The story, on NPR, mentioned Djokovic’s gluten-free diet as a possible contributor to his awesome tennis achievements.  With that, I had to do a little further investigation. A Wall St. Journal story from a few months ago provided some more detail.  Says the Journal: “Last year, Djokovic’s nutritionist discovered that Djokovic is allergic to the protein, which is found in common flours. Djokovic banished it from his diet and lost a few pounds. He says he now feels much better on court.” The story went on to quote a Cornell Univ. nutrition and psychology professor, who said gluten free foods, for people with or even without gluten allergies, may increase mental energy, so crucial in world-class singles tennis. He also mentioned a possible placebo effect.

Is gluten-free a good thing, especially if you have no gluten allergy or celiac disease?  Here’s an overview from the hilariously-named blog “Three Fat Chicks on a Diet.” Good immune health may be the biggest sacrifice of gluten free diets, as wheat gluten can promote growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut, which is crucial for immune health. EpiCor provides such prebiotic benefits,  so it may be a good supplemental source of prebiotic benefits if someone is cutting out gluten from their diets.

Another take on gluten-free, which may also lack important B vitamins and fiber,  is in this ABC News report.

• The London Daily Mail Online has a story about research showing the immune health benefits of going on vacation (or holiday, as they say in Europe) wane two weeks after returning to work. That’s kind of a bummer. I was thinking vacation refreshes you for months, maybe even until your next vacation. The story also mentions the propensity to actually get sick when you go on vacation. “… in some cases, the immune system may be left out of kilter when the stress of the working day is suddenly taken away.”
• A new health community called Care2 (actually it’s not that new…I just stumbled upon it) has many groups formed around various health conditions and interests, such as stress. It also features some informative articles, such as a recent piece on antibiotic resistant bacteria, and the need to maintain a naturally healthy immune function, include pre- and probiotic food intake, to lower risk of bacteria-driven problems in the gut resulting from good/bad bacterial imbalance.
• A dental journal article goes into some detail on how immune health can influence periodontal disease formation and vice versa. I’ve written here about the “healthy mouth, healthy body” concept, that poor dental health can lead to other health problems, and all are connected by healthy immune function.
• A PR piece appearing in the  San Francisco Chronicle online talks about new acupuncture methods that may help alleviate seasonal allergy symptoms.  Allergies, of course, are an over-reaction of the immune system. “Acupuncture offers a relaxing, natural alternative that refreshes us, without the side effects of pills,” says a source in the story. Hmmmm. The same might be said of EpiCor, only without the needles.

bacteria to the human gut, helping to support digestive health by increasing the amount of good bacteria. Prebiotics (such as EpiCor plus a variety of fruits and vegetables) contain natural matter that help feed the beneficial bacteria already in the gut, helping to promote growth of that bacteria.

As we all know by now (right?!) a healthy amount of beneficial bacteria in the gut determines a great portion of how well your immune system functions. The health site Vitabase gives a good overview:

“The role of probiotics in immune function has been studied for decades. Scientists were curious as to why our bodies would strike up such a close relationship with these bugs. The most crucial role probiotics seem to play for humans is that of training the immune system. Most people don’t know that 60-70% of their immune system is located in the gut as a vast network of lymph tissue referred to as GALT (gut associated lymphatic tissue). The probiotics in our gut are constantly interfacing with the GALT and essentially priming the immune system for contact with other bacteria. They serve as a way for the body to learn how to respond to bacteria without actually having to suffer an infection. This becomes particularly important in young children whose immune system is in constant state of development until about age 7.”

One question I have on prebiotics vs. probiotics: Is one better than the other? One BBC piece does a head to head comparison of cowboy “poo” to try to find a winner. And prebiotics won. This study probably won’t find its way to the New England Journal of Medicine, but it’s fun to read.  Another source sizes up the two, and concludes both could be beneficial in certain health circumstances. With probiotics, one issue is that it is difficult to know if most or even a majority of the live bacteria in a delivery system (yogurt, pills/capsules, etc.) actually make it to the gut. A lot of bacteria can get destroyed during processing, shipping and shelf time. So you may be spending money for additional bacteria that are not bioactive anymore.

