Topic: Gut and immunity
Gut, immunity and evolution: what the evidence says
Everything this site carries on the gut and immunity, gathered in one place: the book's chapters and where they say to start, every popular claim they grade, and the reference topics and terms behind them.
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Where does the book say to start on the gut and immunity?
Chapter 6: The Gut That Expects Dirt
Eat more fiber, from many kinds of plant
ProbableEvidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.Add one serving of fermented food with live cultures a day, and build up if you like it
EmergingEvidence grade: Emerging. Early, small, animal-only, or actively contested.Parents of babies: introduce peanut and well-cooked egg early, and keep them in the diet
StrongEvidence grade: Strong. Multiple randomized controlled trials, or consistent large cohort studies with a well-understood mechanism.for peanut in high-risk babiesProbableEvidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.for egg and other babies
Which popular claims about the gut and immunity hold up?
Is raw milk healthier or safe?
Against, and the risk is measured.
ProbableEvidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.Do probiotic pills fix your gut?
For healthy people, unsupported; spend the money on yogurt and beans.
ProbableEvidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.Can a greens powder replace vegetables?
Expensive vitamins, and no substitute for vegetables.
EmergingEvidence grade: Emerging. Early, small, animal-only, or actively contested.Is leaky gut real?
Real in specific diseases, unproven as an everyday diagnosis.
EmergingEvidence grade: Emerging. Early, small, animal-only, or actively contested.
What does the body expect, and what does it get now?
The mismatch cards of the reference topics behind these chapters, as the library states them.
Topic 12: The Gut That Expects Dirt
ProbableEvidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.The gut and its roughly 38 trillion bacteria, which ferment what your own enzymes cannot digest.
- What it expects
- Tens of grams of fiber a day from many plants, a seasonal menu, and microbes from soil and food.
- What it gets
- About 17 g of fiber a day (the US adult average), a narrow and refined diet, courses of antibiotics, and sanitized surroundings.
- What happens in the gap
- Fewer species and less fermentation, with links to disease still being untangled.
Topic 18: The Immune System's Education
ProbableEvidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.The immune system and the tolerance it must learn.
- What it expects
- Early years full of microbes from siblings, animals, soil, water and food, and early tastes of lifelong foods.
- What it gets
- Small families, indoor lives, fewer animals and, until recently, advice to delay allergenic foods.
- What happens in the gap
- Tolerance fails outward as allergy and inward as autoimmune disease, diagnosed in about one person in 10 in the UK over two decades.
Topic 20: The Fever and the Old Enemies
ProbableEvidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.Fever, sickness behavior and the defenses against infection.
- What it expects
- Infection as the commonest threat, care from others while sick, and bands too small for crowd diseases.
- What it gets
- Crowd and herd diseases, fever treated as the enemy, work while sick, antibiotics overused and vaccines refused.
- What happens in the gap
- Fever phobia and contagious presenteeism; returning measles; resistant bacteria; old genetic trade-offs meeting new viruses.
Terms
The chapters and reference topics on this page cite 115 distinct works, each listed on its own page and in the source register. Educational content, not medical advice; read the disclaimer.