Today we will understand together how much what we eat can contribute to our health.
How we can strengthen our innate immune activation and if nutrition really is a determining factor for our immune defenses.
To answer this question, the best place to start is with the risk factors for the main causes of death in developing countries and in developed countries like ours (the so-called Westernized lifestyle).
“Western” Lifestyle and Non-Communicable Diseases
In developing countries the main causes of death are largely attributable to : diarrheal diseases, HIV/AIDS, lung infections, and malnutrition.
All causes can be traced back to: poor hygiene, contaminated water sources and unprotected sex .
In fact, it has been seen in many of these countries that the construction of better water infrastructures combined with adequate health education has drastically reduced the mortality rate due to these diseases.
So after this brief analysis on developing countries we can say (in summary) that here the main causes of death are attributable to communicable diseases .
While in developed countries (such as Switzerland, Italy or the whole EU) the main risk factors are attributable to non-communicable diseases .
These afflict our society at all levels, and tracing the causes of such diseases is apparently more complex.
As you may have read from the title of this paragraph, the “Western” lifestyle is (as many studies and research have discovered) one of the main risk factors for these diseases.
Yes ok, but why is the “Western” lifestyle one of the main risk factors? Our lifestyle can trigger inflammatory processes that can lead to a series of chronic metabolic disorders , in particular obesity, T2DM, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases.
Nutrition is the most determining factor
Of all the behaviors that make up our lifestyle, nutrition is the most decisive . In recent decades, there has been an increase in the consumption of: processed foods, fast foods, ready-made industrialized foods, snacks and sugary drinks, which lack fiber, vitamins and minerals and, in parallel, an increase in non-communicable diseases .
We can conclude, therefore, that long-term consumption of this “new Western diet” can influence our physiology and health .
Promoting weight gain, pathological changes in lipids and our energy metabolism, as well as a dysfunctional activation of our immune system , known as metabolic syndrome .
What is metabolic syndrome?
Metabolic syndrome is the coexistence of several known risk factors , such as:
- Abdominal obesity
- Insulin resistance
- Hyperglycemia
- Hypertriglyceridemia
- Decrease in HDL (good) cholesterol
- Hypertension and aging
Caused by immuno-metabolic disorders .
They are the main causes of the development of some metabolic disorders, which over time lead to the onset of non-communicable diseases.
These factors combined with increased exposure to air pollution and stress can alter the normal functioning of our immune system and therefore lead to the onset of non-communicable diseases.
How can nutrition influence our immune system?
Although our Western diet is very rich (unfortunately also rich in: refined sugars, salt, white flour, processed meats, purified animal fats and food additives) it contains low amounts of fiber, vitamins, minerals and other plant-based nutrients such as antioxidants.
Furthermore, our regular diet is particularly dense in calories , which leads to an increase in glycemia (blood sugar), which increases insulin and consequently the storage of nutrients in the form of adipose tissue (subcutaneous fat).
Let's talk about the intestinal microbiota
Have you ever heard of gut microbiota? Do you know what it is?
The intestinal microbiota is the bacterial population of our intestine (good bacteria that help its natural functioning).
Yes, but what does this have to do with our immune defenses? You should know that 70% of our immune defenses reside in the intestine and a balanced microbiota is the primary indicator of a correct immune level.
In your opinion, what keeps our intestinal microbiota balanced? Yes, you are right, our diet!
The answer, however, is technically not entirely exhaustive, as nutrition is the main factor, but our intestinal microbiome is shaped by numerous other factors including :
- medical interventions
- socio-economic conditions
- sex, age, body weight
- medical history
- sleep and stress exposure
- smoking and alcohol consumption
We have just told you that diet is the main factor because it has been shown that a typically Western diet has created in the long term a series of intestinal dysbiosis (medical term that defines a microbial or maladaptive imbalance) with an increase in the load of pathogenic bacteria , negatively influencing the immune system and causing metabolic diseases or sensitizing the body to allergies .
In conclusion, is nutrition a determining factor for our immune defenses?
Today we wanted to answer a question that has been bothering us for some time, but is nutrition a determining factor for our immune defenses?
As you can see , our diet can qualitatively and quantitatively modify the intestinal microbiota ecosystem , negatively affecting the immune system and contributing to the development of chronic inflammatory diseases.
The advice, or rather more than advice it is a “always keep in mind” , that we want to give you is that classic Western diets (the one you are probably following now) often lead to a rapid increase in weight compared to more balanced diets .
Additionally, several ingredients within these can cause inflammatory reactions of the immune system.
Do you want to know how to keep your immune defenses high with nutrition?
Access our online nutritional test now to receive specific nutritional advice and a personalized meal plan that will help you live a healthy life.
Take control of your life and adopt a proactive approach to health and nutrition.
GO TO THE NUTRITIONAL TESTSources:
- I mamura et al., 2015; Monteiro et al., 2013
- Lo´ pez-Otı´n et al., 2016; Orru et al., 2017
- Mozaffarian, 2016
- Atkinson et al., 2008
- Arumugam et al., 2011
- Buc, 2013; Wright et al., 2011
- Bhupathiraju et al., 2014
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2019.09.020
