The immune system protects the body from infection by pathogenic organisms. It is composed of a complex constellation of cells, organs and tissues, arranged in an elaborate and dynamic communications network. The immune system is, in its simplest form, a cascade of detection and adaptation, culminating in a system that is remarkably effective.
The immune system protects the body from infection by creating and maintaining barriers that prevent bacteria and viruses from entering the body. If a pathogen breaches the barriers, and gets into the body, the innate immune system is equipped with specialized cells that detect, and often eliminate, the invader before it is able to reproduce, potentially causing serious injury to the host.
However according to new study low calorie die can boost your immune system. An extremely low-calorie diet slows the aging of the immune system in an elderly population of rhesus monkeys, according to research at the National Institute on Aging. A similar immune boost has already been observed in rodents on the calorie-restriction diet, and the monkey results–the first in primates–are an important step in determining whether such a diet could also strengthen the immune system in humans
The rhesus monkeys on a calorie-restriction diet in the study have significantly more young T cells–an important component of the immune system–and these T cells can proliferate vigorously, says Janko Nikolich-Zugich, senior scientist at the Oregon Health and Science University’s Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, who led the research. In addition, these monkeys have lower levels of the inflammatory immune compounds that can cause cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease in humans.
Read more at technologyreview.com…
