Hardly will you turn a direction whether at home or workplace without seeing someone with common cold or flu, an indication that the flu season is here and people are better off boosting their body immunity to stay free.

The common cold is a viral infection primarily caused by rhinoviruses. It is the most common infectious disease in humans, and responsible for millions of  illnesses every year.  Various studies have looked at the potential of “immune-building foods”  such as yogurt and cabbage to reduce the incidence or severity of the common cold.

In a research done in Spain, experts reported that daily consumption of yogurt may boost the immune function, even if they have a weakened defense system. People with weakened defense system include those with anorexia nervosa, eating disorder that compromise immune system, due to the poor diet and erroneous eating habits.

According to new findings published in the European Journal of Nutrition, daily consumption of a yogurt containing Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus during a re-feeding programme may boost the immune system of anorexics.

The researchers reported that the immune boosting benefits of the dairy product were not observed when milk was fed in place of yogurt, an observation that points to the influence of the bacterial strains in the yogurt.

Interestingly, conventional, not ‘probiotic’, yogurt that is fermented by L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus can also boost body immunity as suggested by this study which involved 30 anorexic and 33 health adolescents. The anorexic adolescents were randomly assigned to receive either the yogurt or semi-skimmed milk as part of their refeeding diet, while the health adolescents were also assigned to receive either the yogurt or the milk for 10 weeks.

The researchers looked at  the ratio of CD4+ lymphocytes to CD8+ lymphocytes, a well established diagnostic measure of immune system functioning.

Lymphocytes are white blood cells that play a key role in immune response. A low ratio of CD4+ to CD8+ is indicative of a suppressed immune system.

Certainly, yogurt  is not the only healthy food choice that could prevent reduction in body immunity. Other “Immune-building foods” include garlic, milk fortified with vitamin D and vegetables like cabbage. Citrus fruits are also on the list for their vitamin C content, and chicken, meat and peanuts because of their zinc content.

Interestingly, daily intake of a Korean dish (kimchi) made with fermented cabbage and spices surged in 2005 after scientists found that a lactic acid bacteria in the dish helped poultry fight bird flu.

Studies have also shown that concentrates of fruit and vegetables taken as capsules may reduce the symptoms of common cold by 20 per cent. The 2010 findings published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that a micronutrient-dense concentrate of a range of fruits and vegetables including cherry, apple, broccoli, cranberry, orange, pineapple, spinach, and tomato was found to reduce the symptoms for moderate and severe common cold.

Two-hundred and sixty three people were assigned to receive daily supplements of the fruit and vegetable concentrate, while 266 people received a placebo for eight months. Participants of the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial had an average age of 39.9 and 80 per cent were women.

Results showed no significant differences between the groups regarding the total number of days with any common cold symptoms. However, people receiving the fruit and vegetable concentrate had an average of 7.6 days with moderate or severe common cold symptoms, compared with 9.5 days in the placebo group.

Meanwhile, the high antioxidant content of the supplement, including vitamins C and E, as well as nutrients such as beta-carotene and folate that have been linked to improved immune function via increased numbers of T cells (white blood cells with a key role in immune health).

Nonetheless, the myriads of health benefits of daily consumption of cabbage and other vegetables from the same family such as broccoli include protection against lung and prostate cancer. As with many cancers, experts suggested that turning towards nutrition for prevention or slowing down the “beast” is helpful  because of the safety and cancer-targeting ability of sulforaphane present in cabbage and other vegetables in the same family on selectively target cancer cells.
The research, published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, reported for the first time that sulforaphane – one of the primary phytochemicals in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables target cancer cells through multiple chemopreventive (cancer preventing) mechanisms.

Many of the factors that are associated with prostate cancer like ageing, imbalance of androgens, antioxidant system, dietary fat, and some pre malignant conditions may be linked to oxidative stress.

In addition, researchers who gave participants a food questionnaire to fill in and assessed their genetic status from a blood sample found that weekly consumption of cruciferous vegetables had a 33 per cent protective effect against lung cancer in people who had a particular genetic make-up (GSTM1 gene).

Meanwhile, beverage makers have become increasingly aware that functional beverages that contain beneficial microbes (probiotics) that improve human health  may also help to boost immune functions. Traditionally, probiotics are used in dairy products such as yoghurts or fermented drinks.

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