In a world where fast food is quicker, simpler, and better tasting, its easy to get tempted by what the corporations have to offer us. Regarding this, we need to keep a more watchful eye over our nutrition intake to make sure our body can be in the best working order.

Why healthy nutrition? The are a lot of benefits. The human body needs various nutrients and minerals to keep it functioning in tip-top shape, and the only way this can be accomplished is by maintaining a healthy diet which include vitamins and minerals. These nutrients are necessary to the body for many different reasons; they are crucial for obtaining energy, helping your body grow, and repairing worn out tissues. Most importantly, they strengthen our immune system to combat against various disease and illness. If your diet lacks certain necessary vitamins, your health may suffer. Therefore, the primary benefits of healthy nutrition are mainly that it keeps your health up.

In addition, keeping fit by exercising regularly, having enough sleep and maintaining a stress less status while sticking to a healthy nutritional plan can result in higher levels of energy, higher self esteem and a generally better feeling of well-being. As you can see, there are many answers to the question "Why have healthy nutrition", and all of them point to a better way of life. While the temptations of fast foods and junk can be great, some simple will-power and restraint can help you achieve levels of health you didn't even know were possible.

Nutritional Immunology - The Gateway to a Healthier Life

Throughout history, scientists have been successful in developing drugs that treat specific diseases. But they have yet to create an adequate substitute for a healthy immune system - a substitute that most likely does not exist.

We used to think illness were linked mainly to infectious agents. Throughout medical advances and the improvement of living standards, scientists have used all kinds of chemical drugs to inhabit the spread of viruses and bacteria agents. In today's world, we are facing a new kind of health challenge: illnesses related to our modern diet such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer. When faced with the challenge of these degenerative diseases, we realize the importance of prevention through balanced diets.

Even though "NUTRITION" and "IMMUNOLOGY" were once two separate disciplines, today we realize the importance of combining the two sciences for the improvement of our immune systems. Imbalanced diets, unhealthy living habits and insufficient health knowledge are all causes of suppressed immune function. Without a properly functioning immune system, we cannot face the microbial, health hazards of daily life.

Simply searching for cures is no longer enough to combat disease; prevention is the key to greater health and Nutritional Immunology can provide the knowledge to obtain it. According to Nutritional Immunology, when the body is deprived of essential nutrients, the immune system is weakened and losses its ability to defend us against illness. However, when function properly, the immune system has the ability to combat disease and illness and even overcome the constant attacks of environmental pollutants and toxins.

Recognizing that disease prevention addresses the problem of poor health more effectively than searching for cures, Dr. Jau-Fei Chen has discovered definite connections between the nutrients found in plant foods and immune system function. According to the science of Nutritional Immunology, plant foods such as fruits, vegetables and herbs provide rich sources of nutrients that the body needs. In fact, the phytochemicals found in plants are believed to prevent dietary fat from promoting tumors, inhibit the growth of microbes and improved blood lipids and cholesterol levels. The American Cancer Society maintains that nutrition is a major player in preventing cancer deaths.

Living in this new millennium and facing different health hazards on a daily basis helps us see that continuing research and education is important to bring health to the world. After all, it is only when we have good health that life truly begins.

The Immune System - Activate the Body's own Defense System

The human immune system is the body's own battlefield. Without the immune system, the body would not be able to defend against disease and illness. The immune system consist of :

* Monocytes, which act as sentinels;
* Antibodies;
* Natural killer cells;
* Cytotoxic T-cells, which act as artillery;
* Helper and suppressor T cells, which sound the alarm;
* macrophages, which help clean up the battlefield.

The immune system is like an army protecting our bodies from foreign invaders. The major constituents of the immune system consist of :

* Bone marrow
* Thymus
* Lymph nodes
* Spleen
* Tonsils
* Appendix
* Peyer's patches
* lymphatic vessels

All of which protect the body against dangerous toxins and invading micro-organisms.

Nothing can take the place of a healthy immune system. When function properly, the body has all the ammunition it needs to ward off disease and combat illness. The immune system is stronger than any drug, and unlike most medications, it has no side effects.

There are definite links between nutrition and the immune system. What we eat directly affect how well the immune system functions. Unfortunately, many of us assume that if we do not exhibit visible signs of illness, then we are healthy. This is an assumption that is often incorrect. Most diseases are present in the body long before they give any outward manifestations, and are associated with a malfunctioning of the immune system. However, if our immune system is function properly, we can defend ourselves from most illness. Therein lies the importance of strengthening the immune system: through proper Nutrition.

Plant Foods - The Sources of Natural, Wholesome Nutrition

Nutritional factors play a significant role in resistance to infection and almost any nutritional deficiency adversely affects the immune system. So, the question is, how do we obtain the necessary nutrients to keep the immune system function optimally? Herbs and Plant foods are the most natural sources of nutrition available on the earth. It is know that there exists on the earth today, a sufficient variety of plants, vegetation and herbs to adequately fulfill all our body's nutritional needs. Despite this, humans typically eat less that 0.1% of the total number of plants in the world. This can probably be attributed to the busy lifestyles that most of us lead.

Artificially created vitamins can only mimic the nutrients found in plants, but in the long term, they are not adequate substitutes for vitamins in their natural source. Not only are the isolates not as effective as vitamins in their natural source, but they are also dangerous. For example, just five times the US Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamin D has been found to cause liver damage, and large doses of vitamin B6 taken by women for PMS relief can actually lead to nervous system damage. It should be noted that the US Recommended Daily Allowance that appears on vitamin bottles and food packages represents the maximum need (usually for an adult male), rather than the average need. The safest, most affective way to obtain essential vitamins is through herbs and plants.

Phytochemicals found in plant foods offer enormous promise in the fight against disease - particularly cancer - as they seem to have the ability to nourish and bolster the immune system like nothing else science has ever seen. Studies have shown that phytochemicals have the ability to block the process that leads to carcinogenesis, and may even reverse or halt the progression of cancer at any stage. There are millions of different nutrients in plant foods, and each plant contains a unique variety of phytochemicals.