High fiber diet could help fight flu: Australian study

World
Europe

A recent research from an Australian university revealed that a high fiber diet could be the best medicine when it comes to treating the flu.

The study conducted by Department of Immunology and Pathology of Monash University discovered that mice given a high fiber diet were more likely to survive an influenza infection.

That's because whole grains, fruits and vegetables can blunt harmful immune responses in the lungs, and at the same time, boost antiviral immunity by activating T-cells.

T-cell is a type of white blood cell which is of key importance to the immune system. It acts like a soldier by searching out and destroying the targeted invaders.

“For an analogical viewpoint we know how this works,” author of the study, Professor Benjamin Marsland said.

According to Marsland, a high fiber diet changes not only the bacteria in the gut and the metabolites in the body – particularly short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), but also a specific cell population in bone marrow, which, when circulated to the lungs, helps recruit immune cells during an infection.

He added that the results suggest in some cases, high fiber diets could be used as a means of supplementing other therapies or enhancing vaccine efficacy.

“There is a need for carefully designed and controlled dietary or SCFA intervention studies in humans to address how these findings could be exploited to benefit people with asthma, or for preventing viral infections,” he said.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency