Category: Immune System

Within the human body, there happens to be a mechanism that is designed to be able to fight off millions of microbes, bacteria, toxins, parasites and viruses. Known as the immune system, this is the first line of defense to keep you safe from anything and everything that could potentially invade your body and get you sick. In order to understand how the immune system works, one would say that you can simply look into what happens when it is not working properly.

After something dies, its immune system shuts down along with everything else. Within just a matter of hours, the body ends up invaded by parasites, microbes and bacteria. However, none of these things are able to get into the body when the immune system is working properly. The minute that the immune system is unable to do its job, you can look at it as there being a door that is wide open and you are going to be vulnerable to a lot of potentially bacteria and illnesses.

How It Works

The human immune system is not only interesting, but it is also complex and intricate. It works around the clock in a number of ways to keep you healthy and safe from invaders. Whenever you get a cut, there can be a lot of viruses and bacteria that will pour into your body through the skin break. The same goes if you get a splinter or you are subjected to germs that are passed from one person to you, where you breathe them in through your respiratory system. The immune system will quickly respond, working to eliminate the threat. If you have a cut or a splinter, the skin works to heal itself, fighting the bacteria and sealing the puncture.

There are rare cases where your immune system will miss something, which is what happens when you get an infection. With an infection, there can be inflammation and the area will sometimes fill with pus. While the inflammation and pus are not pleasant, they are simply common side effects letting you know that your immune system is hard at work and trying to do its job.

Getting Sick

Whenever you get sick, the body is not able to work at its full potential to fight off the illness. There can be a number of different ways that a person can get sick, including:

Deficiency – If you are not getting enough vitamins and minerals that your body needs, the chances are good that you can get sick a lot faster than usual. This is why it is best to boost your intake of vitamin C and other valuable nutrients whenever cold and flu season rolls around.

Mechanical Damage – If you tear a ligament or you break a bone, you will become sick in the sense that your body has to work hard to send the necessary healing power to the area that is damaged. When you are healing from a break or another issue, you should know that your immune system could leave you vulnerable to other health conditions.

Genetic Diseases – If there happens to be any sort of coding error with DNA in the body, someone could be more susceptible to illnesses.

Your physician will be able to tell you that there are a number of ways that you can work towards a healthy, strong immune system. Not only should you be getting the right amount of vitamins and minerals, be eating a healthy diet and exercising, you also need to think about making sure that you are getting plenty of sleep each night so that your body is strong enough to take whatever comes your way.

Vitamin B12 can be found in animal proteins and is crucial to a number of body functions. If you are following a vegan or a vegetarian diet, it is important to take a Vitamin B12 supplement to avoid suffering from a vitamin deficiency.

Vitamin B12 provides your body with one of the building blocks of DNA. Without enough Vitamin B12, your cells will not have the building blocks needed to replicate their DNA and reproduce. Vitamin B12 will affect your entire system since every cell in your body needs Vitamin B12 among other elements to synthesize DNA.

Red blood cells are partly synthesized from Vitamin B12. These are the cells that carry oxygen from the lungs to your different organs. Red blood cells play a crucial role and you can suffer from anemia and other health issues if your body cannot synthesize enough red blood cells.

Vitamin B12 also plays an important part in neurological functions. Your brain and nervous system rely on cells known as neurotransmitters to relay information. Vitamin B12 is used to synthesize serotonin, one of the most important neurotransmitter for your mood. Low levels of Vitamin B12 can result in low levels of serotonin, which can cause you to feel tired and depressed.

Vitamin B12 is also used to synthesize the myelin sheaths that protect your nerves. Myelin sheaths protect your nerves from damages caused by free radicals. Without healthy myelin sheaths, your nerves can become damaged and eventually die.

Vitamin B12 helps protect your heart and your arteries from a protein known as homocysteine. Vitamin B12 contributes to eliminating this protein which can cause heart disease as well as damages to your arteries. You need to eat enough foods that contain Vitamin B12 to keep your homocysteine levels below a healthy level.
Homocysteine can also have a negative impact on your bones. High levels of this protein in your system can increase your risks of developing osteoporosis. A diet rich in Vitamin B12 will help reduce levels of homocysteine in your system and reduce your risks of developing osteoporosis.

