A study by Yasmine Belkaid, current director of the Pasteur Institute, reveals that food directly influences our natural defenses and the intestinal microbiota.
When the food reprogram our defenses
The Yasmine Belkaid team, then a researcher at Niaid (American National Institute for Infectious Allergies and Diseases), wanted to understand how a change of plate can modify our immunity. Volunteers followed, each in turn, two very different regimes for two weeks: a vegan diet, rich in fiber and low in fats, and a ketogenic diet, very fatty and almost without sugars.
The results show that the body adapts quickly. From the first days, natural defenses were activated in a different way depending on the type of diet, confirming the close link between diet, microbiota and immune system.
Vegan stimulates innate immunity, keto activates immune memory
With the vegan diet, so -called “innate” immunity has started. First body protection barrier, it acts quickly against virus and microbes. The researchers also observed stimulation of red blood cells, probably linked to a larger contribution in iron. In the study, this diet contained around 10 % fat and 75 % carbohydrates. Another observation: participants spontaneously ate less calories than in the Keto group.
On the other hand, with the Keto dietit was above all the “adaptive” defenses that have mobilized. They are based on T and B cells, capable of remembering the agents already encountered to react faster, as during a vaccination. The researchers noted a great diversity of protein in the blood, as well as visible effects in several tissues, including the brain and bone marrow. In this case, the food brought 76 % fat and only 10 % carbohydrates.
A direct impact on the microbiota, prospects for tomorrow
Whatever the regime, the researchers noted a change in the intestinal microbiota: the composition and activity of bacteria have been modified. These observations confirm that our food choices directly influence the metabolic and immune balance.
These results open up new avenues. In the future, certain regimes could become real therapeutic supplements, for example to strengthen the defenses of patients with inflammatory diseases or in the fight against certain cancers. But scientists call for caution: two weeks are enough to show an effect, but the impact of such a long -term diet is still unknown.