As I have mentioned in the past, I have always had an upset or irritated stomach. Despite trying numerous medications and other methods, I have yet to find something that truly helps. However, changing my diet to include more produce over the past few months has improved the condition somewhat — or, at least, when I go back to eating the way I used to, I start to feel the unhealthier foods’ negative impact return.
While I wouldn’t say my stomach feels great all the time, I think that eating leafy green vegetables and other healthy items are definitely helping to improve my system, and a new study in the journal Nature Immunology seems to concur.
In an experiment from the Walters and Eliza Hall Institute’s Molecular Immunology division in Australia, researchers have found that innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) promote a healthy intestinal system. ILCs — a kind of immune cell — prevent harmful bacteria from accessing the intestine, thus regulating it and potentially preventing conditions like inflammatory disease, bowel cancer, Crohn’s Disease and even food allergies.
Additionally, scientists discovered that a gene called T-bet is the one to produce ILCs. T-bet’s activity is affected by signals given to it from food, so take a wild guess at what kind of stuff you should be eating? If you guessed leafy green vegetables, you are correct. Proteins found in cruciferous veggies such as cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli are know to affect the T-bet gene, so researchers believe that eating these types of foods can help your digestive system.
Read More:By Samantha Escobar, blisstree.com
