Supplements with immune-boosting potential

The most essential Supplements to Boost Your Immune System are Vitamin C, Zinc & Vitamin D.

I will also mention other supplements that are known for their immune-boosting potential

Vitamin D
Spending more time inside, means that we all should focus on eating fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables, hopefully cooking from scratch because they are essential to make our bodies work better, longer, from the inside out all winter long. And it’s thanks to Vitamins C+D.

We all feel lighter and more energetic during warmer seasons, Vitamin D or the “sunshine vitamin” plays a big factor here.

Benefits

“We are what we absorb and not what we eat” so we need Vitamin D to absorb vital nutrients from food and regulate the calcium and phosphorus that create and maintain strong bones and teeth, also as a result, you get strong muscles, and immunity from diseases.
Vitamin D also regulates insulin levels, supports our immune brain and nervous systems; our genes, muscles (including the heart) and lungs to function well.
Vitamin D can already help you feel young. But if you want this vitamin to work its magic better, then try combining it with vitamin C.

Sources – The Best Food Sources of Vitamin D
Eat Vitamin D-rich foods:

Oily/fatty fish: Salmon, mackerel, and especially canned tuna and canned sardines. Salmon has the highest vitamin D content.
Foods fortified with vitamin D, like some dairy products – milk, yogurts and cheese (Especially ricotta cheese, swiss cheese) and even soy milk, also orange juice and cereals.
Egg yolks, Pork, Beef liver, Oysters, Sausage, salami, black and red caviar.
Cod liver oil. As the name suggests, cod liver oil comes from the liver of a codfish and can be found in a form of capsule or oil. Did you know that cod liver oil is among the popular supplements today? It naturally contains a high level of vitamins A and D wherein 100-gram serving can give you up to 10,001 IU and a single tablespoon has 1,360 IU of vitamin D.
Veggies, Mushrooms are like humans because they have the capacity to produce vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet light.
Tofu.

These are some vitamin D rich foods. After reading this post I hope you increase the vitamin D intake which can be found in really nutritional and taste food!

What are fortified foods?

Fortified foods are those that have nutrients added to them that don’t naturally occur in the food. For example, milk is often fortified with vitamin D, and calcium may be added to fruit juices. An enriched food means that nutrients that were lost during processing are added back in.

Why are dairy products fortified with vitamin D?
These days, milk is almost always fortified with vitamin D. The cause of rickets is a deficiency in vitamin D or calcium. Vitamin D is synthesized in our bodies when our skin takes in the sun, and our bodies need Vitamin D to be able to absorb calcium.

Vitamin D when eating outside?
If you wonder what kind of food might be high in Vitamin D when eating outside? I will give sushi a spot on the list, where fish is used to prepare this popular Japanese food and fish is an excellent source of vitamin D.

Take note that although these foods are vitamin D rich foods, these are not the primary sources alone. Using high-quality vitamin D supplements can also help up your D levels – unless you regularly go out and be one with the sun.

Nutritional Requirements for Vit D

For Infants from 0 to 12 months of age is 400 IU/day (International Units or IU of vitamin D every day)
For men and women between the age group 4 to 70 years, including pregnant and breastfeeding women, is 600 IU/day or or 10–20 micrograms.
Above 70 years of age, it increases to 800 IU/day.
(By The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA))

What might happen if you exceed the Daily dosis in the long term?
Vitamin D is fat soluble, which means it accumulates in your fat. If you take too much, your body can’t clear it easily, and calcium levels will be affected, which in turn impacts your heart and blood vessels, lungs and kidneys. You may experience headaches, muscle pain, a metallic taste in your mouth, nausea or vomiting, constipation or diarrhea.

Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms
If you are feeling muscle or bone pain it can be one of the vitamin D deficiency symptoms. Also this increases the risk of fractures.
When we don’t get enough we compromise those functions and, research tells us, increase our risk of depression, heart disease and cancer. Adults can also develop osteoporosis, and children, rickets.

Supplements
Here I left the amount of food that you could eat to keep your Vitamin D level up.

As you can see, if a day you eat salmon, you have your DV of Vitamin D covered but obviously we are not going to eat salmon every day, the best thing to do is adding a variety of these foods on a daily basis along with getting enough sun. If you live in a country where there’s not so much sun, I recommend taking a supplement Vitamin D.
As I mentioned above, it is recommended for adults to get at least the RDA of 600 IU. However, 1,000 to 2,000 IU per day of vitamin D from a supplement is generally safe, should help people achieve an adequate blood level of vitamin D, and may have additional health benefits.

Overall, a combination of all these foods, all taken in moderation, sunlight and maybe some supplement sun is missing, is enough to get your daily dose of vitamin D.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is an immune system stimulant, it keeps our cells healthy, including collagen, the structural protein that keeps our tendons, ligaments and blood vessels, organs and skin together. It’s one of the best antioxidants to reduce the effect of free radicals. (No wonder it’s now used in topical anti-aging creams!)

Vitamin C also strengthens the cardiovascular and immune systems, helps to regulate blood sugar levels, and helps with the absorption of iron. It’s wise to eat Vitamin C and iron-rich foods or take those two in supplement form, together.

Sources

Fruit with bright colours, like oranges, kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, citrus fruits and also, broccoli, and also veggies, like peppers, dark leafy greens, cantaloupe, red peppers brassica like cabbage and broccoli and even tomatoes.

