Description
What is Akkermansia?
In 2004—the same year that smartphones came out—Akkermansia muciniphila was discovered. Today—similar to how smartphones have changed how we communicate—Akkermansia has changed how we approach gut health. Akkermansia is a unique and novel probiotic strain that is naturally found in your gastrointestinal tract. It directly interacts with the gut lining and helps regulate the mucus lining of the gut, which helps maintain your gut lining*.
In healthy people, Akkermansia accounts for up to 4% of your intestinal bacteria. The most direct way to increase Akkermansia levels in your gut is by taking our exclusive formulation.
*Based on preclinical studies
Akkermansia is a really interesting organism. Its full name is Akkermansia Muciniphila. It an incredible tool in healing and sealing gut hyper-permeability, also known as leaky gut.
It is a mucin loving organsim. It’s a strict anaerobe which means it cannot be in the presence of oxygen. It lives in our colon where we have a mucus layer that’s living on top of epithelial cells. Akkermansia’s job is to degrade and sort of slough off and eat the existing mucin that is old and needs to go away. What that does is stimulate goblet cells to produce a fresh layer of mucus. (goblet cells are intestinal mucosal epithelial cells that serve as the primary site for nutrient digestion and mucosal absorption).
A nice fresh layer of mucin is what is needed to prevent leaky gut. When your gut is permeable, it allows opportunistic and pathogenic organisms to end up in places where they shouldn’t be and that causes inflammation which can manifest in a number of ways.
Reduction in the abundance of Akkermansia has been implicated in the progression of metabolic, autoimmune ad neurodegenerative diseases. Akkermansia also plays a role in the regulation of body weight in humans. Through the combined mechanisms, it is inferred that Akkermansia plays an important role in lessening inflammation throughout the body in cases of: IBDm IBS, obesity, chronic inflammation associated with Type 2 diabetes. There is also growing interest in dermatology and auto -immune diseases! And it’s found to be abundant in centenarians indicating its role in longevity.
How does Akkermansia support your health?
Your gut microbiome is an ecosystem that is home to tens of trillions of bacteria—some good and some bad.
Healthy adult gut microbiomes are both relatively stable and diverse. While a well-balanced gut microbiome supports a healthy body, the opposite is true for a poorly balanced gut microbiome. So what does any of this have to do with Akkermansia? The lining of your intestines is made up of epithelial cells (i.e. the cells that cover the surfaces of bodily organs). These epithelial cells are covered in a slimy mucus layer that is rich in a protein called “mucin.” Akkermansia…loves this mucin!
Akkermansia loves mucin so much, it uses it for energy. The more mucin that Akkermansia eats, the more it encourages epithelial cells to make additional mucin. This additional “mucin making” strengthens your intestinal wall*, which is critical for your health.
This isn’t just any old bacteria strain. In many ways, Akkermansia represents a breakthrough in modern health. Here are a few reasons why you should care about the benefits of Akkermansia muciniphila:
- It acts as the gatekeeper to your gut. By protecting and strengthening your gut lining, Akkermansia helps to keep good bacteria in and bad bacteria out. A strong gut lining may make you less likely to develop gut dysbiosis and chronic illness over time.
- It prevents inflammation. Optimal levels of Akkermansia muciniphila usually mean less leaky gut. Therefore, less inflammation.
- It’s speculated to protect against illness. Scientists have studied Akkermansia muciniphila levels in healthy and sick people. The presence of this bacteria seems to be much more common in healthy people.
- It may manage glucose levels in the body. There still isn’t a lot of information on how Akkermansia muciniphila positively impacts type 2 diabetes — but the studies that have been done are promising. Especially for those who struggle with insulin resistance, supporting this bacteria could be a much-needed breakthrough.
- Study on BENEFITS
Taken Along with our ALIVE PROBIOTIC + GASTRO HEALTH and you have a complete supplement regimen to repair your gut,
