What if, rather than conferring a benefit to the digestive tract, probiotics worked by slowing the pace of bacterial die-off in organs near the gut, or even in other areas of the gut itself?

Many people go out of there way to buy probiotics, which can be purchased in myriad forms.

There’s been some discussion on the Marshall Protocol study site about how probiotics, or bacteria that are believed to beneficially improve bacterial composition in the gut, may be palliating symptoms but not improving overall health. This probably seems ludicrous to people who go out of their way to buy yogurt with “friendly” bacteria such as acidophilis, or people who dig into their savings to buy probiotics in numerous forms including little silver pearls.

And yet consider this hypothesis. Whereas it used to be believed that the adaptive immune system dictated the immune response in the gut, recent research has made it clear that the innate immune system – which is active inside the villi of the intestines and stomach – is actually largely responsible for keeping gut bacteria in check.

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