That is a misconception many people have. A scientific study was released last month from Germany showing that the immune system reacts to unhealthy foods just like it would to a bacterial infection. Yikes!
This study was done on mice – I get that. But the link they made is looking extremely strong between highly processed foods (high sugar and fat, low fibre) and the level of inflammation in the body and potentially linked to the development of arteriosclerosis and diabetes.
What they have found is that a poor diet leaves the body in an “alarm state”, just as it would react after a bacterial infection. It messes with how the DNA is structured and held together. What happens is that the body then tends to react later with stronger inflammatory responses, even when there are only small stimuli. It is these inflammatory responses that can then accelerate development of conditions that we really want to avoid – such as type 2 diabetes and deposits in the arteries (plaques), just to name two. And you don’t need to be overweight to be at risk.
The really good thing is – you can do something about it. Change of diet reversed the inflammatory response in 4 weeks in the study, but they haven’t determined just how long the immune system takes to stop recognising processed/junk food as a problem in the longer term. Combine improving your diet with getting your butt out of your chair and moving are showing to be more and more important.
Food for thought…. Start your health improvements asap by joining a fun social exercise group and buying fresh food!