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How Intestinal Mucosa Supports Probiotic Absorption

By Jodi Cohen

Intestinal Mucosa Oil in hand

Your intestinal mucosa lines your intestinal tract. It acts as a semi-permeable barrier helping to maintain the balance of your intestinal flora by nourishing good bacteria, helping to absorb nutrients, secrete waste, and supporting immunity by protecting against opportunistic pathogens.

As the innermost lining of your intestinal wall, your intestinal mucosa layer is the first physical line of defense that foreign molecules encounter when reaching the intestinal lumen, helping to prevent bacteria from coming into direct contact with epithelial cells.

When you ingest probiotics, they attach to the intestinal mucosa, which prolongs the time they can interact with the gastrointestinal immune system and microbiota, thus maximizing the benefits of probiotics. The ability of probiotics to adhere to the intestinal surface is a measure of their efficacy. Studies have shown that a healthy intestinal barrier is essential for the effective absorption of probiotics — the “good” bacteria known to keep your gut healthy.

The ability of probiotics to adhere to the intestinal mucosa is crucial for their effectiveness as this adhesion helps probiotics resist being washed away by intestinal contents and enhances their ability to colonize the gut. Supporting the health of your intestinal mucosa helps probiotics adhere to the gut lining and improve their ability to support gut health and immunity.

In contrast, compromised mucosal health can significantly reduce the efficacy of probiotics. Research on “Probiotics in the Management of Gastrointestinal Disorders” suggests that healing the intestinal mucosa may enhance the benefits of probiotics, making it essential for optimal absorption

Probiotics are live microorganisms — such as live bacteria and yeasts found in fermented foods — that help maintain the healthy function of the intestinal microbial barrier, which helps regulate the balance of intestinal microflora. 

Probiotics contain beneficial types of microbes to help maintain or improve the “good” or “helpful” bacteria in your gut by adding to your existing supply of friendly microbes. They help fight off the less friendly or “opportunistic” bacteria and boost your immunity against infections.

When your body is healthy and resilient, fed by healthy beneficial probiotics, these opportunistic pathogens lay low so your immune system doesn’t detect them.

But the moment they detect that your resistance is low and you are more vulnerable, they sense “opportunity” and deplete the balance of beneficial bacteria in your gut microbiome, which keeps opportunistic pathogens in check. Probiotics help maintain a healthy balance of gut flora and prevent them from becoming pathogenic.

That said, probiotics by themselves are not magic bullets. They need a healthy home to thrive. By nurturing your intestinal mucosa, you create the perfect environment for these beneficial bacteria to flourish, enhancing their ability to support your overall health.

Research on the “Role of the intestinal barrier in the modulation of immune responses” found that “intestinal microorganisms are able to have a positive impact by interacting with the intestinal mucosa as well as intestinal immune cells, with probiotics strengthening your intestinal immune function, while harmful pathogens enter the surrounding tissues or bloodstream through the leaky gut and have a negative impact on the organism.”

Probiotics can help maintain a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut, which can improve your overall health and support the following issues. A lack of beneficial flora — that probiotics and healthy intestinal mucosa can support — might present as issues like:

  • Digestive issues: bloating, constipation, diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, acid reflux, or indigestion
  • Skin conditions: inflammatory skin conditions like eczema, rosacea, psoriasis, dry, flaky, or other unexplained skin reactions
  • Mental health: mood swings, anxiety, depression, irritability, feelings of chronic stress and overwhelm, or other mental health conditions
  • Fatigue or Poor Sleep: Low energy, chronic fatigue, insomnia, or sleep disturbances
  • Brain fog: Difficulty concentrating, poor memory, or cognitive decline
  • Immune and Autoimmune Disorders: Frequent colds, infections, weakened immunity, multiple chemical sensitivities, chronic inflammation, or joint pain
  • Food Reactions and Sensitivities: Food intolerances and sensitivities, Histamine intolerance, Unexplained bloating, or discomfort after meals
  • Hormonal and Metabolic Issues/Disorders: Weight gain (especially stubborn belly fat), hormonal imbalances, metabolic disorders (like insulin resistance)

Healthy Intestinal Mucosa helps to prolong the time probiotics can influence the gastrointestinal immune system and microbiota of the host. Thus the ability to adhere to intestinal surfaces is thought to correspond to the efficacy of the probiotic strain.

Intestinal mucosa is the innermost layer that lines the intestinal wall of your gastrointestinal tract, serving as a barrier that regulates what enters the bloodstream, protecting your body from harmful pathogens while allowing nutrients to pass through. This intestinal mucosal layer plays a crucial role in maximizing digestion and absorption. The lining is highly folded to form microscopic finger-like projections called villi, which increase the surface area to help with absorption. 

