Affiliation:
1. Military Nutrition Division, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, 10 General Greene Ave, Natick, MA 01760, USA
Abstract
Consuming a diet that meets energy demands and provides essential nutrients promotes a healthy immune system, while both under- and over-nutrition have been associated with immune dysfunction. Military personnel comprise a unique population who frequently endure multi-stressor environments, predisposing them to immune decrements. Additionally, 49% and 22% of active duty U.S. military personnel are classified as overweight and obese, respectively. A literature search on PubMed was conducted to identify studies, reports, review papers, and references within those sources relevant to the topic area. Military personnel experiencing either under- or over-nutrition can suffer from degraded health, readiness, and performance. Insufficient intake of nutrients during military operations increases infection risk and negatively impacts infection recovery. Energy, protein, iron, zinc, and vitamins C and D are nutritional areas of concern that may impact immune competence in a multi-stressor environment. Over-nutrition can promote accretion of excess body fat and obesity, which contributes to a chronic inflammatory state that coincides with immune impairments. Prioritizing efforts to optimize nutrient intake is one approach for reducing disease burden and improving readiness. This review discusses nutritional concerns concomitant to multi-stressor environments that impact immune function, and the relevance of obesity to infectious disease risk in the military population.
Funder
U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command
Subject
Food Science,Nutrition and Dietetics
Cited by
1 articles.
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