- Long story short: Why are probiotics important for the immune system?
- Bacteria are not the same as bacteria …
- Wofür brauchen wir Treg-Zellen?
- How do I boost my immune defense with probiotics?
- Can taking a nutrition-enhancing preparation be useful?
- How do I recognize good probiotics?
- Which foods are particularly good for balanced gut flora?
- Recipe inspiration
- Literature:
Probiotics are literally on everyone's lips, as we usually consume these living microorganisms through our food or as a dietary supplement. It is becoming increasingly clear from current research that probiotic cultures have an effect on various diseases and therefore also influence our health. But how exactly do probiotics affect our immune system?
Long story short: Why are probiotics important for the immune system?
Probiotics support our body in the development and maintenance of a healthy immune defense. From birth, we are exposed to microorganisms that begin to colonize our skin, mouth and intestines as soon as we are born. And that's a good thing – because this colonization is a symbiosis that benefits both sides: We provide a habitat and benefit from a variety of tasks that the microbiome performs for us. One of the most important advantages for us is the protection against pathogenic germs and the training of our body's own defenses - especially during childhood. The microbiome represents a kind of sparring partner for this training, on which our immune defense is allowed to mature. As a result, the so-called acquired or specific immune system develops after the first few years of life.
For some years now, bacteria have no longer been equated with pathogens. Instead, it is accepted that the majority of bacteria living with us are symbiotic, i.e. they live in mutual harmony with us as hosts. These symbionts accompany us from birth to old age. Our flora mainly shapes the profile of our immune system via the intestine . This partnership has been forged over many millennia of co-evolution and is characterized by a molecular exchange. Bacterial substances communicate with our immune defense and ensure that it is better able to work against pathogenic germs – it becomes „more robust“ [1].
.Before we can benefit from this increased resistance, however, our specific immune system faces a huge task: on the one hand, it has to learn to distinguish between the body's own and foreign substances. At the same time, it has to learn tolerance for symbionts and aggressiveness against pathogenic germs given the enormous number of foreign microorganisms. If the tolerance is too high, there is a higher probability of dying from an infection. If it is too low, the probability of developing an allergy to harmless pollen increases. Once we have found a „healthy level in between, our resistance [1] increases.
Wofür brauchen wir Treg-Zellen?
The so-called Treg cells (or regulatory T cells) belong to the group of T helper cells. They are also part of the specific immune defense and determine how strongly our innate and specific immune system reacts against an antigen. Our innate immune defense can only differentiate between endogenous and exogenous. It reacts to foreign bacteria, but the strength of this inflammatory reaction is controlled by the Treg cells. They are therefore responsible for tolerance. In chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease, hypersensitive tolerance even appears to be part of the disease. Our microbiome itself may also have a direct influence on the tolerance of Treg cells, e.g. through bacterial substances. This would explain why our immune system allows bacteria to colonize us in the first place [1].
How do I boost my immune defense with probiotics?
Your body's own defenses can be strengthened if you live in harmony with your microbiome and there is a healthy balance. This balanced coexistence promotes the body's ability to resist disease. It reduces the risk of disease, strengthens the balance of physiological body functions (homeostasis) and can even be used therapeutically in some cases [2]. In order to achieve such harmony, you need a balanced relationship between the intestinal bacteria – i.e. a diverse intestinal flora. The diversity of our intestinal flora is primarily determined by our food and the plant substances it contains as well as their fiber content [3].
Many probiotic bacteria in the intestinal flora provide relief for the immune system, as they support it in the defense against pathogens. If there is an imbalance in the intestinal flora, i.e. fewer good bacteria and more pathogens, we speak of dysbiosis. This is associated with poor immune function and an increased level of inflammation in the body [4]. In addition, there is an increased susceptibility to gastrointestinal infections, infections in general, immune disorders and oxidative stress [5].
However, it is not only food and the fiber, micronutrients and active plant substances it contains that have an influence on our microbiome, but much more, such as:
Can taking a nutrition-enhancing preparation be useful?
Yes, taking a probiotic supplement can certainly make sense. Especially if you don't manage to cover the variety of good bacteria in your diet. Or if this is restricted due to antibiotic therapy or a certain disease.
