The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has pushed people around the world into intensified search to build immunity through supplements and natural ways. A study published recently in Nature Medicine by Peter Doherty Institute in Australia points out to the fact that our own natural immunity is the key. A strong immune system can actually fight the virus and divert the course of the disease. Scientific data suggests that improving intestinal health with probiotics could be another effective way of building immunity.
Scientific evidence also links the effectiveness of probiotics in fighting COVID-19. Some patients in China displayed the symptoms of poor intestinal health and suffered from loss of taste and diarrhoea. The Chinese National Health Commission used probiotics along with conventional treatment in patients with COVID-19 infection to improve the balance of the intestinal flora and preventing secondary bacterial infections.
Probiotics have been known to improve immunity against respiratory diseases. The British Poly Institute Cochrane reviewed 12 studies that included 3720 children, adults and elderly to infer that probiotic use may be associated with fewer people suffering from upper respiratory tract infections and lower incidence of the infection. Dr Irene Lenoir-Wijnkoop, at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, observed that probiotic use could save health care costs and lost productivity due to acute respiratory tract infections.
Nearly 70% of the body’s immunity is found in our intestine and the gut bacteria shapes the immunity. A human intestine contains around 100 trillion bacteria of 1000 different types which work together to build body immunity. A bunch of helpful bacteria’s, also called probiotics help train the body immune system, reduce inflammation and ward off harmful diseases caused by unhelpful bacteria’s and viruses. Probiotics are also known to prevent metabolic disorders like obesity by producing metabolites like short-chain fatty acids especially butyrate. They also protect the intestinal lining and prevent harmful pathogens and their toxins from entering the blood.