9 Things Your Body Does That Are Defense Mechanisms

There are some fascinating defense mechanisms our bodies activate that may seem a little strange, however they all have important roles in protecting our health 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Take a look:

 

Yawning

It's main purpose is to cool the brain down after it's been overheated or overloaded. 

Hiccups Hiccups occur when we tend to eat quickly, swallow large pieces of food or overeat, which may irritate our pneumogastric nerve, resulting in hiccups. 

Sneezing

Sneezing occurs when our nasal passages fill with too many allergens, microbes, dust or other irritants. Sneezing helps us get rid of them.

Myoclonic Jerks This usually occurs when you drift off to sleep and your body jolts for a second. In this moment your muscles spasm strongly, causing you to awake instantly. When you fall asleep, the frequency of your breathing rapidly falls and your pulse slows down slightly, relaxing your muscles. Your brain may interpret this as a heralding death, thus causing your body to jolt in order to save you.

Stretching

We instinctively stretch to prepare our bodies for the physical loads we expect to take on during the day. Stretching also works the muscles, restores blood flow and improves our mood. 

Wrinkling of the skin Wrinkles that appear on your skin and hands after a shower play a fundamental role. When your body encounters an increased amount of moisture it understands that the environment around you may be slippery. Your skin therefore begins to form wrinkles in order to have a better grip on smooth surfaces. 

Goosebumps

Goosebumps reduce the amount of heat our bodies lose through the pores of our skin, making it easier to keep ourselves warm. 

Loss of memory Memory loss tends to occur after the most unpleasant experiences, whereby our brains literally delete terrible moments from our memories. 

Tears

Tears act as a protection for the mucous membrane of our eye when a foreign object comes into contact with it. Scientists also believe that in stressful situations the body creates a new, powerful source of irritation in order to distract a person from the pain they are currently experiencing.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   
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Drumstick / Moringa Trees Amazing Values For Chronic Diseases

If plants could be superheroes, the Moringa (Moringa oleifera) tree would be one of them.It is drought tolerant, grows rapidly, has leaves that can be used as a biofertiliser, and has seeds that can help purify water. Even more interesting about this tree, is that it's a  food, a vegetable, and a medicine. Every part of the tree can be consumed; leaves and young fruits (pods) as food; and the seeds, bark, flowers, and roots as medicine.
 

The leaves are highly nutritious. Once harvested and dried, they contain 30 percent protein, all essential amino acids, and have abundant levels of vitamins and minerals.

The trees have a natural defense mechanism against environmental stress and pests. These are unique chemical compounds, known as phytochemicals, which include antioxidants and defense compounds. When consumed these compounds they also protects people against various conditions and diseases.
A postdoctoral research working with botanicals to treat obesity and diabetes, they showed  a simple way to harness the potent anti-inflammatory compounds in moringa leaves.

Moringa’s safety and efficacy have been reviewed, and have  shown promise for the management of diabetes and risk of cardiovascular diseases.

How it Works

Many phytochemicals, especially plant defense compounds used to ward off insects, are stored as inactive compounds. When the leaves are crushed, or chewed by an insect, an enzymatic reaction occurs, releasing the activated compound. While these can act as a deterrent to bug,  tasting bitter or spicy, these compounds act as a potent anti-inflammatory agents in our body.

Moringa leaves and powder

The way it works is that when we’re sick, or have an underlying health condition like cancer, diabetes, or obesity, our bodies overreact and cause chronic inflammation. This constant inflammation throws the body off balance as it’s always in fight mode. While acute inflammation can help the body heal, like when you cut your finger, chronic inflammation can be detrimental to health because the immune system is over working. Inflammation can also cause improper processing of sugars and toxins that we are exposed to. The phytochemicals from moringa can help reduce this inflammation.

The bioactive compounds in moringa are called isothiocyanates (ITCs) and are similar to ones found in broccoli, cabbage and rocket – giving them a little peppery taste. The researchers were able to patent a simple process of crushing the leaves when fresh, to release the active ITCs, and then dry them to a powder containing some of the most beneficial plant compounds for human health.
The researchers showed their ability to reduce chronic inflammation, blood sugar levels, cholesterol, obesity and inflammatory bowel disorders in both cellular and animal models.

Increasing Awareness

Although moringa has been consumed in South East Asia for centuries, its introduction to the rest of the world has been slow. Scientific research on the plant’s benefits has also been limited, although an increase in academic publications has  grown significantly since 2000. With rising pressures of population growth and climate change causing increased food and nutritional security, particularly in Africa, moringa offers a tool to address these issues.

People’s awareness and concern for their health have allowed beneficial plants to gain more exposure. Over the past five years, awareness of moringa leaves as a healthy green vegetable has begun to emerge. Not just as packaged and jarred leaf powders in Nairobi supermarkets and farmers markets, but also in US and European “superfood markets.”

Moringa leaves

Fresh moringa leaves are tasty in salads, soups, on eggs, and anything savoury. But the fresh leaves are fairly perishable and are ideally consumed within a day of harvesting. The leaves can be added to cooked lentils and eaten with rice and roti. The immature pods can also be eaten like green beans, and are often found in soups. The dried leaf powder offers an alternative to those who can’t grow moringa in their backyard or have access to a farm. The dried powder can be added to porridge, smoothies, tea, soups, and as a herb to any meal after it has been cooked. For those who don’t like the spicy, “healthy” taste, moringa powder is also available in capsules and tea blends.

The leaves can be added to a mixture of rice and dal, which is soaked and ground to a paste with green chilies and salt. Then it is made like thick pancakes/ adai ! The leaves are good source of calcium and fibre.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                                                                                                                                             PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/   

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Aspirin may help counteract impact of obesity on cancer

Aspirin can counter the ill effects of obesity on cancer development, according to a study that may pave the way for new therapies to prevent the deadly disease in those at risk.

Obesity is a known risk factor for certain types of cancer, including colon, pancreatic and breast cancer. Studies have shown its role in promoting tumour growth and malignant progression. However, its role in cancer initiation has been uncertain.

"Epithelial" cells lining the surfaces of organs have the intrinsic ability to remove potentially malignant cells from their midst. This is called the "epithelial defense against cancer" mechanism. Normally, the cells sense harmful cells and push them out by the process called cell competition.

To study how obesity affects this defense mechanism, researchers bred mice that were designed to express a known cancer-inducing mutant protein called Ras Epithelial cells usually remove the potentially malignant Ras-transformed cells.

Feeding the Ras mice high-fat diets, which resulted in severe obesity, suppressed the defense mechanism and therefore increased the number of Ras-transformed cells remaining in the tissue.

This suppression was seen in the intestine and pancreas, but not in the lungs. Furthermore, a month later the Ras-transformed cells developed a tumor in the pancreas of mice with the high-fat diet.

The result supports previous correlations made between intestinal and pancreatic cancer and obesity, but not lung cancer.

Following experiments using the mice model and cultured cells revealed that fatty acids and chronic inflammation cause the suppression of the defense mechanism.

When mice fed a high-fat diet were treated with aspirin, known for its anti-inflammatory properties, the defense mechanism was substantially enhanced. This implies that reinforcing the epithelial defense mechanism with anti-inflammatory drugs could be utilised for cancer prevention.

"This is the first report to show that obesity and chronic inflammation can influence competitive interaction between normal cells and transformed cells. It implies other factors such as infection, smoking, sleeping patterns and aging may also affect cell competition," said the author.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                                                                                                                                        PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/  

FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                                                              https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                              
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