Reboot your immune system with intermittent fasting. Help your “good” bacteria thrive with a plant-based diet. Forget morning coffee: mushroom tea could strengthen your anti-cancer defenses. Claims like these, linking health, diet, and immunity, bombard us daily. Beyond headlines and product labels, the scientific underpinnings of many of these claims are often based on limited scientific evidence. This is in part because conducting rigorous studies to track what we eat and the impact of diet is challenging. Furthermore, the relevance to human health of results from animal and laboratory studies is not always clear and has sometimes been exaggerated for commercial purposes, fueling skepticism around immunonutrition. Over the past five years, However, researchers have developed innovative approaches in immunonutrition that are helping to reduce this lack of credibility. While nutrition scientists have traditionally studied the long-term effects of Mediterranean or Western diets, they now have tools that allow them to focus on the short-term effects—both beneficial and harmful—of specific food groups and particular dietary components, and to examine the molecular mechanisms that underlie the effects of food on immunity. Related News According to a standard study No More than one and a half glasses of milk a day increases the risk of heart disease IR Milk is a food that constitutes an abundant and effective source of calciumThere are numerous data that scientifically demonstrate the impact of the diet on the immune system, both in a beneficial way and in the regulatory context, explains to ABC Salud Alfredo Corell, from the Spanish Society of Immunology (SEI) and immunologist at the University of Seville. For example, “there are studies that associate nutritional deficiencies with a poor immune response; Other research in which a specific nutrient is administered to a population group evaluates its effect on the immune system before, during and after the intervention; In addition, many trials are carried out in animal models and in specific diseases to analyze these effects prior to their application in humans, with thousands of studies that explore the impact of various nutrients, both macro and micronutrients, on the immune system. The rise of personalized nutrition in the last five or six years is very exciting. It is known that a varied and nutrient-rich diet, comments María Riestra, from the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (SEEN) and specialist in Endocrinology at Hospital de Cabueñes in Gijón, can strengthen our immune system. Thus, he continues, “there is numerous scientific evidence that demonstrates that dietary fiber and certain types of healthy fats such as omega 3 fatty acids can regulate the immune response; that an adequate intake of protein is essential for the production of antibodies and other cells of our immune system, or that different antioxidants present in fruits and vegetables can improve our intestinal microbiota, which in turn reduces the general inflammatory state. “ImmunonutritionThis is what immunonutrition studies. «Studies and analyzes the impact of daily nutrition on the immune system, from the development of specific nutrients and diets to their influence on different types of patients, whether in animal models, healthy people or individuals with pathologies. “This approach investigates everything from the molecular and biological mechanisms of how a nutrient affects the immune system to clinical effects, such as improving symptoms in specific conditions,” says Corell. This field is beginning to attract attention and funding. Last April, ‘The New England Journal of Medicine’ launched a series of review articles on nutrition, immunity and disease; and in January, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services held its first Food is Medicine summit in Washington, D.C., which explored the links between food insecurity, diet, and chronic disease. Some researchers argue that diets Modern technologies, especially in the Western world, have altered our immune responses, weakening immune resilience. Others, more optimistic, say the diet could help treat health problems like cancer and chronic immune disorders like lupus. It’s still early days, but many scientists in the field are optimistic. “We are learning much more about how the immune system can be modulated with individual food components or combinations of these,” said immunologist Francesco Siracusa, from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany, in an article published in ‘Nature’. As a possible therapy, he says, “the rise of personalized nutrition in the last five or six years is very exciting.” ABC Nuts Since Hippocrates, doctors have explored the links between diet and health. In 1912, Polish biochemist Casimir Funk proposed that a lack of essential nutrients, which he called “vitamins,” caused diseases such as scurvy and rickets; Subsequent studies confirmed its role in immunity. In the last decade, “omics” techniques have allowed researchers to unravel the mechanisms by which different diets affect the immune system and, therefore, health. Riestra explains that the techniques ‘omics’ (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, etc.) have made it possible to analyze in a more complete and detailed way the changes at the molecular level that occur in response to different diets. For example, “through the study of different genes we could explain why diet can have different