Researchers at St. Jude’s children’s hospital have identified a molecule in the body that “functions like a factory supervisor” to make sure the right balance of T-cells are available to fight infection. They call the molecule  phosphatase MKP-1. A summary of the research says that phosphatase MKP-1 “is an important regulator of immune balance, and “serves as a bridge between the innate immune response that is the body’s first line of defense against infection and the more specialized adaptive immune response that follows.”

Another piece of immune balance news this week was found in Slate, the online magazine. The article, which generated a good number of comments, talks about the pros and cons of probiotics, in light of the fact that more and more food and nutrition products are falling all over each other to add probiotic beneficial bacteria so they can claim their products aid in digestive health and support healthy immune function. The article looks at several studies in concluding that probiotic intake may only improve total sick days in a given year by a day or so. The evidence cited in the story, plus the evidence available in many other studies, may not be worth staking much of a claim on. The findings are generally products of small trials with many confounding factors, including the idea that a ton of live bacteria may not be present in the claimed bacterial volume on the product label, due to bacteria being destroyed during processing and shelf time.  One study of yogurt intake, in fact, was designed so that participants ate a pretty hefty helping of yogurt 3 times a day for weeks on end. That’s a ton of yogurt, with not-so-dramatic of outcomes.  One thing that most science does agree on, however, is that certain levels of gut microbiota can aid in digestive function, and may also be important in how certain components of the immune system perform.

The wrap on all this is that yes, our immune systems are complex and involve myriad classes of cells which produce other cells which produce other cells, all working together and performing extraordinary tasks at certain times. It is indeed, a monumental balancing act.  And it’s much, much more than the body launching a bunch of attack cells to destroy bacteria or viruses. Your gut health does influence your immune system performance. But it may take more than a lot of yogurt to make that happen.

For example, do most people know that allergies are a direct result of an over-aggressive immune response?  Do they also know that immune response can be a big part of joint and muscle inflammation?  Or how about cellular inflammation? That affects heart disease, obesity, etc. And don’t forget digestive health, where 70% of immune response starts. Digestive tract microflora, also known as beneficial gut bacteria, helps drive overall immune response, absorption of nutrients into the body, even brain health and cognitive function.

And I’m sure I haven’t even begun to cover all of the health ramifications of good immune health.

So when you talk about maintaining a healthy, balanced immune function,  just know it’s much more than colds and flu.

My dentist is great and she does a wonderful job, but I have no desire to be a frequent customer. That got me to wondering about immune health and dental health. Are the two related? You’ve heard the saying “healthy body, healthy mouth,” or something like that. Meaning that people in good overall health tend to have better dental health as well.  What about immune function, specifically? Any correlation there?

One health blogger writes extensively on how poor dental health can challenge immune response, especially in people with weakened immune function.

Another blogger on pediatric dentistry claims probiotic nutrition can improve oral health. EpiCor, with it’s prebiotic benefits (meaning it promotes growth of beneficial bacteria, while probiotics deliver new bacteria to the body), might have an impact in this regard, though no research has been conducted on EpiCor and dental health.

One dentist even claims that periodontal disease can be correlated with respiratory diseases.

The uptake: keeping your mouth healthy 1) reduces potential stress on mucosal immune cells that exist in your mouth to confront intruders that enter the body through the mouth; 2) gives your overall immune system a better chance of being at the ready to handle pathogens in the body because they are not being taxed from handling ongoing dental diseases.

gut bacteria

showing that stress can disrupt the balance of good/bad bacteria in the gut, thereby impacting immune function in the body. The basic concept has been studied before and has several published reports supporting it. The blog post today talks about an Ohio State/Texas Tech study that showed stress led to “changes in the composition, diversity and number of microorganisms in the gut. As a result, bacterial communities in the intestine became less diverse, and had greater numbers of potentially harmful bacteria…”

