Beat COVID-19 from within

You might hate to admit it, but COVID-19 remains a top health challenge.

Especially when it comes to transmission—and symptoms of long COVID.

But exciting research continues to emerge…

And recent findings suggest the key to warding off an infection could “live” inside you.

Build an internal wall

As I’ve said many times, your gut is ground zero for good health. It hosts trillions of healthy bacteria, as well as 70 percent of your body’s immune cells.

It’s also where we absorb nutrients and defend against toxins.

So, really, it makes sense that fending off COVID-19 could depend on the health of your gut microbiome.

And that’s precisely what this new research set out to explore.

Researchers recruited nearly 200 participants who were exposed to COVID-19 by a household member.

Then, subjects were randomly instructed to take either 10 billion colony-forming units (CFUs) of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG)—a probiotic strain—or a placebo once daily for 28 days.

The researchers tracked self-reported COVID-19 symptoms among participants, such as fever/chills, headache, muscle aches, sore threat, shortness of breath, loss of taste or small, and more.

Turns out, the LGG group did not “catch” COVID-19 as quickly as the control group.

They also had reduced symptoms—and an improved gut microbiome structure (as detected through stool samples).

What to look for

While there were some limitations to this study—researchers used a small sample size and relied on self-reported symptoms—it highlights just how important the gut is to overall health.

In fact, I recently reported a diverse gut microbiome helps prevent the colonization of an invading pathogen. (Read more here.)

And it’s very likely that includes COVID-19.

So, if you haven’t already, I urge you to add a high-quality probiotic supplement to your regimen.

You can look for one that contains Lacticaseibacillus, as studies suggest this species helps prevent upper and lower respiratory tract infections.

But I never suggest ingesting just one strain. Remember, a lot of products will try to wow you with the number of CFUs they deliver—but bigger isn’t better here.

You want diversity (multiple strains) over quantity.

(I have to wonder if ingesting multiple strains would have slashed those transmission rates completely?!)

In addition, you want a probiotic that also contains prebiotics and postbiotics. You can learn why by referring back to the January issue of my monthly Logical Health Alternatives newsletter (“UPGRADE your probiotic supplement and UNLEASH its true healing power).

Subscribers can access that issue by logging in with their credentials—and searching the archives—by clicking here. Otherwise, scroll down to learn about becoming a member!

Source:

“Probiotics may thwart symptoms of Covid-19.” Nutra-ingredients, 01/12/2024.

(nutraingredients-usa.com/article/2024/01/12/probiotics-may-thwart-symptoms-of-covid-19)