Gut well – all is well
The intestine is our largest organ and also our central digestive organ. Among other things, it is responsible for ensuring that macro- and micronutrients are properly digested and absorbed and that the indigestible parts are excreted again. The intestinal mucosa acts as a mechanical barrier that fulfils two essential tasks: On the one hand, it is permeable to vital nutrients and fluids, and at the same time it prevents bacteria, viruses, fungi or harmful substances from entering the blood. What many people do not know: About 80 percent of all immune reactions take place in our intestines, where about 70 percent of all immune cells are located.
Hippocrates was not the only one to see many causes of illness in the intestine. At the end of the 19th century, the Russian biologist and Nobel Prize winner Ilya Mechnikov even coined the phrase: “Death is in the gut”. He was the first to draw attention to the special importance of the bacterial milieu in our intestines – and he discovered the probiotics in kefir. Recent microbiome research confirms this.
The microbiome
Hundreds of trillions of symbiotic bacteria live in our intestines. They form a natural ecosystem also known as the gut flora or microbiome. Until now, bacteria have been perceived by conventional medicine as the enemies in our body that needed to be fought. But for most of them, the opposite is true, as they have extraordinarily important functions:
- the regulation of inflammation
- the defence against infections
- the production of enzymes, messenger substances and proteins,
- which in turn activate our phagocytes
- the control of nutrient uptake
- the production of our own micronutrients (e.g. vitamins) that are
- specific to us as hosts
- the regulation of weight, appetite and metabolic health
- Control of the body’s own detoxification process.
There are countless types of bacteria (microbes) in our gut. Not only are they crucial to our health, they are also significantly involved in all growth processes in our body.
The gut-brain axis
Recent research not only demonstrates the paramount importance of the microbiome for our growth or general health, but also for keeping our brains healthy. This is because the same messenger substances that control numerous processes in the brain are also found in our gut. That is why the intestine is also called the abdominal brain or second brain. What’s more, the availability of these neurotransmitters – such as the happiness hormone serotonin – is even controlled in the gut. If you think that’s all there is to it, you’re wrong.
The microbes in our gut communicate with our brain via signalling substances and are able to influence the brain, our mood and our behaviour. The permeability of our blood-brain barrier is also controlled by the intestinal bacteria. With a healthy intestinal environment, our brain is protected from toxins. Recent studies point to the importance of the gut-brain axis in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis, but also in mental disorders such as depression.
The intestine out of step
Poor diet, abuse of medications and antibiotics, too much emotional stress, negative environmental factors and lack of exercise can all throw our microbiome out of balance. Our Western diet is very low in plant fibre and dietary fibre and too high in carbohydrates and sugar. With this diet, we are basically “starving” our microbiome and encouraging the proliferation of harmful microbes. This inevitably leads to an unfavourable intestinal environment – a so-called dysbiosis, i.e. a bacterial imbalance – and thus to a disturbance of the entire metabolic balance. Stomach and intestinal complaints, food intolerances, allergies, autoimmune diseases, other serious illnesses and psychological disorders can be the result.
How to keep your intestines healthy
Strengthening the digestive power of the stomach and our intestinal health thus occupy a central position in keeping our body healthy. And so basically our diet, along with a regular, consistent cleanse as well as sufficient exercise. Slowly we are beginning to understand what Hippocrates meant more than 2,500 years ago when he said: “Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food”.
In our metabolic programme we therefore place particular emphasis on a well-regulated intestine. Our high-quality and highly effective vital products support your intestinal health in a targeted and sustainable way by cleansing toxins and providing an additional supply of valuable probiotics and prebiotics (dietary fibre).
ColoSTABIL®, our