What stumps me is a passage from the research summary stating, from the lead researcher, “”When we reduced the number of bacteria in the intestines using antibiotics, we found that some of the effects of stress on the immune system were prevented”, he added. “This suggests that not only does stress change the bacteria levels in the gut, but that these alterations can, in turn, impact our immunity.”  I don’t get it. If bacteria in the gut were reduced, I would tend to think the effects of stress on the immune system would not be prevented, but rather would be amplified. Lower, imbalanced gut microflora should  mean less effective immune response. What am I missing?

Immune balance goes Hollywood. Well, at least Pacific Palisades. Dr. Jon Herbert will be presenting a community workshop on immune balance. Wow. Now immune balance is coming in to its own on the west coast. It’s just a matter of time before it sweeps the nation and the world.

Balance, well stated.  This supplement company, Pro Health, put up a very good overview of immune balance on its web page.  Nice to see some space and good writing devoted to the topic.

Gut health and immune function still getting a lot of pub.  A lot has been written lately about probiotics, prebiotics and how the gut really dominates your body’s immune defense.  A Huffington Post story today by Mark Hyman gives some new perspective on this.

Now a leading food industry trade magazine has published a lengthy piece on immune balance and implications for new food products. Titled “I Feel Good: Ingredients and Immunity,” the story goes into a lot of technical detail about various ingredients in foods and supplements that can contribute to immune health.” Two prominent sources in the story are Dr. Stuart Reeves and Cheryl Sturm, both of Embria Health Sciences, maker of EpiCor.

The tech talk may be a little hard to get into, but there are some salient take-aways worth noting. One is a great explanation by Dr. Reeves of how prebiotic-acting ingredients such as EpiCor, which influences the healthy growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut–impact the digestive system’s important role in overall immune health. “The microflora in your digestive system ‘talk’ to your immune system,” Reeves explains.’ “There’s increasing work showing that the diet that you eat can change that microflora—the bacteria—in your digestive system. And if you change the population, then you change the conversation.” ‘ Consuming beneficial probiotics, including lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria, appears to turn that conversation in an immuno-positive direction.”

Another is the continuing trend of consumers seeking prevention in their diet and health habits. “With health-care costs on the rise, the prospects for such products (with added immune support benefits) look even better. Getting sick exacts a heavy toll, and consumers wager that paying a little more upfront for a food or drink that can ward off sickness may shield them from paying a lot more in treatment and lost productivity later on.”

From time to time I like to round up some of the more notable Twitter chatter on immune health that I’m seeing out there. My Twitter handle  is ImmuneDude. And my comments to some of these tweets are in italics:  Here they are:

RawHealer @ImmuneDude EpiCor is amazing! One of my favorite immune boosters!  (I agree, Raw, but it’s “balancing,” not boosting.)

NotOprah : 6 #Foods that boost your #immune system : apple, yogurt, zinc/beef, whey protein, garlic, carrots. (Balance, balance, balance!!!)

NotOprah :  Certain types of #bacteria boost the #immune #system. #Health #science http://bit.ly/9pji6p (I gotta follow this NotOprah.)

E_PenEbus_Unum Word to the wise: if something says that it “enhances digestive & immune health” stay away from it. Unless you want your tummy to rebel! (Now why do you say that, E Pen??  Do you have a wimpy gut?)

tweetinggenie Health: thank the universe for your own healing. Laugh, stress free happiness will keep you healthy. Immune system will heal itself  (I can dig that. However, very few people live a totally happy life totally free of stress. That’s where we need a little help to mitigate immune deficiencies due to stress.)

Thee_Gemma I gotta start takingg better care of myy health.. myy immune systems SUCKS. smh.  (Next time, plain English, please.)

yournutrition Probiotics; Healthy Digestion = Healthy Immune System – http://bit.ly/9zcxV #health #wellness

(Yes, yes!)