Élie Metchnikoff
Father of Immunity and Probiotics
Father of innate immunity
Élie Metchnikoff (Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov) born in Kharkov, microbiologist and zoologist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine together with Paul Ehrlich in 1908 for their work on immunity. He worked as a professor of zoology and comparative anatomy at the University of Odessa, in 1887, at the invitation of Louis Pasteur, he moved to Paris and conducted research at the Paris Pasteur Institute.
He is called the “Father of innate immunity”, he studied the processes responsible for the body's natural immunity and its self-healing capabilities. He was looking for answers to the questions of how to keep the body in good shape in a natural way, how not to get sick? How to live longer? How to improve your well-being? Owing to the research and conclusions of prof. Metchnikoff we gained the knowledge of intracellular inflammation and theory of digestion, fungal pathogens, basics of evolutionary embryology, phagocytosis and its impact on immunity, biological methods of plant protection against pests.
Books
Metchnikoff wrote several books on the broadly understood immunity and hygiene of life, e.g. “Life Extension: Optimistic Research” – [Prolongation de la vie: recherche optimiste], “Human Nature Studies” – [Essais sur la nature humaine], “Immunity to Infectious Diseases” – [L'Immunité dans les maladies infectieuses] and another. In his works, he presents natural and simple ways to increase immunity and keep the body healthy and in good shape.
The first probiotics
Metchnikoff is the creator of the world's first probiotic “Comprimes de lactobacilline”, which at the turn of the 19th and 20th century was available almost all over the world. Today, healthy practices developed by prof. Metchnikoff's are being rediscovered and with the increase of our awareness they are gaining more and more popularity.
Conclusions
A diet rich in vegetables, limiting meat consumption, good rest, acidifying the stomach and keeping proper bacterial flora in the digestive tract are the guidelines that Metchnikoff has developed owing to which we can live longer, in physical and mental health. The scientist proved that simple, natural acidifying and probiotic substances are the basic support for the body's defense mechanisms, as a result of strengthening the immunity, we can get rid of most ailments and, above all, prevent the development of diseases.
The knowledge of natural immunity developed by Metchnikoff has been and still is pushed to the background by pharmaceutical concerns. For profit reasons, drug manufacturers are more concerned with the continuation of treatment than the situation in which the patient is cured – this approach causes anxiety and distrust.