Vitamin B12 is crucial to these different systems. A diet that is too poor in Vitamin B12 can cause you to feel tired all the time since your blood will not be able to carry enough oxygen to your organs. On the long term, you will be more at risk for a number of conditions such as heart disease, damages to your nerves, osteoporosis and signs of aging might appear faster if your cells are unable to synthesize enough DNA.

Ideally, your diet should include 2.4 micrograms of Vitamin B12 every day. You might need to take a higher daily dose if you are suffering from vitamin deficiency.

If you are suffering from fatigue, numbness, tend to lose your balance and easily get out of breath, you should have some blood work done. This is the best way to determine if you suffer from vitamin deficiency and to determine which vitamins are lacking from your diet. Your doctor might prescribe a Vitamin B12 supplement or recommend that you take a multi-vitamin supplement for a while.

If you are currently following a vegetarian or a vegan diet, you need to introduce a Vitamin B12 supplement in your diet since animal proteins are the main source of Vitamin B12. If you want to avoid meat but would rather not take a supplement, eat raw cheese and cottage cheese to get your daily dose of Vitamin B12. You should meet with a doctor or with a nutritionist to make sure your diet contains all the vitamins you need to take.

It won’t be wrong to say that porridge holds a special place among various types of breakfast cereals. Porridge is oatmeal that is boiled and prepared slowly until it achieves thick consistency. It has generous amount of various nutrients and therefore, it is regarded a good addition to a meal plan. There are a number of benefits of regularly eating fortified porridge, especially in the morning. Here is a list of some of the major benefits of eating fortified porridge.

One of the biggest benefits of including whole grains in your diet is that these are rich in dietary fiber. Dietary fiber helps in filling you up and prevents you from overeating. In other words, it can also be said that dietary fiber helps in maintaining and in some cases, losing weight. Fiber is also helpful in keeping the level of blood sugar on an even keel and it is also believed that it helps in reducing the risks of high cholesterol. It is recommended for women to eat 20 g of fiber on a daily basis and for men to consume 30 g of fiber each day. It is estimated that a cup of cooked porridge has around 4 g of fiber and the fiber content of a meal can be enhanced by adding nuts, seeds and berries.

Another benefit of eating porridge is that it contains high levels of complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates get digested in the body at a slow pace and therefore, help in meeting the energy requirements of body for a longer period of time as compared to simple carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are needed for maintaining optimal brain function and energy levels throughout the day. One cup of cooked porridge contains around 27 g of carbohydrates. You can easily increase the amount of calories by adding milk, brown sugar, honey or fruits to porridge.

1 cup of cooked porridge contains around 14 mg of iron which means it can provide 100% of the recommended daily intake for men and around 80% of the recommended daily intake for women. Iron is necessary for production of hemoglobin and myoglobin in the body which are needed by red blood cells for carrying oxygen to the muscles as well as other vital organs of the body.

Portage is also rich in phosphorus and one serving contains around 180 mg of phosphorus which is around 25% of the recommended daily intake. Phosphorus not only helps in energy production but also filtering of waste as well as muscle recovery after an intense workout session. Adding seeds, nuts and milk to porridge helps in creating a meal rich in phosphorus.

One cup of porridge has around 187 mg of calcium. Doctors recommend consuming around 1000 mg of calcium for men in the age bracket of 19 to 70 and around 1200 mg for women in the age group of 50 to 70. Calcium is needed for strengthening teeth and bones and it also plays an important role in muscle function, nerve transmission and hormone secretion.

As mentioned above, porridge contains a lot of much-needed vitamins and other nutrients but it is not capable of supplying all the needed nutrients in the recommended quantity on its own. Therefore, it is recommended to consume fortified porridge.

Fortification means addition of the vital vitamins and other nutrients to the meal. While it is true that you can get the required nutrients from supplements but it has been observed that eating fortified porridge or fortified cereals is a much easier and pleasant way to get the required quantity of minerals and vitamins in the diet.

There are a number of brands available in the market fortified with a variety of vitamins and minerals that can supply almost 100% of the daily recommended amount of those minerals and vitamins. By regularly eating fortified porridge, a person is much less likely to become deficient in the much-needed minerals. Overall, there are a number of benefits of eating fortified porridge on a regular basis.