Can Probiotics Support the Immune System?
We’re all thinking about how to keep our immune systems in peak condition. When you’re not feeling great, you want to know what vitamins to take when sick. This includes exploring new supplements like Vitamin D3 K2, foods, and habits to help optimize our health. Along the way, you’ve probably heard of probiotics for supporting digestive health and proper gut function. But do probiotics help immune system function, too?
In fact, new research has begun to show that the microscopic residents of the gastrointestinal tract play a much bigger part in whole-body wellness than we ever suspected before.[1] Although many of us may not think much about it, digestive health is the foundation of every other function in our bodies.
The probiotics immune system connection is real, but there’s much more to learn—we’re going to break down everything you need to know about using probiotics for immune support.
What Are Probiotics?
If you’re plugged into the health and wellness world, no doubt you've been hearing about the wonders of probiotics. But even with all this buzz, you may still be wondering—what exactly are they?
The easiest way to think of probiotics is as a form of good bacteria.<sup>2</sup>
The human body relies on colonies of these helpful bacteria, inside and out, to perform many of our essential functions. In the intestines and colon, these beneficial bacteria colonies help break down the nutrients in our food, allowing them to be absorbed into the bloodstream and used throughout our bodies. The metabolization and fermentation of nutrients from food as it passes through your intestines is key to making nutrients available for cellular processes.
To understand how probiotics work, keep these points in mind:
- The same strains of bacteria that occur in the gut are also found in fermented foods.
- Probiotic supplements can also contain the same types of bacteria.
- Consuming foods or supplements that contain these living microorganisms may help support overall health by boosting the numbers of good bacteria in your gut microbiome.[2]
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How Probiotics Support the Immune System
Zinc complexes are known to be a key nutrient for immune system health but you may also be wondering how beneficial probiotic bacteria can encourage a healthy immune system. Research is still exploring the connection between the gut microbiome and the immune system. What we do know is that the digestive tract is an important piece of the immune system.[1]
Many immune cells reside in the lower intestine. Therefore, oral probiotic supplements may be able to directly support this portion of the immune system.
It’s not entirely clear if probiotics can help prevent respiratory illnesses like colds and flu, or simply improve whole-body wellness so that you’re better able to fight off disease. However, a 2020 meta-analysis of studies on the effect of probiotics on respiratory infections and immune response concluded that probiotics are effective at stimulating the immune system and inhibiting viral replication.[1]
It appears that probiotics do help shorten the duration of respiratory infections, but more research is needed to understand exactly how they do this. For now, we can safely say that a balanced gut microbiome is critically important to:[1]
- Maintaining digestive health
- Maintaining a healthy intestinal lining, where many immune cells are found
- Supporting proper nutrient absorption
- Preventing inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
Types of Probiotic Bacteria
The beneficial bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract support all of these functions and more. This is why a balanced gut microbiome leads to better overall health, resilience, and disease resistance in general, beyond just immune health.
There are many thousands of bacteria types found in the gut and elsewhere in the human body. But there are two main strains you’ll find most commonly in probiotic supplements as well as in certain foods. These strains are:[2]
- Lactobacillus
- Bifidobacterium
These are also the bacterial strains that researchers have focused on most while researching the probiotic and immune function connection.[1]
What Causes Your Gut’s Bacteria to Become Imbalanced?
You may wonder why the bacteria in your intestines would need probiotic supplementation. After all, don’t bacteria colonies usually grow rapidly without any help?
In fact, the microbiome in your digestive tract is a delicate balance between many kinds of bacteria—some helpful, and some possibly harmful bacteria. Many factors can negatively impact this balance, reducing helpful bacteria and allowing harmful bacteria to flourish.[3] Overgrowth of these competing bacteria can lead to inflammation and infection.
Factors that can throw off the balance of your gut microbiome include:[3]
- Antibiotic treatment
- Stress
- Diets low in high-fiber plant foods[4]
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Smoking
- Alcohol consumption
- Poor sleep habits
In this case, eating probiotic food or adding probiotic supplementation to your diet can help balance out those bad bacteria with beneficial gut bacteria. So how do you add probiotics to your routine for gut health and immune function?
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