Masters of Health Magazine June 2022 | Page 17

We are born with an inherent “boundary” in our gut that creates a separation between what is allowed into our bloodstream and what should be kept out. Antigens of all sorts, proteins, bacterial products, heavy metal toxins, and agricultural poisons can breach this gut barrier when the gut lining is inflamed or leaky. This breakdown leads to the production of antibodies that further cellular damage. This process is intrinsic to the process of autoimmune disease.

What does all this have to do with vaccines, which are often administered intramuscularly? The underlying autoimmune phenomenon is the same. And, actually, it has been shown that vaccination does have a direct effect on the microbiome and gut permeability even when given intramuscularly, not orally. The precise mechanism of how this happens is unknown, but I believe that anytime you affect the balance of immune response, you affect the largest and most important organ system of immune response that we have—the gut.

Dr. Tom Cowan and his wife, Lynda.