A Gut Feeling About Immunity
Your immunity
As it turns out, your adult immune system is not necessarily inherited, but crafted, fashioned, and acquired over your life. Cell, recently published a research article that examined the serologic differences between family members, including twins, and found that there was little relationship between your immune system and your parents or siblings.
Rather, your immune system is built from your diet, health status, and past exposure to pathogens. In other words, it is vital to have a diet full of solid nutritionally dense foods, be exposed to a broad spectrum of germs, and a healthy nervous system to regulate it all.
What percentage?
77% is how much of your immune system you can control. You are the arbiter of your immunity. Only 23% of your immune system is dependent on your genes and virtually impossible for you to alter. So what about autoimmune diseases? I thought they were genetic?
There's no debate over whether or not autoimmune conditions have a genetic component. A variety of autoimmune conditions tend to be found throughout families. But with an increase in just about every autoimmune condition in the last few decades, genetics alone do not give us the answer.
A Gut Feeling About Immunity
The enteric nervous system is located in the gut. It is a distinct part of your nervous system that is separated from the autonomic (think automatic, the stuff you do that you don’t think about) nervous system because it has it’s own reflex response system. Remarkably, it can and does function independently of the brain and spinal cord and is often referred as the “second brain” in the body.
Just as the brain’s thoughts can influence your emotions, so can your enteric nervous system. And it can influence your emotions! The gut is the region in the body where the vast majority of bacteria reside in our body. Most are good bacteria that we require to live. But there are also billions of bacteria that we really don’t need and must be kept in check. It is your enteric nervous system that plays a vital role in keeping these less than desirable bacteria in line.
The enteric nervous system also helps ensure that the bacteria we partner with are supported. This symbiotic relationship is an important key to a healthy immune system. When out gut is out of balance for long periods of time, the opportunistic bacteria go wild and can actually hurt us and the “good” bacteria in the gut. Here is great news; adjustments have been shown to influence a healthy enteric nervous system. So get adjusted to stay healthy!
