About three quarters of all emerging and reemerging human diseases arise from animal kingdom. Most modern human infectious diseases were unknown before domestication led to a mass spillover of animal disease into human populations. For example, tuberculosis appears to have been originally acquired through the domestication of goats but now affects nearly a third of humanity. Measles and smallpox may have arisen from mutant cattle viruses. We domesticated pigs and got whooping cough, we domesticated chickens and got typhoid fever, and we domesticated ducks and got influenza. Leprosy may have come from water buffalo and the cold virus from horses. HIV, a virus thought to have originated from the butchering of primates in Africa for the bush-meat trade, causes AIDS by weakening the immune system. There are latent infections that may exist within us, waiting to strike should our immune system falter. That is why it’s not enough to just wash our hands; we have to keep our immune system healthy by eating more plant-based whole foods.

1. Nearly three quarters of all emerging and reemerging human diseases arise from the animal kingdom (Ref1)

2. Tuberculosis appears to have been originally acquired through the domestication of goats but now infects nearly one-third of humanity (Ref2, Ref2.1)

3. Measles and smallpox may have arisen from mutant cattle viruses (Ref3, Ref3.1)

4. We domesticated pigs and got whopping cough, we domesticated chicken and got typhoid fever, we domesticated ducks and got influenza (Ref4)

5. Leprosy from water buffalo and cold virus from horses (Ref5)

6. HIV, a virus thought to have originated from the butchering of primates in Africa for the bush-meat trade, causes AIDS by weakening the immune system (Ref6)

7. Such respiratory infections as Influenza and Pneumonia kill nearly fifty-seven thousand Americans each year (Ref7)

8. To test the theory that inadequate nutrition could help explain the loss in immune function as you age, researchers split eighty three volunteers between sixty-five and eighty-five years old into two groups. The control group ate fewer than three daily servings of fruits and vegetables, while the experimental group consumed at least 5 servings a day. They were all then vaccinated against pneumonia, a practice recommended for all adults over the age of sixty-five. The goal of vaccination is to prime your immune system to produce antibodies against a specific pneumonia pathogen should you ever become exposed. Compared with the control group, people eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables had an 82 percent greater protective antibody response to the vaccine (Ref8)

9. Researchers in Japan found that phytonutrients in such plant foods as fruits, vegetables, tea leaves and beans can block the effects of pollutants such as Dioxins in vitro (Ref9)

10. In one study, researchers asked athletes to eat about a cup and a half of blueberries every day for six weeks to see if the berries could reduce the oxidative stress caused by long-distance running. The blueberries succeded but a more important finding was their effect on natural killer cells. Normally, these cells decrease in number after a bout of prolonged endurance exercise, dropping by half to about one billion. But the athletes consuming blueberries actually doubled their killer cell counts, to more than four billion (Ref10)

11.Natural killer cells are able to eradicate ten times more cancer cells when sprinkled with Cardamom in a petri dish (Ref11)

12. Babies delivered via cesarean section appear to be at increased risk for various allergic diseases, including allergic runny nose, asthma, and perhaps even food allergies. Allergy symptoms are caused when your immune system overreacts to normally harmless stimuli, such as tree pollen (Ref12)

13. Considered the gold standard of research, a randomized, double blind placebo controlled study is a trial in which neither the participants nor the researchers know who is receiving an experimental treatment and who is receiving a placebo until the end of the study. This specific study showed that people who take probiotic supplements may indeed have fewer colds, sick days, and fewer overall symptoms (Ref13)

14. When you eat fresh produce, you can get both pre and probiotics into your gut. Fruits and veggies are covered with millions of Lactic acid bacteria, some of which are the same types used in probiotic supplements (Ref14)

15. Approximately 95 percent of all infections start in the mucosal (moist) surfaces, including the eyes, nostrils and mouth (Ref15)

16. Compared to a sedantary control group, those who performed aerobic exercises for thirty minutes three times a week for twelve weeks had a 50 percent increase in the levels of IgA in their saliva and reported significantly fewer respiratory infection symptoms. The IgA in saliva is considered the first line of defense against such respiratory tract infections as pneumonia and influenza (Ref16, Ref16.1)

17. While regular physical activity improves immune function and lowers respiratory infection risk, sustained and intense exertion may have the opposite effect. As you go from inactive to active, infection risk declines, but at a certain point, overtraining and excessive stress can increase the risk of infection by impairing immune function. In the weeks following marathons or ultramarathons, runners report a two-to sixfold increase in upper-respiratory-tract infections. Studies have found that IgA levels can drop after even just single bouts of overstrenuous exercise (Ref17, Ref17.1, Ref17.2)