What is Nutritional Immunology?

Immunology is the science of antigen-antibody reaction in which these two blood substances are utilized to maintain the body's resistance to foreign materials and diseases. This is done through the body's own homeostatic ability and defense mechanism against infection.

There are two general types of immunity. It can either be specific or nonspecific. The specific immunity comes from the formation of antibodies from the disease itself or from immunization; while nonspecific is innate or natural; it comes from the persons' natural response to foreign substances.

The skin is the body's first line of defense against invading particles. Imagine how vulnerable we would be if we did not have this largest organ, our skin, to protect our internal body parts.

The next line of defense is our cells, the white blood cells (WBC), specifically the polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs). These are responsible in engulfing any invading substance. We call this process phagocytosis. These blood cells come from the bone marrow and their production is influenced by several factors like age, exercise, exposure and diet.

Diet is one of the major factors that influences the integrity and proper functioning of the immune system. It influences the production of specific antibodies from these cells, and affects how the immune system performs its physiologic functions. This process is called nutritional immunology.

A person's diet would influence the process of phagocytosis, and the humoral and cellular aspects of immunity. Inadequate or excess intake of essential nutrients like in malnutrition will adversely affect our immune system. Specific examples are the following:

1. Inadequate carbohydrate (bread, wheat, potatoes), protein (legumes, lean meat, eggs), lipid (vegetable oil, fish oil) intake would lead to immune deficiency or depressed immunologic response. The body would not be able to respond sufficiently to infections and invading substances.

Lack of carbohydrate would deprive the immune system of the essential sugar called glucose which is responsible for the proper growth of cells.

Protein in the form of amino acids is the building blocks of substances in the body. They are the "grow" substances responsible for many metabolic functions.

2. An excess of any of these ingested materials, on the other hand, would also be detrimental to the immune system of the body because it would compromise metabolism and degradation.

3. Bad fats when taken in excess

will lead to hypercholesterolemia or hypertriglycidemia which would lead to thickening of blood vessel walls or the cardiac muscles. When this happens, the immune system is compromised because major organs are dysfunctional and unable to perform their share of the body's workload.

4. The natural presence of contaminants in foods like toxins could be detrimental to the immune system. An example is the toxin derived from over-aged cassava plant, which is poisonous.

5. Chemicals added to food during the processing or preparation could adversely affect our immune system through hypersensitive reactions or allergies

Examples of these harmful substances are melamine, food dyes, formalin (for preservation) and many others. These have been proven to be carcinogenic and detrimental to health because they lower the body's immune system.

Fruits and vegetables contain substances that could enhance the immune system. These substances include phytochemicals, anti-toxins, anti-oxidants, anti-carcinogenic, essential vitamins, Iron, and lots of fibers.

When we eat the correct food, these would interact with our immune system by enhancing its function and supporting the biochemical processes that it performs. No wonder, even during the olden times, wise men were always heard to say: "Eating right would lead to a healthy body."

Definition of terms:

Antigen - also called immunogen is any substance that could produce antibodies when given to an animal or human being.

Antibody - this is a substance that is produced because of the stimulation of an antigen.

Hypertriglycidemia - this is the elevation of triglycerides (considered a bad fat) in the blood stream.

Hypercholesterolemia - this is the elevation of cholesterol (bad cholesterol/fat) in the blood stream.

Phytochemicals - these are substances derived from plants which could act upon invading agents to prevent infection.

References:

Bryant, Neville, Laboratory Immunology and Serology

Calbreath, Donald, Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry