Showing posts with label against. Show all posts
Showing posts with label against. Show all posts
Green Vegetables Stimulate the Innate Immune Response to Guard against Disease
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
We all know that our immune system is the first line of defense against a wide array of potentially deadly pathogens, bacteria and viruses. Yet many people take this crucial defense barrier for granted and do little to ensure that they are adequately protected against a multitude of microscopic invaders.
Researchers publishing the result of a research body performed at the University of Cambridge in the journalCell demonstrate that compounds found in green vegetables, from bok choy to broccoli are the source of a chemical signal that is important to activate a fully functioning immune system. Help protect yourself and your family from maladies ranging from the common cold, influenza to autoimmune diseases and certain cancers by including healthy portions of green vegetables in your daily diet.
Include Ten or More Fresh Vegetable Servings Daily to Boost Immune Health
Prior research indicated the breakdown of cruciferous vegetables can yield a compound that can be converted into a molecule that triggers the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) on cell wall surfaces. Further reports found AhR’s can be regulated by dietary ingredients found primarily in vegetables including broccoli, kale, spinach and many varieties of leafy greens. This action ensures that immune cells in the gut and the skin known as intra-epithelial lymphocytes (IELs) function properly.
Researchers fed otherwise healthy mice a vegetable-poor diet for several weeks were amazed to find that 70 to 80 percent of these protective IEL cells disappeared during this short period. Dr. Marc Veldhoen, lead study author notedthat, “protective IELs exist as a network beneath the barrier of epithelial cells covering inner and outer body surfaces, where they are important as a first line of defense and in wound repair.”It was determined the number of IEL cells can be regulated by dietary ingredients found primarily in cruciferous vegetables.
A Diet High in Sugar and Processed Carbohydrates Lowers System Immune Response
Poor dietary intake consisting mostly of hydrogenated and oxidized fats, sugar and processed foods directly alters the surface receptors of cells lining the digestive tract, responsible for more than 80 percent of our immune response. Researchers commented“individuals fed a synthetic diet lacking this key compound experience a significant reduction in AhR activity and lose IELs. With reduced numbers of these key immune cells, individuals showed lower levels of antimicrobial proteins, heightened immune activation and greater susceptibility to injury.”
Dr. Veldhoen concluded"its already a good idea to eat your greens… the results offer a molecular basis for the importance of cruciferous vegetable-derived phyto-nutrients as part of a healthy diet.”The current recommendation to eat 3 to 5 servings of vegetables and fruit each day is anemic and insufficient in the light of this important study. Health-minded people will want to include fresh, raw greens at the core of their diet and include 10 or more generous servings each day to boost immune health.
Soy foods protect against colon cancer
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
University of Illinois scientists have evidence that lifelong exposure to genistein, a bioactive component in soy foods, protects against colon cancer by repressing a signal that leads to accelerated growth of cells, polyps, and eventually malignant tumors.
"In our study, we report a change in the expression of three genes that control an important signaling pathway," said Hong Chen, a U of I professor of food science and human nutrition.
The cells in the lining of the human gut turn over and are completely replaced weekly, she noted. "However, in 90 percent of colon cancer patients, an important growth-promoting signal is always on, leading to uncontrolled growth and malignancies. Our study suggests that the aberrant Wnt signaling during the development of colon cancer can be regulated by soy-rich diets."
"The good news is that a diet rich in soy genistein represses those signals through epigenetic modifications at the regulatory regions of those genes," said Yukun Zhang, a doctoral student in Chens laboratory.
Broccoli Delivers a Powerful Punch against Cancer
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Broccoli is a super star member of the cruciferous family, well known and documented as an immune boosting food that supports the healthy clearance of aberrant cancer cells before they multiply and develop into detectable tumors. Researchers reporting in the journal Clinical Epigenetics have found that the bioactive compound in broccoli, sulforaphane provides a multi-modal attack against cancer cell development and proliferation through the complex mechanism of epigenetics.
Epigenetics ers to the way that diet, toxins and other environmental contributors can change which genes get activated, or "expressed" within our genetic code to guide the accurate replication essential to cellular metabolism and repair. This can play a powerful role in preventing and promoting many chronic illnesses from cancer to heart disease and other health issues. Consuming broccoli raw or lightly steamed several times each week can supply a potent dose of sulforaphane to help prevent many types of cancer.
Broccoli and Cruciferous Vegetables Directly Influence Genetic Expression to Inhibit Cancer
In past research bodies, scientists have documented the pathway utilized by sulforaphane to inhibit the action of an enzyme known as histone deacetylase (HDAC inhibitor) that helps restore proper balance and helps prevent the development of cancer. Researchers at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University have uncovered a second mechanism, DNA methylation that works in concert with HDAC inhibitors that work to maintain proper cell function. Sulforaphane from broccoli and other crucifers stimulates both HDAC and DNA methylation pathways in a synergistic fashion to prevent cancer development.
The lead study author, Dr. Emily Ho commentedregarding the sulforaphane-cancer connection “Cancer is very complex and its usually not just one thing that has gone wrong… its increasingly clear that sulforaphane is a real multi-tasker. The more we find out about it, the more benefits it appears to have."
Nutritionists Recommend Three to Five Servings of Broccoli Every Week
DNA methylation controls the healthy expression of genes. When this pathway is blocked scientists have found a significantly increased risk of conditions including cardiovascular disease, immune function, neurodegenerative disease and even aging. Foodsthat provide sulfur groups necessary for proper DNA methylationinclude onions, garlic, nuts and seeds. Sulforaphane from broccoli is found in this research to stimulate the methylation path to enable normal gene expression to thwart cancer cell genesis.
Nutrition experts recommend consuming one to two servings of broccoli (or other members of the crucifer family such as cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts or kale) several days of the week. A rapidly growing body of evidence demonstrates that the natural, active compounds found in these vegetables help to prevent cancer and other chronic disease by dealing a two-step knockout blow to influence gene expression.
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