared to conventional probiotics, which are 99+% killed by digestive acidity.

These facts are critical for a time like now.

I give this one to my kids on a daily basis right now, too.

The capsule opens easily so I can give just a small portion of it (they are little and should not have the full capsule yet).

In addition to the probiotic, this next one is key….

Tummy Soothe

If you’ve been listening to any of the virus coverage, you’ve likely heard ‘IgG’ recently mentioned.

About a year ago, I wrote about IgE vs IgG. As it relates to IgG, I stated,

igG stands for Immunoglobulin G and it is the most common type of antibody found in blood circulation.

It has 4 different subclasses, IgG1-4. IgG is always there to help prevent infections. It’s also ready to multiply and attack when foreign substances get into the body. When you don’t have enough, you are more likely to get infections. (source)

I also created this graphic over a year ago to show some of the symptoms of an IgG deficiency. And look at that?! The lungs and breathing are mentioned.

The CDC has stated,

Clinical recovery has been correlated with the detection of IgM and IgG antibodies which signal the development of immunity.

Because of this previous knowledge and the fact that the CDC has now mentioned these IgG antibodies, I am more grateful than ever for Tummy Soothe.

Probiotic + Tummy Soothe

I whole-heartedly recommend both of these.

They are 2 of the products for the ultimate immune boost, in my (well-researched) opinion.

You can fight a virus by protecting your gut. It’s not a cure or an absolute. But by protecting and working on your gut, it’s the best proactive measure you can take right now.

I’ll be focusing on the immune system (as it relates to your gut) heavily during the month of April.

Perhaps I haven’t made that connection as important and critical as I should have. Because I’m obsessed with it, and healing your gut (or beefing it up in general) could save you in so many different ways.

By the way, if you need the inspiration to get started healing your gut from home, start today HERE.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

1. Optimizing Gut Health to Keep the Immune System Strong During COVID-19 With Tina Anderson (on Wellness Mama’s podcast)
2. 8 Probiotic Myths
3. All About Just Thrive Probiotic

I am an affiliate for Just Thrive which means that when you buy from them using my link and code , I make a small percentage. This comes at zero cost to you, and in return, it allows me to keep giving you 95% of the information contained within A Gutsy Girl for free. By the way, when you use the code AGUTSYGIRL at checkout, you also save 15% on your entire order.

Xox,
SKH