Immune health is not only vital to muscle recovery and fat loss, it's our bodies epicenter of illness fighting and disease prevention. When your immune system is compromised, your energy balance and entire system goes completely out-of-whack.
Various micro and macronutrients are essential for overall health and immune boosting. Though many of the items I'll lay out in this quick-guide can be found in a solid nutrition program, adding supplements and direct sources can ensure a dramatic boost to your overall immune strength.
QUICK NOTE: I list my personal choices of supplements and included links. These are the best value:price ratios I've found, but most top-rated will do. Shop around and always get the best price for value. For the guide, please focus on the benefits of the supplement and ignore the brand.
Let's cover The Big 8 Immune Boosters:
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is an essential vitamin, meaning your body can’t produce it. Yet, it has many roles and has been linked to impressive health benefits.
Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that can strengthen your body’s natural defenses. Antioxidants are molecules that boost the immune system. They do so by protecting cells from harmful molecules called free radicals. There are virtually endless benefits to having adequate Vitamin C in your system daily.
Supplement To Add For Vitamin C:
Vitamin A
Vitamin A will be a basic micronutrient that advances muscle development, endurance improvement, and boosts disease fighting anti-bodies.
Every single tissue in the human body needs Vitamin A making it viral in both lean muscle building and fat loss. Vitamin A, is a fat-soluble vitamin that is part of the compounds that include beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is known as the “Pro-Vitamin A” since it can convert into Vitamin A when needed. Vitamin A can help boost your immune system by building the body’s resistance to infection by stimulating white blood cells and increasing antibody activity.
Sufficient sustenance is urgent to keep up ideal degrees of vitality sources, macronutrients, and micronutrients to advance sound safe reaction.
Vitamin A Rich Foods
Apricots
Broccoli
Carrots
Dark Leafy Greens
Sweet Potatoes
Cottage Cheese
Whole Milk
Peaches
Supplement To Add For Vitamin A:
Vitamin B6
B6 will add an immediate boost of energy if taken daily as well as provide a vast array of other benefits.
Also known as pyroxidine, B6 serves many important functions, including the creation and absorption of proteins, preservation of hormones, and also helps carry signals between nerve cells in your brain.
Vitamin B6 also plays a vital role in the creation of white blood cells. White blood cells help regulate immune function. Vitamin B6 also assists your body create a protein called interleukin-2, which coordinates the actions of white blood cells, to regulate immune system function.
Vitamin B6 Rich Foods
Avocados
Bananas
Beans
Chicken
Peanuts
Sunflower Seeds
Supplement To Add For Vitamin B6:
Vitamin B12
The cousin of Vitamin B6, this essential immune booster consists of eight different B vitamins. Vitamin B12 plays an essential role in white and red blood cell production. This is an essential vitamin for anyone who already suffers with a weak immune system.
Animal meat sources carry a high potency of B12 and it is not found in plant sources at all. For any vegan or plant-based dieter, it is essential to supplement with.
Vitamin B12 Rich Foods
Beef
Chicken Liver
Clams
Eggs
Lamb
Salmon
Trout
Tuna
Supplement To Add For Vitamin B6:
Vitamin D-3000
Also known as the "sunlight" vitamin, D3 can be synthesized through your skin,
specifically from ultraviolet B radiation.
There have been multiple studies, that show lower levels of Vitamin D are associated with greater risks of illness, disease, and infection. One study, with almost 20,000 participants showed that individuals with lower vitamin d levels, were likely to report an upper respiratory tract infection than those with sufficient levels. In the winter it is especially important to supplement with D-3000 as you likely won't receive the same amounts of sunlight daily.
Vitamin D Rich Foods
Salmon
Sardines
Tuna
Cod Liver Oil
Eggs
Mushrooms
Supplement To Add For Vitamin D:
L-Glutamine
This old school body building supplement is amazing for boosting the immune system, so much so that it's now being widely adapted by the mainstream beyond just fitness.
Endurance athletes and powerlifters alike have used this one for years to fend off illnesses and strengthen joints.
In a randomized controlled trial published by the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 24 athletes were administered 10g of Glutamine per day for six weeks, to determine whether Glutamine supplementation alters immune function in athletes during heavy resistance training.
The results found that T-cell ratings (White blood cells that help mediate immune health) were extremely different between the groups, indicating a positive correlation that glutamine supplementation may be able to restore immune function and reduce the immunosuppressive effects of heavy-resistance training in athletes.
L-Gluatmine can be taken in a pill or powered form. The most popular protocol is to mix it in a post workout or morning shake. It has virtually no taste when mixed with the proper dosage.
Supplement To Add For L-Glutamine
Zinc
Zinc has become a household name in recent years. Dubbed as the "super star immune booster" by Health Magazine, this small supplement packs many big advantages.
Zinc speeds the metabolism and is a cofactor for numerous enzymes including DNA and RNA replication protein structure, and protein synthesis. It plays an imperative role in human biological process and cellular function from a granular level to support major biological function.
In plain English, it means Zinc promotes recovery of your entire system by speeding up the rate in which your body breaks down proteins.
One of the many great benefits of Zinc, is its ability to boost your immune health, specifically through signaling T-cell activation, which helps control and regulates the immune response. Zinc is also crucial for normal human development and cells mediating innate immunity, which suggests that it has a role in the prevention of free-radical damage and inflammatory response.
Zinc Rich Foods
Oysters
Beef
Baked Beans
Crab
Lobster
Peas
Yogurt
Wild Rice
Pecans
Peanuts
Supplement To Add For Zinc
Magnesium
Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in your body. Your immune system will be incredibly weekend if you are short on Magnesium.
This essential nutrient is vital for metabolic processes and many other important bodily functions — from producing energy to building important proteins like your DNA.
Despite its importance, studies show that almost 50% of people in Western countries in Europe and the United States don’t get enough of this essential mineral.
Magnesium Rich Foods
legumes
nuts
seeds
dark leafy vegetables
Supplement To Add For Magnesium
The Best Supplements To Boost Your Immune System: Takeaway
When should you start adding these? Yesterday.
Not only can immune health awareness and practice boost your fitness results, it can save your life, prevent you from getting sick, and make you less likely to carry infections diseases and viruses that will spread to others.
Every mentioned vitamin or mineral on this guide is recommend and backed by numerous health publications as well as my own empirical data.
I've run every one of these supplements nearly every day for the past 10 years and can name the times I've been sick on one hand. I hope this guide helped, please stay safe out here - from the RE Fitness Family to yours.