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Air Quality and Stress Affected Your Immunity

  • October 05, 2016

A new study shows that air quality, food, stress levels, sleep patterns and lifestyle choices all work together to form a strong, combined effect on your immune responses, India Times reports. This is a good summary of various immune system findings I’ve been talking about for a while.

For example, recent findings show that your microbiome — aka human gut bacteria — can play a huge part in your overall immunity. While microbiome science is still in the early stages, scientists have explored why certain foods are good for us and others aren't. The connection between food, microbes and health are all inextricably intertwined, and unraveling the mysteries may shed light on how they affect our metabolism.

While it’s long been said that “you are what you eat,” a more accurate description might be “you are what your microbes eat.” In fact, a new diet can rapidly reshape the microbes in your gut, which has implications not only for your digestive health but far beyond this to your weight, risk of chronic diseases, and more.

You can optimize your gut flora by eating beneficial bacteria such as fermented foods including lassi (an Indian yogurt drink), fermented grass-fed organic milk such as kefir, various pickled fermentations of cabbage, turnips, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, squash and carrots, and natto (fermented soy). Although good food choices are the best way to go, if you don't eat fermented foods on a regular basis, taking a high-quality probiotic supplement can also help.