The recent COVID-19 outbreak originated in China and has since been declared a global health emergency, and Singapore has not been spared. The initial indications from the death cases indicated that the mortality rate is not high, but its transmission rate is faster than SARS in 2003. This has once caused panic among local residents.
How does this new coronavirus invade the human body? How harmful is it to people? How do people avoid getting infected? The reporter interviewed Dr. Chia Boon Tat, one of the founders of Freshwerkz Pte Ltd.
Dr. Chia said that the most fundamental way to fight this new strain of coronavirus infection is to maintain the body’s own strong immune system.
He said that the coronavirus attacks the lungs and causes respiratory diseases. They cause flu-like symptoms: patients face symptoms such as sore throat, fever and cough, and may develop pneumonia and other complications.
“By now we recognize that abnormalities in the immune system can cause the initial infection with the new coronavirus to worsen, and eventually cause death. Therefore, it is important to keep the immune system working properly.”
“Normally, the immune system responds to the severity of infections and limits inflammation to the infected area. In some people, their immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues, while in others In humans, the immune system is tightly controlled and functioning. What’s going on? The answer lies in the gut.”
The gut is home for a very large number of microbes called the gut microbiota or flora. This flora has a huge impact on our health and equilibrium of the body. It influences many aspects of the body’s physiology from metabolism to the cardiovascular system and nervous system. In particular, the gut flora plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy immune system.
Modern science has proven that 70% of immune cells are produced in the intestine, most of which are concentrated in the large intestinal mucosa. As the Chinese saying goes, “Illness enters from the mouth.” It means that the virus enters the body with food. In order to prevent the invasion of foreign pathogens, the intestine has become the largest immune organ.
One way to improve immunity is to increase intestinal bacteria that can activate immune cells. Plant-based foods are food for intestinal bacteria, and fermented foods and probiotics can increase the quantity of intestinal bacteria.
Dr. Chia said that intestinal problems are usually caused by insufficient bacteria count in the intestine, or lack of diversity.
For example, in a clean environment such as Singapore, people tend to have fewer types of bacteria in the gut. When we visit places with not-so-good sanity environment, we are likely to get diarrhea if we consume food that is not prepared properly. In countries where the environment is not so clean, the locals are immune to those bacteria. Therefore, if the flora in the intestine is diverse enough, it can react better and the intestine will be healthier.
Hundreds of different bacterial flora live in the intestine. In a newborn, 90% of intestinal bacteria are probiotics, while the proportion of probiotics in adult intestinal bacteria is only 10% to 15%. The proportion is lower as we age.
He said that the best way to increase the number of beneficial bacteria in the intestine is to introduce beneficial bacteria into the intestine and effectively reproduce, adjust the microecological balance of the intestine, and develop a healthy gut. As we improve our immunity, diseases can be kept at bay.
“ProVie G is our earliest product on the market. Besides probiotics, it also contains prebiotics, as well as fermented bitter gourd and moringa to boost immunity as well as maintain good metabolic health.”
Among them, prebiotics help increase the quantity and species of good bacteria in the human body. Moringa is a superfood. Regular consumption of moringa seeds can enhance immunity, detoxification, anti-aging, and is beneficial to a variety of chronic and major illnesses.
Freshwerkz has more than 20 years of research and practice, and has developed a proprietary fermentation method to produce health supplements containing pre- and probiotics with healing plants for specific conditions.