Nutritional Immunology
Nutritional Immunology
Nutritional Immunology is a science that studies the link between nutrition and the human immune system.
Keeping your immune system healthy is the best defense against illness. Immune system function is key to a better life and supports mental and physical health on multiple levels.
Immune system affects your physical well being by maintaining a system of organs to protect you. This system is made of the tonsils, lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, intestines, and thymus. By producing and controlling your immune responses, these organs help keep your body healthy and protect against infection and disease. The three major ways in which they do this are:
Defend - Your body’s best defense against invasive organisms is to physically block entry. When these organisms try to enter the body they must first attempt to cross physical barriers like mucus membranes and the skin. If the organism is successful, white blood cells, produced by cells in bone marrow, recognize the foreign body and produce antibodies to defend against it. There are five different types of white blood cells produced in bone marrow and they contribute to the more than one billion different antibodies your body can produce to protect you!
Attack - Your body’s best defense against invasive organisms is to physically block entry. When these organisms try to enter the body they must first attempt to cross physical barriers like mucus membranes and the skin. If the organism is successful, white blood cells, produced by cells in bone marrow, recognize the foreign body and produce antibodies to defend against it. There are five different types of white blood cells produced in bone marrow and they contribute to the more than one billion different antibodies your body can produce to protect you!
Cleanse - Your body’s best defense against invasive organisms is to physically block entry. When these organisms try to enter the body they must first attempt to cross physical barriers like mucus membranes and the skin. If the organism is successful, white blood cells, produced by cells in bone marrow, recognize the foreign body and produce antibodies to defend against it. There are five different types of white blood cells produced in bone marrow and they contribute to the more than one billion different antibodies your body can produce to protect you!
The foods we choose to eat have a direct effect on our level of health and it should provide us with the best possible combination of plant based nutrients such as phytochemicals, polysaccharides, and antioxidants to protect this vital system.
Phytochemicals were originally called phytonutrients and were considered to be any chemicals produced by plants. Phytochemicals have been linked to the reduction of wild cell growth, have shown anti-inflammatory properties, and some have been linked to lowered cholesterol. The best thing about phytochemicals is that they are naturally available in many of the delicious fruits and vegetables you already enjoy.
Polysaccharides are complex carbohydrates that are made up by connecting many monosaccharides, or single sugars. Polysaccharides are abundant in many types of mushrooms and have been isolated for use in vaccines and other medicines. Many polysaccharides have been shown to exhibit properties that moderate the immune system as well as properties that negatively impact tumors. The major impacts polysaccharides have on the immune system include inducing mitosis and activating immune cells as well as Natural Killer cells.
Antioxidants are found naturally in many of the fruits and vegetables that you eat every day. They protect us from oxidants, also known as free radicals, to keep us healthy and happy.
Oxidants are elements that are highly reactive due to having unpaired electrons. This unpaired electron tries to pair with electrons in materials throughout our body by forcing reactions, thus damaging cells. Antioxidants protect our body from oxidants in multiple ways, but most commonly by reacting with oxidants before they can force reactions with other cells in your body.
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