7 Immunity-fortifying Supplements That Build Your Immune System
Category: Healthy Nutrition
When you feel sick, what's the first thing you do?
Do you research about organic and natural solutions, or do you just pop a pill right away?
If you answered the second one, you're not alone.
For the majority of us, it almost seems like standard measure to have all kinds of pills at the ready when we're sick. It's a habit we picked up from our own health care system.
What we usually fail to ask is, why are we even sick in the first place? Is there a natural alternative for sickness prevention, one that could potentially replace medicines or shots?
Luckily, there are natural remedies that can actually prevent us from getting sick often. We just spend too much time concentrating on sickness rather than focusing on what healthy individuals are doing to make their bodies more efficient at fighting similar diseases.
There's that one ingredient to a disease-proof immune system that we don't tend to talk about as much as we talk about drugs: holistic nutrition.
Good Nutrition Is The First Step To Strong Immunity
Your immune system is naturally equipped with fighter cells - the white blood cells or WBCs - that keep you guarded against all kinds of infections - viral, bacterial and toxins.
All five types of WBCs serve a unique protective purpose. They work together to fight off any foreign substance or organism like harmful bacteria, which divide every half-hour of the day.
At the rate bacteria replicates, WBCs have a lot on their hands. Millions of WBCs need fuel to recharge and keep those harmful organisms at bay.
Guess where they get that fuel? That's right - from the food you consume.
Healthy cells require wholesome, nutritious food that's packed with vitamins, minerals, and proteins. These three serve as the building blocks of cells.
Together, they form a reserve - what I like to call an immunity bank - from where cells like WBCs get massive amounts of energy to function properly especially during stress or illness.
There's no other alternative for those building blocks.
Suffice to say that when you lack proper nutrition, your WBCs, just like any other cells in the body, starve as well. They weaken and become less able to defend you from foreign invaders.
In fact, both the CDC and WHO report that in famine-stricken countries, rates of sickness and death are higher compared to the rest of the world.
Do you now see how important it is to have proper nutrition?
The more well-balanced and nutrient-dense your diet is, the stronger your immune system is. A stronger immune system means your soldier cells can protect you better against disease.
But…
Let's be honest. No matter how we try, it can be difficult, if not downright impossible to achieve 100 percent balanced and vitamin-rich nutrition.
In fact, studies show that 70 percent of the entire world doesn't get sufficient nutrition at all!
To complicate things, not all vitamins can be produced by the body, like for instance, vitamins C and D.
You can fill in those gaps by consuming natural supplements that provide what's lacking in our everyday diet.
7 Immunity-fortifying supplements that help build your immunity bank
When choosing supplements, consider science-backed supplements that contain these amazing natural ingredients in their live form. This help activate bodily processes essential for your soldier cells to work properly.
1. Probiotics
Probiotics are what you might call friendly bacteria.
These microorganisms protect the colon and strengthen the immune system by preparing it to accept good bacteria. They thrive in various places in the body, helping keep the natural balance of good and opportunistic microorganisms.
However, there are situations when this balance is destroyed, such as illnesses, stress, or when you take strong broad-spectrum antibiotics repeatedly for long periods, which also tends to destroy good bacteria in the process.
Immune cells need to thrive in a well-balanced environment.
Over 70 percent of them need millions of these good bacteria to perform well. Sadly, very few supplements integrate probiotics.
Those that do often don’t contain probiotics in a protective barrier that shields it from live enzymes and acids in the mouth and stomach.
There's no point in consuming good bacteria if they'll just get destroyed en route to the colon!
You want a supplement that encapsulates probiotics so that they're kept alive until they reach their final destination. It's the only way they can ever be effective.
This is why I recommend Shaklee's Optiflora. It delivers important nutrients that healthy intestinal bacteria need to go and thrive.
2. Garlic
If there's one odoriferous food supplement you should have in your cupboard, that's garlic.