It also plays host to your gut flora, helping to keep it healthy and intact. Healthy intestinal mucosa is the glue that helps the gut flora — or the probiotics that feed the flora — stick to the gut lining. Healthy gut flora feeds the cells of the intestinal lining, known as enterocytes. In turn, the enterocytes are responsible for the selective uptake of beneficial nutrients, making it critical for proper digestion and assimilation.

The mucosal layer is rich in immune cells that interact with probiotics. Just like a well-tended garden, a healthy gut lining is essential for nurturing the probiotics you introduce into your body. When probiotics are consumed, they can adhere to the mucosal surface, triggering local immune responses that enhance their survival and efficacy. This interaction not only supports the absorption of probiotics, it helps protect the intestines from pathogens, enzymes, toxins, dehydration, and abrasion.

Healthy flora competes with potential pathogens for space and food, helping to maintain the healthy balance of bacteria in the intestines. If your healthy gut bacteria are already using all the resources available, there’s nothing left to feed the bad guys. This also helps to keep opportunistic bacteria in check. When beneficial bacteria are depleted, opportunistic pathogens can proliferate and overgrow. 

Research on the “Role of intestinal microbes on intestinal barrier function” found that a healthy intestinal barrier is essential for the effective absorption of probiotics. The mucosal layer is rich in immune cells that interact with probiotics. When probiotics are consumed, they can adhere to the mucosal surface, triggering local immune responses that enhance their survival and efficacy, according to research on “The immune system and the gut microbiota”.

Research on “Probiotics in Intestinal Mucosal Healing” found that healing the integrity of the intestinal mucosa “led to significantly decreased inflammation” and “seems to improve the clinical course of patients”.

Probiotics thrive in a healthy environment, so supporting your mucosa strengthens your body’s natural defenses and helps support:

Enhanced Absorption: A healthy intestinal mucosa optimizes the absorption of nutrients, including the beneficial bacteria found in probiotics. When your mucosa is compromised, this absorption process can falter, reducing the effectiveness of probiotics. The mucus layer plays a protective role and also facilitates the movement of probiotics through the gut. The composition of this mucus can influence how effectively probiotics are absorbed, according to research on “The inner of the two Muc2 mucin-dependent mucus layers in the intestine is devoid of bacteria.” 

Immune Function: The mucosal layer is home to a significant portion of your immune system. A robust mucosa helps maintain a balanced microbiome, which is essential for immune regulation. A healthy gut microbiome (or gut flora) may also help to modulate the inflammatory immune response and neutralize toxic substances. In her book, “Gut and Psychology Syndrome”, Dr. Natasha-Campbell-McBride notes that “healthy Indigenous gut flora has a good ability to neutralize toxic substances, inactivate histamine, chelate heavy metals, and other poisons. The cell walls of the beneficial bacteria absorb many carcinogenic substances making them inactive. They also suppress hyperplastic processes in the gut, which is the basis of all cancer formation.” In other words, if the intestinal mucosa nourishes the gut flora to keep it healthy and working properly, it neutralizes all other health threats.

Barrier Function: A well-functioning intestinal mucosa acts as a barrier against harmful substances. An imbalance of gut flora, known as dysbiosis, can result in an overgrowth of bugs, bacteria, mold, fungus, yeast, and/or parasites. This imbalance causes food to ferment in the intestines instead of being digested, creating gas and bloating and further weakening the lining of the gut wall — known as “leaky gut”— which can lead to even greater inflammation. Healthy gut flora, fueled by probiotics, helps to make the gut more acidic and hostile to invading bacteria. If the mucosal lining is impaired from working to protect the intestinal walls against pathogens and damage from food and waste, the beneficial effects of the nutrient-dense diet and probiotics are diminished. It is almost like trying to apply wallpaper without glue. It will not stick where you want it to go.

The following factors may contribute to inflammation that damages the intestinal mucosa:

  • Food Allergies
  • Environmental Toxins
  • Heavy Metals
  • Antibiotics
  • Dehydration
  • Chronic Stress
  • Gluten Intolerance
  • Inadequate Diet

When the intestinal mucosa is damaged, it can throw off the healthy balance of gut flora, leading to gut inflammation. This inflammation, commonly known as leaky gut, then allows a river of toxicity to flow from the gut into the body, including organs like the skin (contributing to eczema), the lungs (contributing to asthma), and the brain (contributing to brain fog, dementia, autism, ADD/ADHD, Sensory Processing Issues, or autoimmunity to name a few.

Probiotics can help restore this balance, but they need a healthy mucosal environment to do their job effectively.

Healing the intestinal mucosal lining helps provide the ideal internal environment to balance flora and nurture the cells of the intestinal mucosa to ensure maximum probiotic absorption.

