Food has been a major source of scientific studies over decades. What food is good for us? What is bad? What happens when we eat? When should we eat? Questions, for which we need answers, so that we can make healthy food choices.
Now a new study tells us that when we ingest food, the body reacts and triggers inflammatory conditions.
This is because when we eat we not only ingest the nutrients from our food but we also consume a large quantity of bacteria. The inflammatory response is the body’s reaction to fight the bacteria consumed. This protective response triggered by inflammation is important in a healthy individual and plays an active role in sugar uptake and immune response.
But in overweight individuals, this protective mechanism fails, leading to diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes (adult-onset diabetes) leads to chronic inflammation which produces a range of harmful effects. Thus previous trials have treated diabetes by obstructing over-production of a substance called Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta). This substance, a protein, triggers chronic inflammation and causes insulin-producing cells to die in patients with diabetes.
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Researchers showed in this mice-based study that depending on the concentration of glucose in the blood, the number of macrophages (a type of immune cell or scavenger cells) around the intestines increases during meal times, producing the messenger substance IL-1beta. The amount of IL-1beta depends on the concentration of glucose present in the blood. This in turn stimulates the production of insulin in pancreatic beta cells. The insulin then stimulates the macrophages to produce more IL-1beta. Both insulin and IL-1beta work together to regulate blood sugar levels while IL-1beta ensures that the immune system stays active with a supply of glucose.
This mechanism of metabolism and immune system depends on the bacteria and nutrients ingested during a meal, according to the research.
When nutrients are sufficient the body can combat the bacteria however, if nutrients are insufficient, then the few remaining calories will be conserved for important life functions at the expense of an immune response. This probably explains why there is a spread of infectious diseases during a famine.
Further experiments by the researchers showed that over-nutrition can lead to a prolonged activation of the immune system leading to metabolic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes.
Source: Nature Immunology
