Your immune system is the key to protecting yourself from all diseases, including cancer, toxic poisons, infections, inflammation, and even the ravages of aging. What many people don't realize is that your immune system really starts in your gut, and that maintaining optimal gut health is paramount in the fight against both acute and chronic disease.

Your gut, where 80 percent of your immune system resides, is home to some 100000000000000 bacteria about 1.5 kg. These bacteria outnumber your body's cells by about 10 to one, and contribute to a wide variety of bodily functions. One of the fastest ways to destroy your intestinal flora is to take antibiotics, which do not distinguish between pathogenic and beneficial bacteria. Every time you swallow antibiotics, you kill some of the beneficial bacteria in the gut and upset the delicate balance of your intestinal terrain.

In addition to allowing pathogenic microorganisms to proliferate, this can also lead to a syndrome called "porous bowel syndrome" which damages your intestinal lining, interferes with the way your body absorbs nutrients and filters out waste and toxins, thus aggravating a growing number of diseases, including autoimmune diseases .

While antibiotics are certainly overused in medicine, one of the most common causes of antibiotic use is actually the food you eat - especially meats.

Animals raised in so-called confined "factories" are regularly fed antibiotics to promote growth. Intensive agricultural use of antibiotics actually accounts for about 80 percent of all antibiotics used, so it is undoubtedly a major source of human antibiotic consumption.

When animals are fed low doses of antibiotics on a daily basis, it disrupts their natural gut flora, allowing stronger, more antibiotic-resistant bacteria to survive, multiply, and pass their resistance on to future generations of bacteria. There is little doubt that the agricultural use of antibiotics for non-medical use is one of, if not the main driver of antibiotic resistance in humans.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), two million U.S. adults and children are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year, and at least 23,000 of them die as a direct result of these infections. The CDC has already concluded that 22 percent of antibiotic-resistant disease in humans is actually linked to food, and research has shown that nearly half of all meats sold carry drug-resistant bacteria in the United States!

Eating organic cannot entirely solve this particular problem, as organic crops, which cannot be treated with synthetic fertilizers, are most often fertilized with manure. Currently, manure containing antibiotics is still allowed under the name "organic". So it depends on where the organic farmer gets his manure.

Some organic crop farmers may purchase their manure from organic beef farms, but there are no guarantees. The only way to know is to ask the farmer. Given all these factors, it is no wonder that the ratio of good bacteria to bad bacteria is very unfavorable for most people in our society.

According to a 2013 paper titled "Avoiding Antibiotics Rationally...," the "non-human use of antibiotics is virtually worthless. In fact, if we consider the risks to human health, it is difficult to conceive the usefulness of non-medical agricultural use of antibiotics.

Optimizing your gut flora can be one of your most important disease prevention strategies

Maintaining a healthy gut flora is critically important. Eating meat from healthy pastures and cattle raised without antibiotics can be a crucial part of the puzzle. In addition, to help reseed your gut with beneficial bacteria, I strongly suggest:

Eating fermented foods. Traditionally, fermented (unpasteurized) foods are the best route to optimal gut health. Some of the beneficial bacteria found in fermented foods are also excellent chelators of heavy metals and pesticides, which will also have a health benefit by reducing your toxic load.

- Fermented vegetables are a great way to get beneficial bacteria back into our gut. And, unlike some other fermented foods, they tend to be tasty, if not downright delicious, to most people.

- Take a high quality probiotic food supplement.

In particular, avoid:

Antibiotics, unless absolutely necessary (and when you do, be sure to reseed your gut with fermented foods and/or a probiotic supplement)

Meat from conventional agriculture treated with antibiotics.

Chlorinated and/or fluoridated water, antibacterial soap, agricultural chemicals, glyphosate (Roundup) etc..

There are also a number of ways you can help reduce the growth and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This includes:

- First of all, as a preventive measure, you make sure that your vitamin D level is optimal as well as vitamin K2.

- A number of other natural compounds can also help boost your immune system to help get rid of an infection, such as oregano (oregano oil), garlic, echinacea, and Manuka honey (for topical application).