Healthy diet key to boosting immunity as you age

While attempting to find why immunity decreases with age leading to life-threatening diseases, researchers have cracked how to rejuvenate ageing immune cells. As we age, our immune systems decline. Older people suffer from increased incidence and severity of both infections and cancer. Vaccination too becomes less efficient with age. Now, a team of scientists from University College, London has demonstrated how an interplay between nutrition, metabolism and immunity is involved in the process of ageing.

Professor Arne Akbar’s team showed that ageing in immune system cells known as ‘T lymphocytes’ was controlled by a molecule called ‘p38 MAPK’ that acts as a brake to prevent certain cellular functions. They found that this braking action could be reversed by using a p38 MAPK inhibitor, suggesting the possibility of rejuvenating old T-cells using drug treatment. In a new study published in the journal Nature Immunology, the group showed that p38 MAPK is activated by low nutrient levels, coupled with signals associated with age (senescence) within the cell.

‘It has been suspected for a long time that nutrition, metabolism and immunity are linked and this paper provides a prototype mechanism of how nutrient and senescence signals converge to regulate the function of T-lymphocytes,’ Akbar explained. In a second paper published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers showed that blocking p38 MAPK boosted the fitness of cells that had shown signs of ageing. The two studies, supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), could help enhance immunity to disease through dietary instead of drug intervention and help make existing immune system therapies more effective, researchers noted.

Here are some things that are often responsible for lowering your immunity: 

1. Lack of proper hygiene: Viruses and bacteria are present everywhere and they never ever miss opportunities to attack humans. Lack of personal hygiene is one such factor that gives these pathogens a chance to multiply in the body and cause an infection. So, if you want to stay away from infections, basic things like washing the hands before every meal and after visiting the washroom, taking a bath, wearing clean clothes and drinking water from a clean source is important.  

2. Lack of fruits and vegetables in the diet: In order to function optimally, your immune system needs micronutrients like vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. And, all of them can be obtained only through a balanced, healthy diet that includes fresh fruits and vegetables. A large number of studies have shown that  fruits and vegetables contain compounds that boost immunity by increasing the production of immune cells (T cells) or by promoting their phagocytic (to kill the pathogens) activity. Read more about 8 things that weaken your immune system

With inputs from IANS

Photo source: Getty images

You may also like to read:

• Friendship Day 2014: 10 reasons your friends can help boost your immunity


• Natural remedies to boost your immune system
  


• 5 amazing tips to improve your immunity

For more articles on diet fitness, visit our diet fitness section. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates! For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter. And for health-related queries, visit our Questions and Answers section.

Healthy diet key to boosting immunity as you age