Essential oils help keep plants healthy by providing essential nutrients and moving vital fluids and energy. They perform similar functions in your body, helping to improve flow and move energy which shifts or calms stagnation. Adequate hydration supports the production of intestinal mucosa, so essential oils that promote fluid flow can help improve circulation by relaxing the blood vessels and improving the health of the blood vessels. This helps more blood and lymph circulate through them, improving circulation.

Essential oils can also help the veins contract, stimulating blood flow. Essential oils may also help improve lymphatic system functionality which can help flush out toxins and reduce inflammation of the blood vessels, improving blood flow throughout the body.

Intestinal Mucosa helps to re-establish the healthy balance of gut flora necessary to re-colonize and heal the gut and best absorb probiotics. It also unlocks the full potential of your probiotics. Think of the Intestinal Mucosa as the fertile soil where the flora can grow, providing raw materials for healthy new enterocytes to grow, replacing compromised “leaky gut” cells, and healing and sealing the gut lining.

Intestinal Mucosa: The small intestine is where most fat digestion takes place, and the lining of the small intestinal mucosa is highly specialized for maximizing digestion and absorption. The Intestinal Mucosa blend was designed to gently permeate topically through the skin to regenerate and heal the mucosal lining of the small intestine to increase optimal nutrient (and probiotic) absorption. Intestinal Mucosa™ protects the cells and nourishes “good” bacterial flora which in turn feeds the lining of the small intestine keeping it robust, healthy, and able to support the final steps of digestion, allowing only appropriately digested food particles to be absorbed. Topically apply 2-3 drops in a clockwise circle around the belly button.  

Intestinal Mucosa™ contains a proprietary blend of organic and/or wild-crafted therapeutic essential oils, including Birch essential oil, extracted from the bark of both the White Birch and the Silver Birch trees, which is known for reducing inflammation, increasing blood flow, and easing pain, especially pain in the tissues. Research demonstrates the anti-inflammatory benefits of the extracts of birch bark.  

Intestinal Mucosa™ also contains Cardamom, an oil high in anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, which help support gut health, alleviate digestive issues such as indigestion, gas, and bloating, and fight certain types of bacteria and fungi. Due to its warming nature, Cardamom can help with blood circulation, relieve pain, and ease gut inflammation. Cypress essential oil is high in the compound α-pinene and exhibits anti-inflammatory activity in research which helps improve circulation and contraction of the blood vessels, making it easier to stimulate blood flow and release gut inflammation.  Nargarmotha supports stomach and intestinal issues. It is known for its calming properties and may help alleviate gut inflammation, discomfort, and digestive issues when applied around the abdomen.

To use, apply 2-3 drops of Intestinal Mucosa™ around the navel in a clockwise circular motion around the belly button 2-3 times daily, ideally before or after meals. As a more advanced application technique, you can start at the navel and topically apply in a clockwise circular motion, going around and making the movement bigger and bigger as you go around the whole intestinal system, then reversing it and going back the other direction. 

Topical application is a powerful and soothing tool for the gastrointestinal system and is well tolerated by sensitive clients with impaired digestion who might struggle to digest, absorb, and assimilate nutrients via the digestive process. Highly sensitive people who often cannot tolerate dietary supplements can use essential oils without a negative reaction.

Anti-Inflammatory™ may be used to reduce inflammation and encourage regeneration in the chronically inflamed tissue of the small intestine. Chronic prolonged inflammation can silently damage tissues. It is often low-grade and systemic and can exist undetected for years without noticeable symptoms, all the while damaging the gut and the brain. To apply, gently massage 2-3 drops of Anti-Inflammatory™ to any inflamed area of the body.  For the small intestine, rub clockwise around the belly button 2-3 times daily.

Parasympathetic Impaired digestion can contribute to inflammation. One of the most important elements of healing the gut is to eat at optimal rest and digest — the parasympathetic state. The parasympathetic state also sends increased blood flow to the Small Intestine, allowing for the healing of the intestinal wall and optimal enzymatic activity and nutrient assimilation. The parasympathetic state also activates the beneficial effects of the probiotic bacteria in the gut and triggers peristalsis, the muscle contractions that move food and waste through the digestive tract, known as the “Housekeeping Wave”. A lack of motility can lead to dysbiosis (a microbial imbalance), including small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). To trigger the Parasympathetic state, apply a drop of Parasympathetic® to the vagus nerve (behind the earlobe on the mastoid bone) before meals.

Intestinal Mucosa™, Anti-Inflammatory™, and Parasympathetic® can be purchased at a discount in the Gut Repair Kit™.

Jodi Cohen

Jodi Sternoff Cohen is the founder of Vibrant Blue Oils. An author, speaker, nutritional therapist, and a leading international authority on essential oils, Jodi has helped over 50,000 individuals support their health with essential oils.