There is a new theory in scientific circles concerning how the immune system functions. Picklers who enjoy a regular taste of fresh brine pickles, are in great company. In this issue we’ll discuss how our immune system acts more like a gateway manager for all our microbial community—good, bad, and indifferent.
According to recent articles in the Wall Street Journal, “this new hypothesis could have wide ranging consequences for medicine because a growing number of health problems from inflammatory bowel disease to obesity, have been linked to bacterial communities out of balance, as opposed to a lone pathogen.”
Scientists did not realize the scope and variety of microbiota that inhabit our bodies. What made prior sense was that our immune function was to isolate the bad microbes and destroy them. But what about the good bacteria that dwell in every reach of the body and are a part of keeping us healthy? Why does the immune system ignore them, unless they are a part of the immunological function. This turns the science of immunology upside down. And it gives pause to realize that healthy microbes are a part of the defense coordinated by our immune system.
Here’s another recent find. The mystery our appendix and its function is now thought to be the immune system’s pickler extraordinaire—producing healthy microflora when existing cultures take a huge hit. Your immune system is capable of managing the balance of healthy microbes.
In conclusion to this article, the author, Mark Schoofs, ponders this, “Learning the optimal composition of benign bacteria ... might eventually help medicine treat disease, if not prevent it.”
What we have been underscoring through our website articles is the fact that fermented foods are functional and aid the immune system in preventing disease, as well as creating nutritional well-being. It’s a double win for us. It is now considered in some schools that these beneficial microbiota account for up to 70 percent of our immune response. It is only after pathogens have broken through this defense does the body pull out the stops and throw specific microbial warriors into the attack. We are seeing the overall benefits of consuming fermented foods when looking into the diets of long-lived people in a variety of lifestyles around the globe. Small amounts of live cultured foods are eaten daily with most meals. These microbes are now becoming highly regarded in the scientific community as agents of disease control.
In a similar article, we know these microbes are “... feeding us the calories from food we can't digest on our own ... tending our skin and dosing us with vitamins, such as B-6 and B-12, which we are unable to synthesize unaided.”
As a fellow pickler, you are now deputized to create excess pickles and share them with your family and friends.