Food and Fruit

8 Common Foods that Weaken Immunity

If you want to stay your healthiest, you’ll want to avoid adding any of these to your grocery list curated by users of best payout casinos.

  1. Sugary Foods

When we think of sugary foods, baked goods, candy, chocolate, and other processed sweets come to mind. But even dried or canned fruits or juices contain a lot of added sugar which can put your system out of whack. The microbiome living in our guts keep harmful bacteria in check, but the glucose and fructose in sweetened foods feed those unhealthy microbes, making it harder to fight infection. In addition, sugar begets craving more sugar, as the yeast and other sugar-loving microbes in your system get used to the added sugar in your body.

  1. Salty Foods

Salt makes food taste so much better. It brings out natural flavor, and spices bland dishes up. But it’s bad for you. It can stop immune functions from working normally, alter your gut bacteria and increase the risk of autoimmune diseases. Preliminary research indicates that the Western world’s rate of autoimmune diseases. It also can exacerbate existing autoimmune diseases like colitis, Crohn’s disease and lupus. One small 2016 study showed that men on a high salt diet had higher levels of monocytes and inflammatory markers, which indicates an excessive immune response, courtesy of new online casino.

  1. Processed Meats

Time to give up the hot dogs and deli meats — not eating processed meats is not just for pregnant people anymore. These meats have been linked to several diseases, including colon cancer. High in saturated fat, these meats have been shown to contribute to immune system dysfunction and contribute to inflammation in some people.

  1. Fast Food

Everyone knows fast food isn’t great for you, but sometimes the convenience and deliciousness overcome those facts. Still, fast food isn’t just bad for your weight, it can actually harm your immune system. It’s bad for your gut biome, and can increase inflammation. In addition to holding a lot of that salt we just talked about, it has added chemicals, sometimes from the plastic or Styrofoam packaging, which mess up hormone production in humans, weaken immune responses and even cause dysfunction.

  1. Foods with Additives

The more processed a food is, the more additives it contains — to improve texture, taste, preservation and the like. These additives, particularly emulsifiers and carrageenan, can cause immune dysregulation by altering gut bacteria and increasing inflammation. Studies have linked these additives to immune dysfunction in rodents. What foods are highly processed? In addition to lunch meats and bacon, canned soups, canned vegetables, frozen dinners, snack foods and anything else with a long shelf life.

  1. Artificially Sweetened Foods

It’s not just sugar that can harm your immune system. The sweeteners we use when we are trying to avoid sugar can be just as harmful if not more. They are connected to altered gut bacteria, more inflammation and a slower immune response. Sucralose and saccharin in particular can cause gut biome imbalance. It could even push forward the progression of autoimmune disease.

  1. Fried Food

Fried foods compete with fast foods and processed meats for AGE content. Remember, these end products increase risk of cell damage and inflammation. They also drain your body of antioxidant mechanisms, disrupt gut bacteria and introduce cell dysfunction. All this could lead to increased risk of certain cancers, heart disease, and even malaria. So, as much as we would love to kick back and enjoy some fried deliciousness, lay off the fries, potato chips, fried chicken, bacon and fish and chips for a healthier germ-fighting response.

  1. Caffeine and Alcohol

Caffeine in and of itself won’t hurt your immune system, but lack of sleep will, and if you consume caffeine anywhere close to bedtime, you may find yourself awake in the wee hours. We’re not talking just coffee. Certain types of teas, chocolate, even protein bars can contain the stuff. Alcohol suppresses immune response by reducing the number of cells that fight infection. This makes you more susceptible to sepsis, poor wound health, pneumonia and inflammation of the lungs.

Joe Hammonds

Hi, I am Joe; I am an entrepreneur, father, mentor, and adventurer passionate about life.

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