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PostPosted: Wed Mar 18, 2020 10:00 pm 
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The Effect of Sugar on Phagocytes

A research study was carried out to observe how simple carbohydrates decreased the phagocytic capacity of neutrophils. Blood was drawn after an overnight fast and then at intervals of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, or 5 hours. The blood was then placed on slides and incubated in Staphylococcus epidermidis.

Participants were given 100g oral portions of glucose, fructose, sucrose, honey, or orange juice to observe the effects on the activity of neutrophils. Immediately after consuming simple carbohydrates (approximately one to two hours), there was a significant decrease in the phagocytic index, which means the immune function of phagocytes was suppressed. The effects lasted up to five hours post-feeding, confirming that the function of phagocytes was impaired by the consumption of simple carbohydrates. On the other hand, a fast of 36 or 60 hr significantly increased the phagocytic index (P<0.001). However, sugar did not affect the number of neutrophils.
Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever?

Professor of immunobiology at Yale, Ruslan Medzhitov challenged the ancient wisdom of starving a fever and feeding a cold. He explains that both viruses and bacteria can cause a fever. Medzhitov's research has brought him to the following conclusion:

“Starve a bacterial infection and stuff a viral infection.”

He explains that we are not feeding or starving the bacteria or viruses, rather modulating the inflammation resulting from the infection. Depending on the source of inflammation, fasting has different consquences.

Medzhitov warns against oversimplifying the effects of eating when the body has contracted a bacterial infection or a virus. Medzhitov force-fed mice who were suffering from food-poisoning due to the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes and the mice died. To find out what micronutrients were responsible for their demise, the Yale team split the micronutrients and fed them separately.

Interestingly the Listeria mice survived when they were force-fed fats and proteins. However, when the infected mice consumed carbohydrates or glucose, they died. Starving the mice of sugar while they were infected with Listeria kept them alive.

Conversely, when Medzhitov and his team force-fed mice who had the influenza virus, they found that they were more likely to survive. The team at Yale concluded that glucose is required for survival in viral inflammation, however, it is lethal when treating bacterial inflammation.

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