Losing unnecessary kilograms has a positive effect on our immunity – according to the work of two independent research teams.
Australian researchers from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney have shown that even moderate weight loss can reverse many of the adverse changes seen in the immune system of obese people, especially those who also have type 2 diabetes. of Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism ».
The authors reminded that the immune system consists of many different types of cells that protect the body against bacteria, viruses, other pathogenic microbes and cancer. The balance between these cells determines our health. When we disturb this harmony under the influence of various factors, including an unhealthy diet and overweight, it may lead to the development of various diseases – not only infectious.
Previous studies have shown that excess body fat, especially around the abdomen, increases the number of immune cells that stimulate inflammation in our body. Some of them are located in adipose tissue, and some circulate in the blood and can damage other cells and tissues.
For example, research indicates that inflammatory cells are involved in the development of coronary heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases. They are also suspected of being involved in the development of type 2 diabetes in obese people.
Scientists from Sydney conducted a study in a small group of 13 obese people with type 2 diabetes or the so-called pre-diabetes. All of them were limited in calories to 24-1000 kilocalories per day for 1600 weeks. After 12 weeks, they were put on a stomach bandage to further limit the amount of food consumed.
“It turned out that even a moderate loss of weight – around 6 kg – was enough to restore the levels of inflammatory cells in the blood to those of thin people,” comments co-author Katherine Samaras.
Overall, in lean patients, researchers saw a drop of 80 percent. post-inflammatory lymphocytes, abbreviated as Th1, and a reduction in the activity of other immune cells involved in inflammation, including monocytes, neutrophils and adipose tissue macrophages.
Interestingly, it has also been found that assessing the activity of immune cells in adipose tissue can help predict what effects a person will achieve in losing weight with diet and bariatric surgery. In studies, those with more active macrophages lost less weight.
According to Samaras, these studies should make people aware that excess body fat negatively affects their immune system and, consequently, their chances of survival.
This is also evidenced by research conducted by scientists at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, who showed that restricting the caloric content of the diet can improve the efficiency of our immune system to fight infection.
An article on this subject was published in the Journal of Gerontology, Biological Sciences.
The experiments were conducted in a group of 46 overweight (but not obese) people aged 20 to 40. Some of them used a diet reduced by 6% in calories for 30 months, and some consumed only by 10%. less calories.
After six months of using the diet, both groups improved the activity of T lymphocytes responsible for fighting many infections, although in the diet group it improved by 30%. the less caloric effects were better.
According to the authors of the study, this finding indicates that limiting the calories consumed may have a positive effect on our immunity – deteriorating with age. (PAP)