New Delhi: According to scientists, every time we consume a meal, it triggers inflammation that activates the immune system in the body.


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The study also explains why infectious diseases occur more frequently in times of famine.


It is well known that type 2 diabetes (or adult-onset diabetes) leads to chronic inflammation with a range of negative impacts.


A number of clinical studies have therefore treated diabetes by impeding the over-production of a substance involved in this process, Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta).


In diabetes patients, this messenger substance triggers chronic inflammation and causes insulin-producing beta cells to die off, found researchers from the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland.


In healthy individuals, short-term inflammatory responses play an important role in sugar uptake and the activation of the immune system.


Researchers showed that the number of macrophages (a type of immune cell) around the intestines increases during meal times.


(With PTI inputs)