Food and Health – The Role of Food in the Immune System

In the food chain, food is food made up of all the various species that may be plants, fungi, bacteria, or other organisms. The food we eat may be animal, plant or fungi, and has to contain certain nutrients in order for us to survive. Food is generally of animal, plant or fungal variety, and has certain important nutrients, including vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, or minerals, which are the only substances that can be taken from plant or animal sources.

Every living cell in the human body needs food for its energy and growth, but the food we eat also provides many other substances to our bodies which cannot be derived from foods. These include the vitamins and other substances which are necessary for the body to function properly. It is these non-food substances that play a vital role in the immune system, the role of which is to prevent infection by fighting off invading microorganisms, diseases, and illnesses. Our body cannot exist without the substances provided by food: vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates are contained in almost every food, and each food has an equally important group of substances to which we must give special attention.

The major categories of food include carbohydrates, starches, unsaturated fats, sugars, complex carbohydrates, and polysaccharides. Fungi and microorganisms may lead to infections if they are allowed to proliferate in the human body. Modern methods of food processing have developed methods of preservation, which can reduce the amount of time needed for aging vegetables and eliminate any risk of food poisoning. In addition, in certain specialized fields, technological improvements have led to the substitution of food ingredients for crude substitutes (for example, egg white).