Nutrition and the immune system

Abstract

1. Infectious diseases reduce productivity and diminish animal welfare. 2. Appropriate nutrition may aid in minimising the incidence of diseases by enhancing immunity. 3. An understanding of the pressures imposed by evolution that underlie poultry nutrition as well as those which underlie immunity provides focus to the field of nutritional immunology. Additional understanding is provided by knowing the specific cellular mechanisms by which diet affects immunity, and how these mechanisms pertain to specific nutrients and pathogens. 4. These approaches indicate that higher inclusion rates of all nutrients are not always better and that the traditional ideas of adding a surfeit of specific nutrients to improve immunity does not usually serve us well. 5. Understanding the nuances of nutrition and immunity is important for optimising bird health and productivity, and will be an important contributor towards fulfilling the consumer's conflicting demands for more natural production and better animal welfare.