I’ve read so many things on this subject and I’m still no nearer to understanding it!
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Okay, so you know how there are good guys and bad guys in movies? Well, it’s kind of like that in your body too! The friendly bacteria are like the good guys, and they help your immune system by fighting off the bad guys (like germs) that can make you sick.
1. Competition – It is more difficult for “bad” bacteria to gain a foothold when they have to compete with “good” bacteria. This is why people are more likely to get opportunistic infections like *C. diff* after taking antibiotics.
2. Crosstalk between immune cells and good bacteria that goes beyond the scope of ELI5, but for simplicity we’ll just say it’s practice for the immune cells. ([more information in this review article](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41422-020-0332-7))
3. The gut bacteria in particular are important for producing certain vitamins and helping us absorb nutrients, deficiencies can negatively affect health and indirectly weaken the immune system.
Okay, so you know how there are good guys and bad guys in movies? Well, it’s kind of like that in your body too! The friendly bacteria are like the good guys, and they help your immune system by fighting off the bad guys (like germs) that can make you sick.
1. Competition – It is more difficult for “bad” bacteria to gain a foothold when they have to compete with “good” bacteria. This is why people are more likely to get opportunistic infections like *C. diff* after taking antibiotics.
2. Crosstalk between immune cells and good bacteria that goes beyond the scope of ELI5, but for simplicity we’ll just say it’s practice for the immune cells. ([more information in this review article](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41422-020-0332-7))
3. The gut bacteria in particular are important for producing certain vitamins and helping us absorb nutrients, deficiencies can negatively affect health and indirectly weaken the immune system.
Okay, so you know how there are good guys and bad guys in movies? Well, it’s kind of like that in your body too! The friendly bacteria are like the good guys, and they help your immune system by fighting off the bad guys (like germs) that can make you sick.
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