Numerous autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis result from a dysregulation of the specific immune defense. These diseases are increasing rapidly in Western society. This indicates a change in environmental factors that regulate our specific immune defenses. Modern eating habits or the widespread use of antibiotics lead to an unnatural shift between us and our microbiome in well-developed countries. The resulting dysbiosis is currently under general suspicion for the development of many diseases. For this reason, research in the field of probiotics has increased considerably in recent years. Surprisingly, various mouse experiments have shown an alleviating to curative effect for many diseases [11].
Probiotic cultures have also been shown to have a proven positive effect on some diseases in humans. These include, for example
In addition, there is a large number of studies, reviews and meta-analyses on the metabolic effects of probiotics and probiotics. These show improvements on the blood sugar balance, the depletion values and the blood lipid profiles[10].
How do I recognize good probiotics?
Good products contain probiotic bacterial strains from the most established manufacturers possible. These manufacturers pay attention to quality control and take country-specific regulatory aspects into account. There are an incredible number of probiotic bacteria that perform very different tasks for us. It is therefore not easy for a layperson to find their way around the world of probiotics. It is important to know that very specific, mostly cultured and therefore „standardized“, probiotic bacterial strains are always used for research purposes. These can usually be recognized by the fact that a code is appended after their name, such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus Rosell-11 ND or Bifidobacterium longum Rosell-175. In this context, you can search for studies in which exactly this type was used.
In addition, the encapsulation of the probiotics plays a major role, as the capsule should not dissolve in the stomach. Systems such as Probiocap® prevent a large proportion of the microorganisms from being broken down by the stomach acid before they reach their actual site of action.
Which foods are particularly good for balanced gut flora?
Certain conditions are important for our symbiotic gut bacteria. Without these, the good bacteria are very unlikely to be able to colonize the gut. This is why our diet has a decisive influence on the composition of our microbiome [12] as the „basis of life“ for our microbiome. In particular, a high fiber content and fermented foods provide a good breeding ground for intestinal bacteria.
Foods with a proven probiotic effect on the microbiome include:
- Äpfel [13]
- Granatäpfel [14]
- Blueberries [15]
- Blackcurrants [16]
- Almonds [17]
- Pistachios [17]
- Waln&walnuts [18]
- Kimchi [19]
- Red wine [20]
- Cocoa [21]
- Coffee [23]
Including plenty of fruit and vegetables in your diet is generally good for positively influencing the intestinal flora. However, the following are considered particularly rich in fibre:
- Asparagus
- Garlic
- Onion
- Topinambur
- Honey
- Banana
- Tomato
- Honey
- Chicory root
- Topinambur
- Agave
- Garlic
- Jicama
- Yacon root
- Bananas
- Fresh herbs
- flaxseed
- poppy seeds
- celery
- macadamia
- almonds
- Pistachios
- Raspberries
- Hazelnuts
- Walnuts
- Blueberries
- Black currants
- Blackberries
- Red currants
- Rosy cabbage
- /li>
- Parsnip
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Fennel
- Müml;hren
- Paprika
Less common sources are lavender root, coneflower, burdock root and camas root.
Recipe inspiration
Literature:
- Sanders, Merenstein, Reid, Gibson, & Rastall, 2019
- Lee & Mazmanian, 2010
- Lee & Mazmanian, 2010
- Lee & Mazmanian, 2010
- Sanders et al. a., 2019
- Hansen, n.d.
- Jiang et al, 2015
- Yoo & Kim, 2016
- Ziȩtak et al, 2016
- Allen et al, 2017
- Wong et al, 2016
- Rea, Dinan, & Cryan, 2016; Zaneveld, McMinds, & Thurber, 2017
- Sanders et al, 2019
- Sanders et al, 2019
- Sanders et al, 2019
- Sanders et al, 2019
- Sanders et al, 2019
- Lee & Mazmanian, 2010
- Sanders et al, 2019
- Thursby & Juge, 2017)(Kashtanova et al., 2016
- Shinohara, Ohashi, Kawasumi, Terada, & Fujisawa, 2010
- Li et al., 2015
- Vendrame et al, 2011
- Molan, Liu, & Plimmer, 2014
- Ukhanova et al, 2014
- Ukhanova et al, 2014
- Nakanishi et al, 2016; Byerley et al, 2017
- Han et al, 2015
- Moreno-Indias et al, 2016; Queipo-Ortuño et al, 2012
- Tzounis et al, 2011
- Jaquet, Rochat, Moulin, Cavin, & Bibiloni, 2009
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