Super-Powered Immunity Starts in the Gut

Book excerpt: A research-backed guide to healing your gut and boosting immunity • Presents a four-week plan for healing the gut and obtaining—and sustaining—optimum immune system function • Offers methods to assess your gut health, determine if you have a specific problem, and select which healing approach would be best • Shares powerful yet natural remedies centered on probiotics, fermented foods, herbs, essential oils, and nutritional supplements Did you know that 70 percent of the immune system resides in the gut? As Dr. Michelle Schoffro Cook explains, a healthy, microbially balanced gastrointestinal tract is one of the biggest keys to warding off and fighting infectious diseases. In this practical guide, Dr. Cook shares tools and hands-on methods to transform your gut health for greater immunity and well-being. Distilling the most recent research, she explains the connection between GALT (gut-associated lymphoid tissue) and a strong gut-immune relationship. She offers methods to assess your gut health and select which healing approach would be best. She explores some of the main illnesses, conditions, and disorders that afflict the gut and lead to poor immune system performance, including excessive yeast growth, dysbiosis (an imbalanced microbiome where harmful microbes far outnumber the beneficial ones), and excessive gut permeability (which allows dangerous germs, microbes, and toxins to invade the blood stream). Showing how to treat these conditions holistically without damaging and compromising your gut and immune system, Dr. Cook shares powerful yet natural remedies like herbs, essential oils, and nutritional supplements. She looks at the role of probiotics and fermented foods in immunity, providing an extensive examination of how and why they work. She examines new research about particular probiotic strains that are effective against even the most drug-resistant health conditions like MRSA and C. difficile. She explains the often-invisible, immune-depleting damage caused by antibiotic use and what to do immediately if you’re taking antibiotics or have suffered damage from having done so. She also offers a detailed four-week plan for healing the gut and obtaining—and sustaining—optimum immune system function. Explaining all of the necessary research-backed tools and techniques, this guide empowers you to take charge of your gut health, transform your immune system, and achieve vibrant health.