What if the health of your gut directly affects your lungs?
It might sound far-fetched, but emerging research shows that your gut microbiota has a surprising impact on respiratory health (Budden et al, 2017; Sencio et al., 2021)
Let’s unravel this gut-lung connection.
The Gut-Lung Axis.
Gut bacteria influence immune cells, which circulate to protect your lungs (Anand & Mande, 2018).
An imbalanced gut microbiome can spark inflammation in distant organs, including the lungs (Clemente et al., 2018).
Conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are often tied to gut microbiota imbalances (Bikov et al., 2022).
How to Keep Your Gut and Lungs in Sync.
Fiber-rich diets reduce inflammation and boost immunity (Venter et al., 2022).
Unnecessary antibiotics can disrupt the gut and weaken lung defenses (de Nies et al., 2023).
More good gut bacteria mean better lung health (Enaud et al., 2020).
Research Highlights.
A 2014 study found out that probiotics significantly reduced the severity of respiratory infections (Lehtoranta et al., 2014).
Fiber-rich diets have also been shown to decrease lung inflammation markers (Schenzel et al., 2024).
Your gut and lungs are part of the same health ecosystem.
Nurturing your microbiome isn’t just good for your belly – it’s good for your breathing, too!
References:
Anand, S., & Mande, S. S. (2018). Diet, microbiota and gut-lung connection. Frontiers in microbiology, 9, 2147.
Bikov, A., Dragonieri, S., Csoma, B., Mazzuca, C., Finamore, P., Rocchi, G., … & Scarlata, S. (2022). The role of gut bacteriome in asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and obstructive sleep apnoea. Microorganisms, 10(12), 2457.
Budden, K. F., Gellatly, S. L., Wood, D. L., Cooper, M. A., Morrison, M., Hugenholtz, P., & Hansbro, P. M. (2017). Emerging pathogenic links between microbiota and the gut–lung axis. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 15(1), 55-63.
Clemente, J. C., Manasson, J., & Scher, J. U. (2018). The role of the gut microbiome in systemic inflammatory disease. Bmj, 360.
de Nies, L., Kobras, C. M., & Stracy, M. (2023). Antibiotic-induced collateral damage to the microbiota and associated infections. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 21(12), 789-804.
Enaud, R., Prevel, R., Ciarlo, E., Beaufils, F., Wieërs, G., Guery, B., & Delhaes, L. (2020). The gut-lung axis in health and respiratory diseases: a place for inter-organ and inter-kingdom crosstalks. Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, 10, 9.
Lehtoranta, L., Pitkäranta, A., & Korpela, R. (2014). Probiotics in respiratory virus infections. European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases, 33, 1289-1302.
Schenzel, A., Geiger, A., Nendel, E., Yang, Z., Krammer, S., Leberle, A., … & Finotto, S. (2024). Fiber rich food suppressed airway inflammation, GATA3+ Th2 cells, and FcεRIα+ eosinophils in asthma. Frontiers in Nutrition, 11, 1367864.
Sencio, V., Machado, M. G., & Trottein, F. (2021). The lung–gut axis during viral respiratory infections: the impact of gut dysbiosis on secondary disease outcomes. Mucosal Immunology, 14(2), 296-304.
Venter, C., Meyer, R. W., Greenhawt, M., Pali‐Schöll, I., Nwaru, B., Roduit, C., … & O’Mahony, L. (2022). Role of dietary fiber in promoting immune health—An EAACI position paper. Allergy, 77(11), 3185-3198.