After a heavy night of drinking , your immune system is bound to be weaker . This is because your body is under oxidative stress - a process that can also happen after smoking , breathing in pollution and even sunbathing . Now , for the first time , researchers have shown that higher doses of vitamin E , found in foods such as kale and almonds , can mitigate the stress on immune cells . After a heavy night of drinking , your immune system is bound to be weaker . Now , for the first time , researchers have shown that higher doses of vitamin E found in foods such as kale ( left ) and almonds , can mitigate the stress on immune cells . Whenever a virus or other pathogen enters our bodies , a certain class of immune cells - the T cells0 jump into action , spreading rapidly . One sub-class of these cells , the CD8+ T cells , eliminate the virus by killing cells it has infected . Other T cells , known as CD4+ T cells , coordinate the immune response to all kinds of pathogens . But a week can pass before these T cells start to take their toll on a virus . And with cells dividing every eight to twelve hours , it takes a few days to gather a strike force of cells in the hundreds of thousands : enough to overwhelm the infection . But this immune response does not work if significant oxidative stress is damaging the T cells and depriving the body of the tools it needs to repair them , according to a new study . A white blood cell , also known as a T cell , carries special structures on its surface with which to recognise specific pathogens . If the immune cells lack repair enzyme Gpx4 , the T cells die off as they divide , which means the immune system becomes weak and the infection can be chronic . This is the enzyme responsible for repairing oxidative damage to the cell membrane . Your body constantly reacts with oxygen as you breathe and your cells produce energy . As a consequence of this activity , highly reactive molecules are produced known as free radicals . Free radicals interact with other molecules within cells . This can cause oxidative damage to proteins , membranes and genes . Oxidative damage has been implicated in the cause of many diseases , such as cancer and Alzheimer 's and has an impact on the body 's aging process . External factors , such as pollution , sunlight and smoking , also trigger the production of free radicals . Source : NetDoctor . When testing mice whose immune cells lacked the repair enzyme , researchers led by Manfred Kopf , a professor at ETH Zurich , were able to save the immune cells by mixing a high dose of vitamin E into the animals ' food . That was enough antioxidant to protect the T cells ' cell membranes from damage , so they could multiply and successfully fend off the viral infection . At 500 milligrams per kilogram of mouse feed , this quantity of vitamin E was ten times higher than was present in their normal food . 'The benefit of vitamin tablets is a controversial topic , ' says Kopf . With little scientific evidence as yet making a strong case for vitamin supplements , he felt their study was all the more interesting because it proved the effectiveness of vitamin E. 'Our work shows that even a genetic defect in a major part of a cell 's antioxidative machinery can be compensated for by delivering a high dose of vitamin E. That is new and surprising . ' What Kopf is n't yet sure of is what impact the results of their study will have on human health . He claims that people with a normal level of health and a balanced diet should n't need vitamin supplements . But he added a supplement of vitamin E or other liposoluble antioxidants could well make sense in the event of oxidative stress , which can arise in everyday situations such as an infection or exposure to sunlight .
Drinking makes body go under oxidative stress and weakens immunity . Comment: Vitamin E can be found in high doses in foods such as kale and almonds .