Not only has it been shown to have potentials in reducing cancer risks, Vitamin D also appears to control the body’s innate immune response, affecting a skin wound’s ability to heal. It appears to play an important role in the body’s ability to produce cathelicidin, a compound produced by wounds and is necessary to fight infections.
Gallo’s team has now discovered that injury stimulates skin cells called keratinocytes, which surround the wound, to increase the production of vitamin D3 and that this in turn increases the expression of genes (CD14 and TLR2) that detect microbes. These genes, together with active vitamin …read more

Welcome to this month’s Theme Day here at b5media’s Science and Health Channel. If you’re interested in what things food can do other than just stave off hunger, get yourself a cup of tea and sit back. You’re in for a long, but very informative reading…
Where to go if…
… you have the flu? Grace at FluPatrol itemizes which helps and which don’t, and tells us that chicken soup does work wonders when you have flu or colds.
… you’re ready to shift your baby to solids? Angela at Breastfeeding123 discusses all you have to know when starting your baby on …read more

You see it on the labels of your yoghurt, cheese, or other processed food products: “Live Active Culture”. I even saw some salami at the supermarket bearing the word: Probiotic. But what does probiotic really mean?
Our digestive tracts (or other parts of our body, for that matter) are full of microorganisms. Not all of them are bad and cause disease. In fact, some of them are beneficial. In contrast to antibiotics which we take to kill the disease-causing bugs, probiotics are composed of microorganisms that help promote the growth of beneficial bacteria. By competing for space and nutrients, these “good” …read more