Not only does it help reduce bad cholesterol and regulate blood pressure, it also has the unique ability to fight fungi, bacteria, and viruses - all thanks to its active ingredient, allicin.
I wouldn't presume anyone will eat raw garlic though, so a coated supplement will definitely come in handy. Shaklee's Garlic Complex keeps the strong allicin odor nicely contained until it reaches the stomach and goes to work.
3. Alfalfa
Well-known in the world, alfalfa is a power-packed herb that contains cell-building vitamins like vitamins A, C, E, and K; plus energy-releasing minerals like calcium and potassium.
Shaklee's Alfalfa Complex provides a wide variety of nutrients including calcium, phosphorus, vitamins, chlorophyll.
It's also a rich source of bioflavonoids, a natural anti-allergy compound, an antioxidant that boosts circulation and decongests stuffy nose when you have flu, colds, allergies, or rhinitis.
4. Zinc
Zinc is a trace mineral that has been found in studies to provide the highest immunity-strengthening attributes among all minerals to fight off disease. It's an important activator of T-cells, a type of WBC that scans, remember and directly destroys infected or cancerous cells in the body.
Zinc helps eradicate a wide array of infections, from diarrhea to pneumonia to cancer. It's proven to lessen the severity of flu and colds too!
I highly recommend Shaklee's Zinc Complex as it's formulated with highly bioavailable zinc gluconate in a base of alfalfa that helps support normal thyroid function and helps maintain normal immune function.
5. Echinacea
Part of the daisy family, Echinacea was first used by North American Indian tribes in the 1800s as medicine for several non-respiratory illnesses.
Soon it was found out in studies that Echinacea also encourages the immune system to produce more WBCs, which keeps the body better protected from the first sign of illness.
Echinacea is effective against many bacterial and viral strains, including cold and flu.
Shaklee's Defend and Resist Complex has Echinacea as well as other key ingredients that have been shown in laboratory studies to:
- help stimulate the body’s natural resistance
- help to maintain a healthy immune response
- enhance immune support
6. Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a staple in every home and can be safely used by both adults and children. However, the body doesn't have the capacity to create it naturally, so it's crucial to get it from external preparations.
The antioxidants in Vitamin C help support your immune system by combating free radicals that cause cell destruction. They also help build new tissues and cells.
Doctors recommend up to 1000mg of vitamin C a day - or the equivalent of over 10 oranges - when your body has massive requirements for repair and recovery, such as sickness, prolonged stress, or when you had little sleep for extended periods of time.
Shaklee's Sustained Release Vita-C uses a proprietary sustained-release system that delivers the vitamin C equivalent of one-and-a-half oranges every hour for five hours.
7. Interferon-stimulating plant extracts
Interferons are naturally occurring components of the immune system that Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Yasuhiko Kojima discovered in the 1950s.
Interferons are crucial for immunity because they provide the body signals in case of opportunistic invasions like viruses, bacteria, and malignant growths.
They also play a part in mediating the release of killer cells in the immune system, which travel to an infected area and literally eat harmful material and microorganisms!
Certain plant extracts have been known to encourage interferon production naturally. They include pumpkin seed, safflower, Asian plantain seed, and Japanese honeysuckle flower extract.
Pumpkin Seed
Safflower
Asian
plantain seed
Japanese honeysuckle flower extract
Shaklee's Nutriferon is the only dietary supplement in the U.S. created by the discoverer of interferon, world-renowned immunologist, Dr. Yasuhiko, designed to naturally increase the production of interferon in the body.
It's a patented, clinically proven blend of immune-strengthening plant extracts.
When used daily, it increases the production of your body’s natural interferon, a critical activator of the immune system.
Remember, to be able to protect you, your immune system needs a healthy dose of these vitamins, mineral, and nutrients.
When you have a well-balanced diet accompanied by the use of proper supplements, you have one incredibly potent immune system that allows you to enjoy life happier and disease-proof.
Thanks for reading,
Gaetane
