In my personal gut health opinion, gut health is the most important investment in not only our overall health but especially our immune health… especially this year. So this week, I am touching on gut health’s connection to immune health.

Seventy percent of our immune system is in our gut; don’t hold me to the exact number because I am bad at numbers. What I do know is that the way I can keep my immune system strong is by understanding exactly what I am putting in my mouth and how it affects my gut and immune system.

Fact: sugars, processed foods, alcohol, and flour all feed the unfriendly bacteria, yeasts, fungi, diseases, and cancers of our bodies. They handicap and sabotage our immune systems.

We culturally eat them because they have been normalized and because they feel good at the moment. Part of our brain is wired to feel good, it is a survival mechanism. But that same part of our brain is not able to think and plan for the health of our future or for the strength of our immune system.

There was a ted-talk that had a toilet on stage, the point was to bring awareness that it is not a garbage can. I’d like to do the same Ted Talk with a mouth. I see a pattern in people that shows me that many of us don’t connect and that what we put in our mouth is going to our gut and affecting our entire body including our immune system.

As I look at the winter ahead, my family and I, we are investing in our health above all else. Gut health is the foundation of both overall health as well as immune strength. We are eating nutrient-dense foods, avoiding man-made calories, and managing our stress.

What are you doing for your immune system?