Building your body’s natural defenses to invading pathogens, can make a dramatic difference in your performance, mood, and productivity. The best way to build your immune system is by taking preventative action. Diet, exercise, and supplementation are key to keeping your immune system strong to fight off any pathogens or invaders that want to wreak havoc. Key Vitamins and minerals must be taken prophylactically or as a safeguard, to build your immune systems natural defenses. We’re going to talk about the best vitamins to build your immune system health, so you can continue living your active lifestyle healthy and happy without interruption.
Turmeric
Turmeric is known for its active ingredient Curcumin. Curcumin has powerful anti-inflammatory effects and can help with joint health and pain. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that curcumin is a potent immunomodulatory agent that can modulate the activation of T cells and antibody responses [R].
It’s important to note, that taking turmeric by itself, will not lead to any associated health benefits due to its poor bioavailability and absorption. Bioperine or piperine is the major active component of black pepper and when combined in a complex with curcumin, has been shown to increase bioavailability by 2000%. Therefore, when you’re buying a turmeric supplement, ensure it has an added black pepper agent to increase absorption, like this one.
Vitamin D3
42% of all Americans are Vitamin D deficient - myself included. Vitamin D plays a pivotal role in building your immune system, mood regulation, regulating cellular growth, how your nervous and muscular system work, your bone health, and many other processes. Research shows that Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased susceptibility to infection [R].
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One study, with almost 19,000 participants showed that individuals with lower vitamin d levels were likely to report an upper respiratory tract infection than those with sufficient levels even after adjusting for variables including season, age, gender, body mass and race [R].
Vitamin D can also help with symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which is often characterized by changes in mood, causing stretches of depression, increased pessimism, melancholy, lethargy and lack of motivation [R].
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Those living in colder climates are not able to synthesize adequate levels of vitamin d from the sun. 90% of our vitamin D comes from our skin's exposure to the sun, however, during the fall and winter months, the sun's ultraviolet light is not strong enough to synthesize the amounts we need. Supplementing with Vitamin D, is crucial especially during the winter months to keep your immune system healthy and strong.
ZMT
ZMT is made with proven immune building ingredients Zinc, Magnesium, Vitamin B6 and key hormone regulating ingredients such as DIM, Fenugreek, Rhodiola Rosea, and Tongkat Ali to help improve positive mood state, vitality, and libido.
Zinc specifically can help build immune system health by 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 responses [R]. Since zinc is essential for virtually every cellular process, observations during zinc deficiency indicate that the absence of this trace element severely affects the immune response [R]
According to a systematic review published in the Open Respiratory Medical Journal, Zinc lozenges were assessed to treat the common cold and upper respiratory infections. Out of thirteen randomized controlled trials, five of them used a total daily zinc dose of 75mg or more and uniformly found a 42% reduction in the duration of colds. The review concluded that high doses of zinc could effectively reduce the duration of the common cold when administered at a higher dose of 75mg or more [R].
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Swolverine’s ZMT contains 30mg of zinc, which is 273% the daily recommended value with added piperine for optimal absorption.
Probiotics
Your gut plays a pivotal role in your immune system health, as it's the first line of defense that protects you from what you eat and filtering for invading pathogens.
The reasons that gut bacteria plays such a large role in this process is that they strengthen the defenses of the wall of your gut. Chemical barriers and a layer of cells known as epithelial cells line the gut and protect it from potential invaders. Gut flora activates immune functions in epithelial cells allowing them to maintain their integrity as a physical barrier to infection while also increasing pH balance and enhancing chemical barriers. The gut also houses the Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissues (GALT). These tissues help protect the body from microbial invasion via the gut, keeping you a healthy and happy camper. A variety of gut and GALT immune cells such as T cells can cross the blood-brain barrier and influence neural activity, altering the immune system through modulating the activity of resident immune cells. Therefore, by adding in quality strains of probiotics into your diet, you can help build immune system function, by protecting yourself against invading pathogens and microbes [R].
RELATED ARTICLE How Probiotics Can Restore Your Digestive Health
Here’s the problem, if you’ve taken antibiotics at any point, you may have essentially dropped a nuclear warhead on your immune system. Antibiotics are administered to kill the infection, but the problem is, not only do they kill the bacteria causing infection, but they kill everything, including your good bacteria. This leaves you not only at risk for the problems previously discussed, but many illnesses as well.
Taking a once-daily probiotics supplement can ensure you maintain good immune health, by restoring healthy microbiota and warding off harmful bacteria.
B-Vitamin Complex
You’ve probably heard of Vitamin B6 and B12, but did you know that there are eight different B-Vitamins, with other names like thiamin and biotin? B-Vitamins are comprised of eight complex and essential water-soluble vitamins that play pivotal roles in cellular function and energy metabolism, acting as co-enzymes in many catabolic and anabolic enzymatic reactions. Numerous clinical studies have demonstrated the benefits of B-Vitamins on energy metabolism, neurological function, neural inflammation, and oxidative stress [R]. Most B-Vitamins remained stored in the body, therefore they must be acquired from your diet through food or supplementation.
Like other essential micronutrients, Vitamin B6 is critical for a healthy immune system. Vitamin B6 is also known as pyroxidine serves many important functions, including the creation of proteins, hormones, and also helps carry signals between nerve cells in your brain. Vitamin B6 plays an integral role in the creation of white blood cells. White blood cells regulate immune function. Vitamin B6 also assists your body to create a protein called interleukin-2, which coordinates the actions of white blood cells, to regulate immune system function.
Vitamin B12 also plays an essential role in white and red blood cell production. Studies have shown that inadequate levels of Vitamin B12, is associated with a higher prevalence of weakened immune system health.
High levels of Vitamin B12 are naturally found in foods from animal sources, but no sources from plant foods. This is why B-Vitamin supplementation is especially important for vegans or vegetarians.
RELATED ARTICLE What Are The Benefits Of B-Vitamins?
The Best Vitamins To Build Immune System Health: Takeaway
With the right vitamins and minerals, you can help take preventative action to build your immune system. Safeguarding consistently by investing in a healthy diet regimen, exercise program and supplementing with vital key micronutrients will ensure you can continue living each day to your optimum potential.
Take An Active Interest In Your Health And Start Supplementing The Key Vitamins And Minerals To Keep Your Immune System Strong
Our health is only as strong as our weakest link, and for many of us, our immune system is that weak link. High-intensity training and active lifestyles can depress the body’s intestinal system, keeping it from doing a sufficient job of keeping antigens (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and potentially allergenic or inflammatory proteins from food) out of the bloodstream. The Immune Health Stack is an all season, year-round healthy immune support that fortifies your body’s natural healthy defenses and ability to adapt to stress factors.
By incorporating key nutrients like L-Glutamine, Probiotics, Turmeric, Curcumin, Zinc, Magnesium, and over 20 essential vitamins and minerals, you can boost and protect your immune system. The Immune Health Stack from Swolverine bolsters your active lifestyle from both everyday and long-term threats. Give yourself the extra attention and immune health support your body deserves as a preventative measure.
SWOLVERINE is an endurance athlete and active lifestyle brand. Made for the elite athlete, and the strong-willed our products were designed to fuel your athletic performance. We perform when you perform.
We believe that everyone can optimize not only their athletic performance but their human potential. The way we believe we can optimize performance is through transparency, clinically effective doses, and clinically proven ingredients with evidence-based outcomes. We provide the nutrients you need to power your active lifestyle.
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