Recently a national Conference on Nutrition and Immunity was convened in Atlanta, Georgia, bringing together top scientists in the fields of nutrition and immunology.
Scientists now recognize the crucial role that nutrition plays in supporting immune function.
Modulating the immune response with supplements has become a reality. Studies in Third-World countries have shown that the administration of Vitamin A to malnourished children confers protection against measles and reduces the death rate associated with this viral infection. The administration of Vitamin A to cortisone-treated animals appears to abolish the immunosuppressive effects of cortisone. Vitamin A enhances white blood cell function, enhances resistance to infection and carcinogens, and helps maintain skin and mucus membrane defenses to infection. Besides being a precursor to Vitamin A, beta carotene has its own unique immune-stimulating properties that Vitamin A does not.