Did you know that your immune fitness is related to how well you maintain  your health and how quickly you recover from illness?  If the immune system is weakened, you’re more likely to not feel well, get sick more often, and take longer to recover. Immune wellness is also closely tied to our digestive and nervous systems.

The average American diet leaves much to be desired: high in processed fat, sugar, and refined flour. Sadly, most people do not eat a balanced and varied diet, full of organic whole foods such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds, legumes, and organic lean meats.  As a result the digestive system can quickly become sluggish and unable to do its best work as key nutrients are absent and inflammation (which is found in highly processed food diets) sets in.  Over time poor food choices  weaken the ability of the body to digest food well. Without proper digestion, even eating the healthiest foods may not be fully beneficial. Your digestive system affects your ability to stay well, fend off illnesses, and respond quickly to infections. In fact, more than 70% of the immune responsiveness depends on the health of our digestive system. Not only is the digestive system responsible for making use of needed health-promoting nutrients from food and beverages, but for overall immune health as well.  Peyer’s patches, are area of the gastrointestinal tract that intersect the environment of the gut with the immune tissue of lymph nodes and lymphatic channels that monitor the body for infections and allergic content.  Small bowel and colon cells are connected side to side by apparatus called Tight Junctions.  With inflammation these loosen and expose the body to chemical and biologic toxins.  The immune system then responds to these stimuli. Creating movement through the intestinal system, and interacting with the various chemical and muscle changes that occur, requires a network of nerves to carry the necessary signals as well as the neurotransmitters to support them.  Serotonin, which is a major neurotransmitter identified in depression and other higher brain functions, is found in its largest reservoir in the gastrointestinal system.  Adrenalin, norepinephrine, GABA, histamine, and other neurotransmitters in the brain are found in a normally functioning digestive system.  When the normal function of the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract is disturbed, altered, inflamed, and otherwise unbalanced, the neurotransmitter production, storage, and utilization also falls into dysfunction.  This is often seen in people who have gastro-intestinal disturbance when they find themselves under both acute and chronic stress. Imbalances across this Immune- Digestion -Neuro trilogy reduces our ability to overcome exposure to outside insults and symptoms linger. Over time, the consequences set the stage for auto-immune related illnesses. So what can you do to turn the tide? Reviving digestive, nerve and immune health goes hand in hand.  Starting off initially with improved food and nutritional intake and lifestyle changes is the best first step.   Using PHS’s ReNew Wellness approach  is a great way to get started and can continue to improve your overall health. Journeying on through our ReJuvinate Digestion Program will offer further insights. If weight loss and changing your body composition is a top priority for you, then consider our 12 week Rejuvenating Weight Loss course that helps you get to the underlying issues around unintentional weight gain and overcoming the barriers to weight loss plateaus. Improving eating, resetting digestive balance and reducing body fat go along way to get to the bottom of the underlying causes of symptoms and conditions. Simply put, you can select  your wellness journey with the options that sound best to you.  The key is to make a decision to change your life, and then take action by starting one of the programs. At PHS we have used our expertise and exhaustive research to designate specific care packages for our clients which have an established path and want to rely on their intuition and knowledge so far. Our care packages are designed with pharmaceutical grade nutraceuticals, and state of the art evidence-based information representing a “best of the best” delivery. We operate with a step at a time mindset and purposefully avoid a “kitchen sink” approach.  In addition, under each category there are several options.  Our design starts off simply, then transitions from one level to the next so you build up a normal physiologic response. If you already have knowledge regarding rebuilding your gastrointestinal (GI) system, another option is to review our products per category in our web store and select what might work best for you. Eating good food and taking a well designed probiotic and multi-mineral with optimized B vitamins can make a positive impact on intestinal health.  The key to maximize benefit, is to use quality assured, high grade nutraceuticals to evaluate targeted results.  By starting off addressing a primary concern often creates a resolution which also improves other symptoms and side effects.  The nutraceuticals are ranked in order of priority and each is described as to what they are targeted to support. Hopefully your intended outcome is achieved.  If so, then continue support of your body system. However, if your symptoms persist, consider a consultation with one of our experienced providers of metabolic systems.  We offer connections to a number of dedicated medical nutrition specialists who personalize options for your care. Sometimes getting objective data via blood, saliva, DNA , or stool testing takes the guesswork out.  We are available to assist in guiding you to the correct practitioner and meeting your specific needs. Reach out and select your first step.   There is no better time to start than now.