13 Mar 2024

Immune Systems

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Did you know that chicken soup really IS good for you? It’s not just that it tastes so wonderful and comforting that it makes you feel better. Both vegetables and chicken contain substances that mitigate inflammation by inhibiting neutrophil migration. In layman’s terms that’s a mild anti-inflammatory effect – which in turn reduces upper respiratory tract infections (1).

Of course, the cleaner the ingredients, the better the soup will make you feel – and you don’t get much better ingredients than the ones we use to make our stock.

The importance of reducing inflammation in our bodies has only recently been recognised. A standard diet will contain food additives which can be toxic and activate chronic inflammation which in turn creates an abnormal immune response (2). Diet and exercise are the best way to reduce inflammation in our bodies and, in so doing, strengthen our immune systems.

One way of doing this is to increase the amount of fibre that we eat – this also has been shown to lower our mortality risk from infectious and respiratory diseases (3). With up to 79% real vegetables in our stocks they are chock full of fibre!

Our organic, fresh ingredients have higher levels of micronutrients which also play an important role in supporting a healthy immune system. Micronutrients and the immune system work together to reduce the risk of infection (4). They support the immune response against viral infections (5), and have potential therapeutic applications in treating autoimmune diseases (6).

What’s crucial is to try and avoid additives and preservatives – and all our products are completely free of fillers like rice or corn flour, msg or yeast extract. They have no gluten, dairy or sugar; no preservatives and no palm oil. All of these additives are inflammatory triggers and are included in most processed foods. It’s never been more important to read the label with care and know what you are putting in your body.

Recent times have highlighted how important a healthy immune system response is. If you are exposed to inflammatory triggers and stimuli over a long period of time you can develop chronic inflammation and this can have a cascading effect on the immune system.

Some of the negative impacts can be:

Immunosuppression: Prolonged exposure to inflammatory stimuli can lead to the suppression of immune cell function. Immune cells, including white blood cells, play a central role in recognizing and eliminating pathogens (7).
Cytokine Imbalance: when you have inflammation your body releases signalling molecules called cytokines. Chronic inflammation can disrupt the balance of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. This can go either of two ways – it can create an overactive immune response or, paradoxically, immunosuppression (8).
Impaired Immune Cell Communication: For a robust immune defence against infections, immune cells need to communicate with each other in very detailed ways. Chronic inflammation can interfere with this communication network impacting the immune system response (9).
Autoimmune Reactions: Prolonged inflammation may contribute to the development or exacerbation of autoimmune diseases, where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own tissues (10).

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