How 1 Chemical In Food Could Make the Flu Temporarily Incur

The flu. 

It’s actually one of the deadliest conditions known to man.

Last year, in 2018, roughly 80,000 Americans died from the flu in America; 650,000 across the entire world died of the flu.

Now my recommendation isn’t to get the flu shot… or not to. That’s a personal decision and one you can come to based on your own beliefs.

Instead, my recommendation is to watch what you eat.

I always, always recommend eating a clean diet. Part of that is because when you eat well you provide your body with all kinds of nutrients your body utilizes to mount a strong immune response.

The other part of that equation is I believe what you don’t eat will also help you fight the flu.

In a recent study researchers believe they’ve discovered a link between a common food additive and the inability to recover from the flu faster.

 Common Food Additive May Lead To You Being Sick Longer

Food additives are considered one of the miracles of modern technology.

Thanks to food additives food lasts longer on the shelves, delivers high amounts of certain nutrients and makes food cost less.

But they’re really not that good for you.

And new research seems to indicate a common food additive could weaken your body’s ability to fight the flu.

A team led by Robert Freeborn from Michigan State University in East Lansing believes a food additive called "tert-butylhydroquinone" (tBHQ) will seriously weaken how your body fights the flu.

Now you may be wondering if you’re consuming tBHQ.

Many crackers, microwave popcorn, butter, french fries, chips, chicken nuggets and more may contain tBHQ. Unfortunately it’s hard to know if you’re eating tBHQ because it’s not labeled openly.

So, with that being said, let me show you what the researchers discovered about tBHQ and the flu.

 How tBHQ Could Impair Your Power to Fight the Flu

The flu is a dangerous virus.

For some people it doesn’t do much other than incapacitate them for a few days. For others it has the power to completely overwhelm the immune system.

When you get sick "helper" T cells help to activate various processes in the body which ultimately lead to "killer" T cells targeting and destroying infected cells.

To see how this additive might affect your immune function Freeborn’s team exposed one group of mice to a diet rich in tBHQ and another to a standard diet.

Here’s what a write up on the study said:

“The researchers found that both helper and killer T cells activated much more slowly in the mice that had eaten a tBHQ-enhanced diet. As a result, the virus took much longer to clear.

"Our studies showed that mice on a tBHQ diet had a weakened immune response to influenza (flu) infection," comments Freeborn.

‘In our mouse model, tBHQ suppressed the function of two types of T cells: helper and killer T cells. Ultimately, this led to more severe symptoms during a subsequent influenza infection.’ Freeborn said.

Furthermore, when the researchers reinfected the rodents with a new, similar strain of influenza, they found that the mice on the tBHQ diet were sick for longer and lost more weight.

This, the researchers explain, suggests that the additive interferes with the so-called "memory response" that helps the immune system fight a second infection.”

So what does that mean for you?

Well, it’s hard to say.

But I suggest avoiding additives in any food to help maintain your health.