Reach for tea, red wine and blueberries to prevent flu taking hold! Scientists reveal they are packed full of one key ingredient to boost the immune system

Flavanoids – found in berries – are known for their immune boosting effects
Now it’s been found they interact with a certain gut microbe to prevent severe flu
This process did not stop mice from catching the highly contagious infection
But it prevented them getting a severe bout of the flu, say Missouri researchers

Natural compounds found in berries, tea and red wine are known to have protective properties that help regulate the immune system to fight infections.

Now, a new study shows that the flavonoids in these products works with a particular gut microbe to prevent severe flu infections.

In their tests on mice, scientists explained that this did not stop the highly contagious infection being contracted.

But the mechanism boosted the immune system and prevented the flu from harming the lung tissue.

The researchers said the findings could help explain why people have varied reactions to the infection.

Flavanoids found in berries, tea and red wine may prevent severe flu infections (stock photo)

Most people will feel better from influenza within a week but it can be dangerous for the elderly or people with certain illnesses.

Around the world, the World Health Organization estimates it causes 250,000 to 500,000 deaths annually.

‘For years, flavonoids have been thought to have protective properties that help regulate the immune system to fight infections,’ said first author Dr Ashley Steed, a pediatrician from St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri.

‘Flavonoids are common in our diets, so an important implication of our study is that it’s possible flavonoids work with gut microbes to protect us from flu and other viral infections. Obviously, we need to learn more, but our results are intriguing.’

Previous evidence suggests that the gut microbiome may be important in protecting against severe influenza infections.

The new research, carried out at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, aimed to identify the exact gut microbes that might provide that protection.

Additionally, nutritionists have long explored the potential health benefits of flavonoids.

They discovered that the microbe clostridium orbiscindens was protective.

They believe it interacts with the dietary compounds to boost interferon, which are proteins produced by the body’s cells as a defensive response to viruses.

The metabolite that triggered the reaction is called desaminotyrosine, otherwise known as DAT.

‘It’s not only having a diet rich in flavonoids, our results show you also need the right microbes in the intestine to use those flavonoids to control the immune response,’ said another of the study’s authors, Dr Thaddeus Stappenbeck.

‘This prevented influenza-related lung damage in the mice. It is this kind of damage that often causes significant complications such as pneumonia in people.’

BERRIES ARE THE NEW VIAGRA

Flavanoid-rich foods are also said to be as effective at treating erectile dysfunction as the famous blue pill.

Experts claim that eating a handful of berries three times a week or a few glasses of red wine could work wonders for the condition, which is estimated to affect half of all men between 40 and 70.

The study from last year claims snacking on fruit boosts sexual function as much as walking for five hours a week, thanks to natural compounds flavanoids and anthycyanins.

These are found in cherries, blackberries, radishes, blackcurrants and blueberries, and citrus fruits contain chemicals called flavanones and flavones, which have a similar effect.

The research showed that flavanoids found in these fruits helped to reduce impotence by 14 per cent.

While it was already known that flavanoids have health benefits, research by the University of East Anglia and Harvard University, has revealed the true extent of the benefits of a flavanoid-rich diet.

And combining a flavanoid-rich diet with walking will result in an even greater improvement in combating erectile dysfunction – by 21 per cent, the study found.

Dr Steed added: ‘When we gave DAT to mice and then infected them with influenza, the mice experienced far less lung damage than mice not treated with DAT.

Although the lungs of DAT-treated mice didn’t have as much flu damage, their levels of viral infection were identical to those in mice that didn’t get the treatment.

‘The infections were basically the same,’ Dr Stappenbeck said.

‘The microbes and DAT didn’t prevent the flu infection itself; the mice still had the virus. But the DAT kept the immune system from harming the lung tissue.’

Implications

The findings are important because annual flu vaccines are not always effective at preventing infections, say the researchers.

‘With DAT, it may be possible to keep people from getting quite as sick if they do become infected,’ said Dr Steed.

‘This strategy doesn’t target the virus. Instead, it targets the immune response to the virus.

‘That could be valuable because there are challenges with therapies and vaccines that target the virus due to changes in the influenza virus that occur over time.’