Immunity and the Gut

Since the majority of the immune system is found in the Gut, I figured we could start our immune discussion here.
This is the area that comes into contact with the largest amount of foreign material.

As most of you know, my primary focus is Eastern Medicine and The Five Element theory. In my experience, this system has proved to be the most accurate and the most truthful. While western medicine has its place it has become fairly biased through pharmaceutically funded research.
This ancient system of Eastern medicine was developed through pure observation and has been used for several thousand years. The accuracy astounds me.

I will use TCM for Traditional Chinese Medicine and 5ET for Five Element Theory.

In TCM, it is said that we receive our life's energy or qi from 3 sources:
1) Jing - our genetic qi which we receive from birth.
I like to think of this as our maternal immunity - that which we received in the womb from our mother and father's DNA. Some of us were born with naturally strong immune function and some of us with weak immune function.
2) Food qi - this is the energy we derive from our food. It either works for us and strengthens our immune system or works against us and lowers our immune function. This is where I believe the American diet has failed significantly. Most doctors and veterinarians refuse to believe "WE ARE WHAT WE EAT."
3) Lung qi - this is the energy we derive from the air we breathe.
Some people are born into areas with clean open air and others are born into areas with poor air quality. Some may live in areas that are polluted from factories or traffic or live in an environment that is damp and moldy/mildewed or are exposed to chemicals such as formaldehyde, propane or low levels of carbon monoxide.

So as we see, there are really only 2 aspects of our immune health we can control:
The food we eat.
The air we breathe.

Below is a picture of the layers of the upper intestine, duodenum, where food is primarily absorbed.

Since the gut comprises the largest immune function in the body, the health of the gut is of utmost importance. The gut has many layers as you can see in the picture. The layer that is most affected through diet, poor health, disease, drug metabolism -especially antibiotics, and/or excessive vaccinations is the innermost layer, the mucosa. Within this layer are tiny finger like projections, called villi. These are responsible for the first line of defense in absorbing nutrients and keeping out invaders such as bad bacteria, viruses, chemicals, toxins, food additives, etc.
Below is a magnified view of the villi and how they receive particles through ingestion.

 

 

 

When the gut is unhealthy, the villi do not work properly. If the villi are not working properly foreign invaders may enter into the second layer. Here they will be met with the gut's store of immune cells - the lymphatic system but if the villi are unhealthy, the lymphatic system will likely not be functioning at optimal capacity.
Lymphatics: Just as blood vessels (arteries and veins) carry blood in the body, a parallel system called lymphatics carry lymph, a clear, watery fluid from spaces within tissues, containing various substances (including proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and sometimes even microbes).
The lymphatic system and lacteals of the villi can become congested with cholesterol and/or other toxins which decrease the viscosity of the lymph fluid and further prevent immune protection.
We will discuss proper gut health in another discussion.

As you can see in this next photo, there is a lymphatic system (tiny green clusters) located in the mucosa layer, this should be the body's strongest defense mechanism.

Below is a short picture of what the system looks like working together to keep the body protected. As food, chemicals, toxins enter the intestinal tract the intestinal cellular health must be prepared to go to war. Eating seems so passive and even enjoyable but to our body is a constant battle. It is such a beautiful and unique system so intricately designed. I just cannot get enough of it.

I have also included a short video (just a few minutes long) which walks the viewer through all the steps above.
Please take a moment to watch this video, it will help you understand the importance of gut health and why it is imperative that we nourish our health through diet, supplements, life-style and partake very little in chemically derived medications, especially antibiotics.

Click on the link below to watch the video.

http://bcove.me/4wul3t4o