Immune

This page is updated from time to time. I have been fumbling my way through the research trying to understand the immune system better, if at all, from the role of the all it’s various components to the microbiome (after all, they say 70% of our immune system is in our gut). I didn’t pay attention in biology class, so when I say I am fumbling my way through this, it’s an understatement. Still, the information I find is fascinating. We all have an immune system, it’s time to get to know it.

70% of Immune System is in the Gut

What?? What does that mean? How to wrap your brain around this:

SHORT VIDEO: Your Gut = Your Immune System (2023) Mark Hyman explains in a 1 minute video.

Short Video: Understanding the Gut Bacteria and Immune System (2025) from Happy Smiling People Podcast by Emily Reilly. How proper gut bacteria can train your immune system is about 1 minute of video.

PODCAST: The Elixir of Life (2025) Radiolab. A mystery about a large component of breastmilk that babies can’t digest. Why is it there? “your immune system has to develop, be educated in the first few weeks of life. And the immune system is basically located in your gut, for sort of obvious reasons. It’s paying attention to the environment through the bacteria.” About 1 hour long.

Baking Yeast & Autoimmunity (ASCA)

PDF: Anti-saccharomyces cerevisiae autoantibodies and autoimmune diseases: the sweet and sour of baking yeast (2014) “Our results strongly suggest that the role of ASCAs in clinical practice, as well as the dietary recommendations for specific groups of patients, should be further explored in order to evaluate their predictive or prognostic relevance. New manufacturing challenges may need to be considered for vaccines containing S. cerevisiae.“

The Microbiome & Vaccines

Factors Influencing Microbiota in Modulating Vaccine Immune Response: A Long Way to Go. (2023) “The aim of this narrative review is to explore the intricate interactions between the microbiota and the immune system in response to vaccines, highlighting the state of the art in gut microbiota modulation as a novel therapeutic approach to enhancing vaccine immunogenicity and laying the foundation for future, more solid data for its translation to the clinical practice.“

Antibiotics diminish babies’ immune response to key vaccines. (2022) “The drugs disrupt gut bacteria, which appear to play a part in the body’s response to vaccines”

Antibiotic Use and Vaccine Antibody Levels. (2022) “Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as pertussis, may be a consequence of multiple courses of antibiotics suppressing vaccine-induced immunity….Published studies have shown that antibiotic exposure in early life can disrupt gut microbiota diversity for an extended time after administration. Therefore, it is possible that broad-spectrum antibiotics disrupt gut homeostasis in early life and subsequently alter metabolic signals required for optimal plasma B-cell function.“

Books