The world has been in pandemic mode for a year and a half and the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to spread at a slow burn. Today, over 170 million people have been infected worldwide and 1.7 million are dead. Imagine how the COVID-19 pandemic might develop in scenarios like this. The future depends on a lot of uncertainties, but the choices we made can make a difference.
Although COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory illness, but there is mounting evidence suggests that a part of our body that most of us rarely think about may play a role. That is, the gut; or more precisely, the gut flora. The gut flora refers to the billions of microorganisms that live in our gut. It actively impacts multiple body functions, including circadian rhythmicity, nutritional responses, metabolism and immunity.
In fact, the gut has 70-80% of our body’s immune cell and known to be the largest immunological organ in the body. In the gut, the gut flora is responsible in regulating immune response against pathogens. It also ensures the immune response is effective whilst not causing damages to our body. The gut flora can trigger effective immune response against pathogens that not only infect the gut, but also those infecting the lungs, such as the flu virus. How? The gut flora can signal specialised immune cells to produce potent antiviral proteins that ultimately eliminate viral infections.
However, disruption of the gut flora can lead to immune dysfunction and inflammation. Imbalance and low diversity of gut flora has been linked to chronic conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), diabetes, obesity, malnutrition, depression, cardiovascular disease and more. Besides that, increasing studies have evaluated that poor gut flora is linked to the development of severe manifestation of COVID-19 symptoms.
The best way to protect yourself from SARS-CoV-2 is making good decisions. The gut is our internal barrier protecting us from the outside world. Don’t know where to start? Begin with choosing the right food and/ or supplement to help maintain the balance and vast diversity of your gut flora. Improving gut flora profile can boost your immunity and minimized the impact of this disease, especially in elderly and immune-compromised individuals. Click here to learn how you can improve your gut flora profile.
Stay safe with Broadcare!
Reference:
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- Burchill, E., Lymberopoulos, E., Menozzi, E., Budhdeo, S., McIlroy, J. R., Macnaughtan, J., & Sharma, N. (2021). The Unique Impact of COVID-19 on Human Gut Microbiome Research. Frontiers in Medicine, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2021.652464
- Chhibber-Goel, J., Gopinathan, S., & Sharma, A. (2021). Interplay between severities of COVID-19 and the gut microbiome: implications of bacterial co-infections? Gut Pathogens, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13099-021-00407-7
- Coronavirus Cases: Worldometer. (n.d.). https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/.
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- Yeoh, Y. K., Zuo, T., Lui, G. C.-Y., Zhang, F., Liu, Q., Li, A. Y. L., Chung, A. C. K., Cheung, C. P., Tso, E. Y. K., Fung, K. S. C., Chan, V., Ling, L., Joynt, G., Hui, D. S.-C., Chow, K. M., Ng, S. S., Li, T. C.-M., Ng, R. W. Y., Yip, T. C. F., … Ng, S. C. (2021). Gut microbiota composition reflects disease severity and dysfunctional immune responses in patients with COVID-19. Gut, 70(4), 698–706. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2020-323020
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