How to Win War within our Body

Do you know that our immunity system guards us against the viruses, bacteria, fungi, pathogens, and abnormal cancer cells & our immunity system is a very sophisticated system in which many different kind of immune cells play a role which is very intricate.

Let us see the different players & their roles in the immunity system:

1. Macrophages: These are white cell and are the first line of defense. They quickly gobble the foreign invader but sometimes they are unable to differentiate between native and the foreigner so they call T-helper cells for helping them.


2. T-Helper cells are also a part of white blood cells. These cells are also called lymphocytes. These cells come along with macrophages to identify friend or enemy. If they find enemy they secrete the hormone called cytokines which stimulate inflammation triggering more strong response to enemy by calling β-Cells and more macrophages.

3. β-Cells attack the intruder by shooting an enzyme which creates oxidative stress in the intruders. Part of these β-Cells returns to lymph nodes to create the antibodies against the intruders & that’s why we develop immunity against those intruders for future.



4. Natural killer cells destroy anything by flooding infected cells with toxins and destructive enzymes, they also helps in killing abnormal cells such as cancer cells.



5. T-suppressor cells are the disaster management or rescue team. They calm down this tremendous immune response and control collateral damage. It is very critical to control potential infections intruders, if the inflammatory response gets out of control, it can cause great harm. This whole immunity system in the body is similar to the ‘Soul’ in the body. Many people may not believe in ‘soul’ but that does not matter. One thing is for certain, that everybody possesses some unknown form of energy, without which the body is considered dead. No one knows the location of this energy inside our body, but it is there for certain. Our body is made up of cells. That means this energy is present in every cell. In a similar manner the immunity system of the body is present in each cell. This protects the cell, from external aggression and internal disorders. Thus, the immunity system besides protecting cell from virus, bacteria and other germs also maintain a healthy & clean environment inside the cells. This implies that clearing free radicals from the cell is one of the prime functions of the immunity system. The immunity system can perform its function satisfactorily only if the task is within the designed capability. Thus any increase in free radicals, increases the burdens on the immunity system & that in time shows up as a degenerative disorders like arthritis, heart diseases, cancer etc. The free radicals are produced due to the oxidative stress of the body. Causes of oxidative stress are present everywhere today like pollution, smoking, secondary cigarette smoke, excessive exercising, alcohol, pesticides, lack of good nutrition and many others.

Now if we see the plants they are 24x7 exposed to extreme weather, pollution and are attacked by virus, bacteria & other germs & insects. Yet they grow because they have phyto-nutrients. Phyto-nutrients are the nature’s strongest partners in the battle against oxidative stress and are also responsible for giving plants their colors. Generally, the darker the fruit or vegetable the higher phyto- nutrient contents. Exceptions are white vegetables like onion, cauliflower, etc. Over 5000 phyto-nutrients have been identified. Some contained a wide variety of phyto-nutrients like berries & other contains a smaller number in concentrated levels like tomatoes. The preparation process also affect their nutritional value like nutritional content of some foods increases when steamed boiled or heated for example tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, carrots, spinach, while peeling certain fruits & vegetables decreases their nutritional contents like grape skins, apples. Different phyto-nutrients work in different part of the body like lutein (a phyto-nutrient present in dark green leafy vegetables) is deposited in the eyes and helps prevent ARMD. Lycopene is deposited in heart tissues. Our body converts these phyto-nutrients also, like carotenoids are converted to Vitamin-A in our body thus helping our body to produce anti-oxidants & increase immunity & reduce inflammation (eg. Ginger & Garlic are anti-inflammatory). It is good to carefully plan our food habits to increase our immunity, to fight oxidative stress & to remain healthy. It will be better if we eat at least seven colors of fruits & vegetable daily. Thus eating more colors will prevent the humans falling sick & prevent us from today’s life style diseases. Happy eating more colors.