How does nutrition influence the immune system?

You surely have caught a cold, had a headache, muscle soreness, allergy or something that had caused you discomfort. Inflammation is the body’s response to infection, injury or irritation. It can appear in different ways (redness, swelling and the feeling of heat and pain) which are signs of damaged tissues. This happens because the immune system does its work correctly. Chronic inflammation on the other hand is associated with several diseases.

Modern lifestyle has brought an all-time inflammation to the whole body. The Western diet, which is high in fats and trans-fats makes the body’s immune system to fight constantly. This chronic inflammation is strongly correlated with obesity and over-nutrition, which go hand in hand with cardiovascular disease, stroke, metabolic disorders, type 2 diabetes and chronic liver disease.

You are what you eat

Proper nutrition supports the immune system in numerous ways. It provides the energy needed for these processes. I am pretty sure you have heard of probiotics and prebiotics, but you might be unsure what they do exactly. Probiotics provide microorganisms for the human body, which are in the gut and can reduce inflammation. Prebiotics are ‘food’ for these good bacteria.

The easiest way to take care of the gut microorganisms is with the diet. Not surprisingly, eating mostly plants enhances the diversity of the nutrients that reach the microbiome. It offers a variety of chemicals that these bacteria can feed on, so they can do their best to protect you. You feed them well, they guard you from the dangers, sounds like a fair deal doesn’t it?

Now what would the microorganisms choose from the menu?

A plant based diet means that the diet is mainly comprised of plants, obviously. And for this reason many people think it is an easy thing to do. Which it is, but attention must be payed always to the quality and quantity, and also considering the microbiome, the variety. The bacteria colonies in the gut happily feed off of legumes, fruits and vegetables. Legumes can be different kind of beans and lentils and peas. Several  fruits have shown immune strengthening activities, such as citrus, pomegranate, apple and pear. The same with the veggies, shiitake mushroom, broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts and cauliflower was tested and showed to enhance good bacteria. Of course, these are just a couple of examples, aim for different colors and kinds when choosing what to put on the plate. The colors are different antioxidants that are helpful themselves already, but the variety of fruits and vegetables offers a feast for the microbiome. Let me tell you quickly what antioxidants are. They are molecules that fight against the disease-causing ‘free radicals’. They can be found in fruits and vegetables and also some vitamins, such as A and E.

Spices act as antioxidants as well, they also help your digestion and lower the fat in the blood. Not only that, but they exhibit antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and cancer preventative activities. So you can’t really go wrong with them. Always pay attention to the amount, one can have too much of a good thing.

Let’s take curcumin as an example. Extracted from turmeric, it has both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It increases the detoxification in the body, protects the DNA build up and helps to avoid tumor formation. So… we truly are what we eat, be wise about it.