The average person’s understanding of probiotics is that they’re just good for digestion.

That’s true…Probiotics DO help break down certain sugars and fibers and enhance digestion.

And that’s just the beginning…

You see, the 4 pounds or so of beneficial bacteria nestled in your gut make up between 75-80% of your immune system…and your immune system affects your health from head to toe.

When it’s working properly, it can keep you feeling great and fight infections, viruses and diseases without breaking a sweat.

When it’s not, well, not only are you more susceptible to illness, but you also run the risk of allergies, rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune disorders!

Here are some examples of how probiotics and your immune system affect you, far away from your intestinal tract:

Autoimmune disease

This is your immune system going haywire and attacking your healthy cells.

Autoimmune disease can take many forms, including Type I diabetes, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, MS, Graves’ disease, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease and colitis, to name a few.

Normally, your immune system’s Regulatory T cells should “shut down” any overzealous immune response and stop or prevent the inflammation.

But with when you have an autoimmune disease, they fail to do their job and the inflammation gets worse and worse.

But probiotics can be a huge help with autoimmune disease.

You see, when your body makes immune cells (called T cells) it can create 2 different types — Helper T cells and Regulatory T cells.

Helper T cells are like border patrol, on the lookout for dangerous invaders. Once they detect a threat, they quickly multiply themselves and attack.

Regulatory T cells, on the other hand, stop inflammation and keep innocent tissues safe.

Typically the decision of whether a T cell becomes Helper or Regulatory takes place in your gut.

And a healthy population of probiotics in your gut helps to encourage more Regulatory T cell formation, which means more cells for your body to naturally fight inflammation.
Cardiovascular disease

This is an example of your immune system going overboard with inflammation.

You see, a major cause of cardiovascular disease is inflammation that leads to narrowing of blood vessels.

Here’s what happens:

Let’s say your arteries sustain damage from something such as an injury, infection or even from harmful bacteria. When this happens, your immune system sends droves of white blood cells to the area to help with healing.

As part of their healing efforts, the white blood cells create inflammation, and these inflamed areas pull cholesterol from your blood…sort of like using glue to repair a broken dish.

However, if the immune system goes overboard, the cholesterol accumulates too much in the inflamed area. Eventually the blood vessel begins to narrow and can completely close.

But probiotics can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease from BOTH inflammation AND high cholesterol.

Because probiotics support the development of regulatory T cells in your immune system, which help reduce overzealous immune responses throughout your body like those mentioned above.

Plus, probiotics help reduce blood cholesterol by creating acids that slow cholesterol production, by breaking down bile acids so your liver needs to use up cholesterol to make more, and by actually eating cholesterol!

Allergies

This is where your immune system reacts in a crazy way to something that should be harmless, like cat dander or pollen.

You see, typically your body uses enzymes to “digest” things like pet dander or pollen.

These enzymes break down the protein molecules in the allergen into amino acids. Once they have been turned into amino acids, your body can deal with them and there’s no risk of an allergic reaction.

This efficient process can only run properly if you have enough of the right kinds of enzymes, though.

And if you don’t, well, you have allergies.

But probiotics can help because they actually manufacture enzymes to help your body fight allergens.

As you can see, it’s vitally important to keep your immune system smart AND strong. Because when it’s working, it’s great, but when it’s not…all hell can break loose.

The best way to do that is to make sure that 80% of your immune system — your gut’s population of probiotics — are healthy and able to protect you…Not just in your digestive tract, but from head to toe.

In addition to a healthy diet and reducing stress, the best way to keep your population of probiotics healthy and strong is to take a daily supplement like Super Shield just before meals or on an empty stomach