Boost your Immune system

As the winter months creep deeper, many people are looking for ways to boost their immune system. Our drinks are here to let nature give you a hand. But just how do our drinks help your immune system?

The Immune System and the Gut.

The immune system is your body’s defence against viruses, bacteria, and foreign substances. It protects you against disease and infection. The immune system isn’t located in one area of your body; instead, it’s a collection of tissues, cells, and organs that work together to protect you. Saying that, over 70% of this system lives in your gut.

Your gut is your first line of defence against pathogens entering the body by mouth. We ingest potentially harmful bacteria every single day just through eating, and touching the world around us. Inside your gut is a complex, carefully balanced eco-system of trillions of bacteria- the gut flora. This gut flora is why those ingested pathogens don’t make us constantly ill. 

When the gut flora is healthy and happy, the different types of bacteria work together and complement each other. They break down our food into substance for each other, and can even take over each other’s jobs if need be- if one type of bacteria is limited by an attacking virus, another bacteria strain can step up and take over their role for a while!

One of these such jobs is the production of butyrate, a short chain fatty acid that acts as an anti-inflammatory, as well as providing fuel to the gut lining, and helping to make sure the gut wall remains strong. The gut wall is what stops toxins and bacteria from passing from your gut to your bloodstream. Even the good bacteria in our gut can cause health issues if they get into places they’re not meant to be. 

Other jobs include; 

·       producing antimicrobial substances (to fight pathogens)

·       strengthen and maintain the gut wall

·       regulate inflammation responses

On top of this, our gut flora can defend itself. If an intruder (such as harmful bacteria, or a virus) is detected in the gut, some species of bacteria can create compounds that act as weapons against the attacker. They can even work to prevent pathogens from attaching to the gut lining, which is how they make us unwell. 

To sum up, the majority of your immune system lives in your gut. The carefully balanced bacteria in your gut make up your ‘gut flora’, and are responsible for keeping you healthy. A healthy gut means a healthy you. 

So, how can Booyah Vitality drinks help keep your gut flora in balance, and give your immune system a boost? 

Easy- through probiotics and antioxidants.

Probiotics and the Immune System

Probiotics are bacteria- the good kind. We have a great blog on the many benefits of probiotics, but to keep it simple here, one of those benefits is the boosting of your immune system. Drinking or eating fermented food, like sauerkraut, yoghurt, or our kombucha, is directly giving an extra dose of helpful bacteria to your body. 

While the gut flora is designed to be self-sustainable, the western world offers far from an ideal environment for our body to work perfectly by itself. Limited diet, lack of exercise, high stress, alcohol, smoking, poor sleep, and many other stressors all impact our gut’s ability to maintain the necessary balance of flora. Sometimes it needs a helping hand, and one of the best ways to do that is by regularly consuming probiotic food or drink. 

A lot of food is mass produced and heat treated, killing the natural bacteria (even the good ones!) then synthetic probiotics are added. Our Kombucha is completely natural and raw, meaning it is chock full of the original probiotics… as well as a whole host of other benefits.

The Liver and the Immune System

The gut alone does not run the immune system. Another key organ that keeps us healthy is the liver. Snuggled up tight against the stomach, the liver has the amazing capacity to detect and destroy pathogens (harmful bacteria, virus or foreign cells) entering the body via the gut. Certain cells in our bodies, called macrophages, are designed to capture and destroy pathogens. Guess where 90% of these cells live? That’s right- the liver. More specifically, in Kupffer cells in the liver. 

These Kupffer cells are able to scan our blood for anything that’s not meant to be there. If something is found, these cells send out chemical signals to other areas of the immune system, allowing the body to fight the potential infection. 

The liver also contains most of the body’s Natural Killer Cells, which are another type of cell designed to search for potentially harmful pathogens that have found their way into our bodies. These NKCs detect pathogens in a different way to the Kupffer cells, giving the liver two effective ways to keep us healthy. 

In fact, the liver has way more than just two ways. It can recruit help from other parts of the immune system, it can filter out pathogens itself, and it can alert the rest of the body to potential issues. 

The liver really is a clever piece of biological kit, so it’s best to keep it as healthy as possible. A healthy liver is a healthy you. 

 How Can You Support Your Liver?

You wouldn’t be here reading this if you didn’t already suspect the answer. All of our drinks at Booyah Vitality work to support the liver- kombucha, dandelion coffee, and our turmeric shot. They are all full of powerful antioxidants essential for the immune system. 

Turmeric contains curcumin, a wonder spice that has been used for centuries. It’s the reason turmeric is yellow… and it’s anti-inflammatory, an antioxidant, and even cancer-fighting! The antioxidant properties of turmeric are so strong they can even stop your liver from being damaged by toxins, such as those in certain strong medication, or health conditions. 

Dandelion coffee, as you may know, is not actually coffee- although it makes a fantastic substitute. It’s a tea made from dandelion root. Dandelion root contains something called polysaccharides. These polysaccharides help reduce stress on the liver, allowing it to function at its best, as well as stimulating the production of bile, which the liver uses to get rid of toxins. Dandelion root is also an antioxidant, a great source of potassium (which helps the kidneys filter toxins), and is chock full of vitamin C. 

 Booyah Vitality and Your Immune System 

All of our drinks at Booyah Vitality are carefully crafted to support immune system. Dandelion Coffee, Kombucha, and Turmeric Shot all offer slightly different benefits, and the best way to keep your immune system in top notch would be a regular combination of all three drinks. If you’re not sure what’s best for you, feel free to pop down to our shop and have a chat!