effects on people, and allow us to move towards truly personalized nutrition. Also by studying the microbiota it has been possible to study how diets rich in fiber, prebiotics or probiotics promote a healthy microbiota that positively modulates the immune response. Thus, there are already many laboratories that seek to take advantage of the immune system to treat one of the biggest concerns of current health: obesity. Steven Van Dyken, an immunologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine, studies an immune response normally triggered by allergens and parasites to see if it could help regulate metabolism. His team has observed how a type of dietary fiber called chitin, abundant in in mushrooms, crustaceans and edible insects, it activates this immune response. By feeding mice a diet rich in chitin, their stomachs expanded more than those on a normal diet, activating type 2 immunity, which in turn triggered an enzyme that digests chitin. Mice modified to not produce this enzyme gained less weight and had less body fat. More mindful eating Today, Corell points out, we better understand how certain nutrients affect specific aspects of health, including the immune system. “This allows for a more conscious approach to eating, not only to satisfy appetite, but to address physiological needs and improve health.” Corell believes that immunonutrition and personalized medicine could offer specific dietary recommendations that optimize each person’s defenses naturally, without resorting to drugs. Thus, remember that there are already current dietary recommendations, such as the use of probiotics to prevent diarrhea from the traveler or improve the symptoms of diarrhea associated with prolonged treatments with antibiotics. Fasting yes or no? If overeating and obesity negatively affect health, could lack of food have the opposite effect? There is growing evidence that fasting reduces risks of various conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes, in some cases through the immune system. For example, fasting has been shown to reduce the number of circulating monocytes, cells that defend the body from foreign invaders, but which can be a sign of autoimmune conditions.« Intermittent fasting has also shown beneficial effects on the immune system, especially in relationship with the reduction of inflammation,” says Corell. Now, he adds, although intermittent fasting can be a promising therapeutic tool in autoimmune diseases, “its long-term effects and possible consequences on kidney or immune health need to be investigated.” In this sense, Riestra warns that prolonged fasting can have negative effects, since it can weaken us. We know, he says, that “there is a decrease in immune function during very prolonged fasts and an increase in susceptibility to infections during periods of extreme fasting. In addition, we lose muscle mass, which can indirectly affect the immune system. “It could also increase cortisol, a stress hormone, which has immunosuppressive effects, weakening our defenses.” Prolonged fasting, especially without proper supervision, can put immune function and overall health at risk. In his opinion, although controlled, short-term fasting can offer certain health benefits, “prolonged fasting, especially without proper supervision, can put people at risk.” immune function and general health at risk.” On the other hand, precisely controlling what study participants eat is a challenge. Studies in mice are not the same as in people. Thus Corell warns that “one of the main challenges in intervention studies in immunonutrition is the control of confounding variables, which can influence the results. The immune response varies depending on gender, age, physical habits, hours of sleep and consumption of substances such as tobacco or alcohol. Maintaining homogeneity in these studies and controlling or excluding these variables is essential to correctly attribute the observed effects to the nutritional factor studied.” The SEEN expert has a similar opinion. «The immune system is very complex; Identifying the isolated effect of a single nutrient is difficult because people consume a mixture of foods. Another difficulty is that we are not equal and there is individual variability in the response to foods and nutrients. This and the fact that it is complicated to carry out long-term studies that analyze the influence of a diet or a specific nutrient mean that the results of studies on diet and the immune system must always be interpreted with caution. However, Corell warns, immunonutrition does not It is available to everyone due to the cost of certain immune-friendly foods, in contrast to more affordable processed foods that do not contribute to immune health. Despite this, following a balanced and varied diet, avoiding ultra-processed foods, remains the best general recommendation to support the immune system. What is clear is that, if the immune system could be manipulated with a single food or nutrient, could revolutionize the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. “The food industry would probably focus on the production and marketing of this food or nutrient, while the pharmaceutical industry could be affected, but could also adapt by developing more concentrated or purified forms of the nutrient.” But, Riestra acknowledges that it would also bring ethical challenges. , economic and environmental that would require careful management.
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