Healthy gut, happy lungs? The gut-lung axis!

Remarkable two-way communication between gut microbes and lung health.

This is fascinating!

You have a gut–lung axis - a two-way street between your gut microbes and lung health.

Your gut microbiome — the mix of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes in your digestive tract — does more than break down food.

It also helps “train” and regulate your immune system.

When your gut bacteria are balanced, they produce metabolites like short-chain fatty acids and other signaling molecules that promote healthy immune responses, restrain unnecessary inflammation, and support gut barrier integrity.

But those immune and metabolic signals don’t stay in your gut — they can travel through the bloodstream, influencing other organs, including your lungs.

In lung diseases like pneumonia, the balance of gut microbes is often disrupted (a condition called dysbiosis).

Dysbiosis can trigger excessive systemic inflammation, weaken immune regulation, and allow “leakage” of microbial products or immune mediators into circulation. All of these things strain lung tissues.

In acute respiratory distress such as ARDS, gut-derived immune cells and inflammatory signals can contribute directly to lung injury.

Nutshell?

A healthy gut ecosystem can help immune responses, calm inflammation, and support lung defenses.

When that gut microbiome is upset, it may worsen inflammation in the lungs and slow recovery from lung diseases.

You can keep your gut microbiome thriving with slowly fermenting prebiotic soluble fiber foods.

You are not alone.

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XOXO
Heather

Heather Van Vorous
Over 40 years dealing with IBS
Get full help for IBS here