Effects of Food Components on Intestinal Flora, Intestinal Immune System and their Mutualism

It has become clear that foods regulate the physiological functions of the human body through their action on the immune, nervous, endocrine and other systems. It is also known that the intestine is equipped with an immune system, that the large bowel has intestinal flora, and that there is a cooperative relationship between the intestinal flora and the intestinal immune system. This review will deal with the effects of orally ingested functional components of food such as probiotics, prebiotics, vitamins and minerals on the mutualism between intestinal flora and the intestinal immune system as well as their effects on the systemic immune system. Furthermore, the relationship between the collapse of the mutualism and onset of diseases is discussed.