Dr. Will Bulsiewicz

It continues to be true.

And I have, again, 1,700 references in my brand new book.

So these are the most anti-inflammatory chemicals and part of what they do, these short chain fatty acids.

is they help us to repair and restore the gut barrier.

And they also allow the immune system to be precise because we don't want the immune system to be overactive, but we also don't want it to be underactive.

We want it to be in the sweet spot where it's able to do its job effectively.

And our short chain fatty acids produced by gut microbes allow us to do that.

The gut microbes are the stewards of the gut barrier.

They are the ones that are working hard to help us to insert high quality cells, keep them there and seal them together through proteins called tight junctions, which are like the cement that holds the bricks of the wall together.

And when the gut barrier is strong, Jonathan, it plays an essential role in protecting the immune system because the entire job of the gut barrier is to allow the good stuff in,

and keep the bad stuff out.

And so when you keep the bad stuff out, you never actually have to activate the immune system.

The immune system will only become activated when it's being exposed to things that it's not supposed to be coming across.

And that's what occurs when the gut barrier is weak, which we call increased intestinal permeability.

People used language like leaky gut

And I don't think it's wrong because leaky gut is actually what's occurring when the gut barrier is weak.

So the point is that we actually have three layers to our defense system.

The first are the gut microbes.

The second is the gut barrier.

And the third is actually our immune system.