A higher intake of fruits and veggies means you also get more fiber and other vitamins and minerals.

How to strengthen our body’s immune defenses!

However, although vitamin C is essential to our health, our body does not produce it. Therefore, to consume the necessary amount of vitamin C, we must rely on a balanced diet.

But how does vitamin C work in our body?

Once vitamin C is ingested through food, it is absorbed into the intestine and then passes into our blood. Vitamins are essential micronutrients to ensure the efficiency of our immune system.

Nutritional Requirements for Vit C

The minimum recommended daily allowance is 500-1000 IUs depending on your weight.

There are many different opinions: according to medical opinion, 60/90 mg on average per day for an adult should be sufficient. But there are some doctors who suggest a much larger amount. It is suggested daily doses of 1,200 mg! And that vitamin C could be used to strengthen the immune system and treat colds.

Research conducted that high intakes of vitamin C (200 to 1,000 mg) can reduce the occurrence of influenza in athletes by up to 50%.

The upper limit for vitamin C is 2,000 mg. Supplemental daily doses typically range between 250 and 1,000 mg

LET’S MAKE IT SIMPLE!

One medium kiwi packs 71 mg of vitamin C, or 79% of your daily Vitamin C required so if we put this into practise, the DV, 2 medium kiwis along with some mandarins or even natural orange juice should be more than enough to have your required Vitamin C.

Is there such a thing as not enough and too much – and how would we know?

Because Vitamin C is water-soluble, the body can easily flush out what it doesn’t need, so having too much is usually not an issue. It could, however, irritate your stomach or give you diarrhea. But not getting enough can have far-reaching consequences:

Cell degeneration – easy bruising, and difficulty healing and warding off infections
Accelerated aging of your hair, skin and teeth; bleeding gums, dry skin, dull hair and nosebleeds.
A compromised immune system – vulnerable to colds and flu, cataracts and macular degeneration.

Vitamin C Supplements

A buffered Vitamin C is better. Because ascorbic acid can be hard on the stomach, it is mixed or buffered with potassium, calcium and magnesium to make it easier to digest. Capsule, powdered or chewable form is fine.

Curiosity

- Vitamin D deficiency is most common in infants, the elderly, dark-skinned people, or those who live at higher latitudes.
- Up to 80% of hip fracture patients have a Vitamin D deficiency.
- An SPF 30 sunscreen reduces Vitamin D synthesis by 95%
- Smoking lowers the ability to absorb Vitamin C
- A higher intake of fruits and veggies means you also get more phytonutrients, fiber and other vitamins and minerals
- Storage and cooking reduces the potency of any vitamin – eat fresh and raw for the full benefit.

Zinc

Zinc is a mineral that’s essential for good health.

It metabolises nutrients, maintains your immune system and grows and repairs body tissues.

Your body doesn’t store zinc, so you need to eat enough every day to ensure you’re meeting your daily requirements.

It’s recommended that men eat 11 mg of zinc per day, while women need 8 mg. However, if you’re pregnant, you’ll need 11 mg per day, and if you’re breastfeeding, you’ll need 12 mg.

Zinc-rich foods

Meat is an excellent source of zinc, especially red meat, ample amounts can be found in all different kinds of meat, including beef, lamb and pork.

In fact, a 100g of raw ground beef contains almost 5mg of zinc, which is around half of the Daily Value (DV).

Also seafood, nuts, seeds, legumes and dairy, oh! and also dark chocolate.

Although fruits and vegetables don’t contain a lot of zinc, eating a diet rich in vegetables is always a must to keep right levels of other vitamins and minerals.

Other supplements with immune-boosting potential, specially supplements with antiviral effects against several respiratory viruses

Aside from the items listed above, there are many supplements that may help improve immune response and function.

Astragalus. It is an herb commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It significantly improves immune-related responses.

Selenium. Selenium is a mineral that’s essential for immune health. Sources: 1 brazil nut has more selenium that you RDI

Garlic. Ithas powerful anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties. How Much Garlic Should You Eat Per Day? The minimum effective dose for raw garlic is one segment (clove) eaten two to three times per day. You can also take an aged garlic supplement. In that case, a normal dose is 600 to 1,200 mg per day.

NOTE: If you suffer from IBS, garlic might be your enemy like in my case, along with onion, in that case, try to avoid or at least in big amounts.

Andrographis. This herb contains andrographolide, a terpenoid compound found to have antiviral effects against respiratory disease-cau that may help protect against viral infections.

B complex vitamins. B vitamins, including B12 and B6, are important for a healthy immune response, especially the B12, water-soluble vitamin has many essential functions in your body. It’s necessary for keeping your nerves healthy and supporting the production of DNA and red blood cells, as well as maintaining normal brain function.

Sources: Vitamin B12 is naturally found in animal products, including fish, meat, poultry, eggs, dairy products, yeast extract and specially fortified foods.
For vegetarians: Vitamin B12 is generally not present in plant foods, but fortified breakfast cereals are a readily available source of vitamin B12 with high bioavailability for vegetarians.
Curcumin. Curcumin is the main active compound in turmeric. It has powerful anti-inflammatory properties.
Echinacea. It is a genus of plants in the daisy family. Certain species have been shown to improve immune health and may have antiviral effects against several respiratory viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus and rhinoviruses.
Propolis. Propolis is a resin-like material produced by honeybees for use as a sealant in hives. Though it has impressive immune-enhancing effects and may have antiviral properties as well, more human research is needed.