Most diseases are caused by body’s system malfunction and there are many types of immune system disorders.
When our immune system is weakened, we may suffer from cold, hepatitis, infection, cancer etc. When our immune system is overactive, we may suffer from allergy. Respiratory allergies cause us to sneeze non-stop, skin allergies caused our skin to itch, while food allergies may cause us to vomit. Another scenario is when the immune system attacks blindly, because it cannot differentiate between the “enemies” (pathogens) and its own cells, thus attacking the body’s own cells as well. In such cases, we may suffer from autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.
Let’s take a look at a few examples of the immune system disorders. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease.
The immune system attacks and tries to destroy our joints as it mistaken the joints as the “enemy”.
Invading pathogens can enter our body anytime. The wounds on our tongue or skin are likely to cause an infection. Thankfully, our immune system is working round the clock to protect our health. Pollutants and dust may cause pneumonia. Though our immune system can protect us, when it is weakened, cancer cells may begin to grow.
To date, there is no known effective drugs for the cure of hepatitis. We have to rely on our own immune system to fight these viral infection, which is transmitted via food. A diet that consists of high amount of plant-based foods can help to prevent arteries blockage and allows the immune system to work smoothly. In contrast, a diet rich in fats may cause arteries blockage thus being harmful to the immune system.
A malfunction immune system can endanger and harm our body, this shows how important it is to be healthy. Without health, we will not be able to see our children grow. Without health, we won’t be to shower our loved ones with happiness and fulfil our own dreams.
You need to think carefully, how can we prevent these diseases from harming our family, how can we ensure we have a healthy and strong immune system? The unique science of nutritional immunology can help you!
Nutritional immunology studies the effects of nutrition on the immune system. However, what sort of nutrients does it research into? It does not focus on the basic nutrients needed for survival, such as protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals. Because these nutrients are very easily accessible by most people in the modern society.
Nutritional immunology focus on the studies of three nutrients, which are antioxidants, phytonutrients and polysaccharides. We can only obtain these nutrients from a variety of plant-based foods. Nutritional immunology studies which plant species and varieties are the richest sources of antioxidants, phytonutrients and polysaccharides. It also studies the parts of a plant that contains the highest amount of nutrients. For example, don’t throw the grape seeds away when eating grapes, because grape seeds contain a very powerful antioxidant – opc. What’s more surprising is, the most nutritious part of ginseng is actually its fruits. Apart from this, nutritional immunology also studies about the best time to harvest a plant and best way to process it, to ensure nutrients are not lost in the process. For example, the best time to harvest mushroom is when it’s still young. On the other hand, cactus are richer in nutrients, the longer they are being grown. Soy can be heated, while cactus should never be boiled.
Let’s get to know more about antioxidants, phytonutrients and polysaccharides.
Antioxidants help to delay aging. As people age, they are at greater risk of getting a disease. An antioxidant-rich diet allows a 50 year-old to have an immune system similar to that of a 30 year-old. Many varieties of plant-based foods contain high amount of antioxidants. Grape seeds and rose hips are the best examples. OPC is an antioxidant in grape seeds, its antioxidant properties are 20 times higher than vitamin C and 50 times higher than vitamin E. Phytonutrients help us to prevent various diseases. The phytonutrients in cactus helps to promote wound healing. Soy is also rich in phytonutrients, which can improve blood cholesterol index and suppress cancer. On the other hand, phytonutrients of ginseng fruit can help fight against obesity and diabetes.
Polysaccharides are long chains of monosaccharides (simple sugars) that can help to prevent cancer and facilitate recovery of cancer patients. Pearls and mushrooms are rich in polysaccharides. For example, Brazilian mushrooms, lingzhi, shiitake mushrooms, yunzhi and maitake mushrooms.
Some people may ask, can we obtain such nutrients from vitamin supplements?
Nutritional immunologist Dr. Jau-Fei Chen once said: we can only obtain the proper nutrients that can be easily absorbed by our body from complete plant-based foods. You may be able to obtain antioxidants from various vitamin supplements, however, these are not natural antioxidants. They may be extracted from plants, but the separation from its plant makes them into a medicine or chemical substance. These chemical substances bring about toxic side effects. For example, beta-carotene and vitamin A are naturally occurring antioxidants found in carrots. A Finnish study showed that if smokers consume beta-carotene supplements, they are at a higher risk of getting lung cancer. However, you will not face such side effect regardless of how much carrots you consume.
Through such an example, we can conclude that you can only receive the proper nutrients in its optimum amount to nourish the body’s immune system via the ingestion of complete plant-based foods.
