It’s the time of year when people are starting to get sick. It’s also the time of year that no one wants to get sick. As far as I’m concerned, October is the start of the holiday season: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. It’s here. It’s happening fast. And the stress of all of it can weaken your immune system.

We spent a couple of weeks in September discussing how a healthy lifestyle and nutrition and exercise can strengthen your immune system and keep you from getting sick. Let’s look at some supplements you might want to consider taking to keep your immune system strong and healthy during the winter months.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a steroid hormone. It’s available in small quantities in food, but we get most of our vitamin D from a process that takes place when we expose our bodies to sunlight. In the winter, especially in Indiana, we just don’t expose ourselves to the sun enough for our bodies to make sufficient vitamin D. Approximately 70 percent of people living in the United States are vitamin D insufficient, and about 30 percent are vitamin D deficient.

Vitamin D plays a major role in your immune response. If you are vitamin D deficient, you are at an increased risk for colds, cough, infections, fatigue and mood swings. We learned a lot about vitamin D’s role in reducing inflammation and protecting us from viral infections during the pandemic.

If you’re counting on a flu shot to strengthen your immune system, it’s important to understand that the effectiveness of influenza vaccine can be reduced if you are vitamin D deficient.

If you’re planning on supplementing with vitamin D, the institute of medicine has conservatively set the tolerable upper limit at 4,000 IU/day. If your vitamin D levels are below 40 ng/ml, you can use appropriate supplementation levels to achieve a healthy range of 40 to 80 ng/ml. Approximately 1000 IU of vitamin D increases blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D by around 5 ng/ml.

I personally take 4,000 IU of Carlson vitamin D during the winter months. I drink a good amount of whole milk and eat salmon once a week, so I know I’m getting some vitamin D from my food.

Omega 3s

Omega 3 fatty acids are essential for a healthy diet. They are a key component in cell membranes. They reduce inflammation caused by chronic stress. They promote the development and function of immune cells, especially T cells and natural killer cells. And perhaps the most import immune function they have is resolving the immune response.

Sometimes the immune system can overreact to a viral infection. The response can be so great that it damages healthy tissues like lungs. That’s what happened to a lot of folks who got Covid-19. Your body uses omega 3 fatty acids to produce specialized pro-resolving mediators that naturally resolve or turn off the immune response when it starts to get out of control.

Getting plenty of omega 3s will not only keep your immune system strong, it will also keep your immune system from overreacting.

We get omega 3s in our diet from things like fish, nuts, and leafy green vegetables. Most of us just don’t get enough due to modern agricultural practices that have changed the fatty acid profiles of a lot of the foods we eat.

To keep your immune system strong, supplementing with 1 to 2 grams of omega 3s per day should get the job done. Keep in mind that it’s not safe to take more than 5 grams per day. I take Carlson omega 3s in addition to eating nuts daily and salmon weekly.

Ecinacea

For hundreds of years, Native Americans used echinacea as a medicinal herb to treat almost every type of ailment, including colds and sore throats. Echinacea is one of the top-5 selling herbs in the US. It’s also one of the most-grown flowers throughout the Midwest.

In a meta-analysis of fourteen studies that included a total of 1,630 participants, scientists found that echinacea was effective in reducing the chances of getting a cold by 58%. The study also found that the herbal remedy reduces average duration of a cold by 1.4 days. Looks like our Native American friends were on to something.

I personally take 400 mg of echinacea every day from October to May. It has kept me extremely well for the past few years.

Vitamin C

What about vitamin C? It’s generally promoted as the most important vitamin you should supplement with to prevent a cold.

Vitamin C helps deliver a boost to the immune system by supporting the production of proteins, called interferons, that protect cells from a viral attack. Vitamin C also enhances the function of white blood cells, specifically phagocytes, that help engulf pathogens and stimulate the activity of other immune cells to fight off infections.

A study published in 2018 set out to answer the question, “Does vitamin C prevent the common cold?” The researchers identified eight systemic reviews including 45 studies overall, of which 31 were randomized trials. They concluded that consuming vitamin C supplement does not prevent the common cold.

The same group of researchers published another study in 2018 looking at the effects of vitamin C supplementation on the duration and severity of the common cold. They concluded vitamin C has minimal or no impact on the duration of the common cold or the number of days at home or out of work.

Here’s why. Most of us get all the vitamin C we need from the foods we eat. The recommended daily intake for vitamin C is about 90 mg for men and 75 mg for women. One to two servings of fruit pretty much has you covered.

Remember, it’s always a good idea to talk to your doctor before taking any supplement.

Hope this advice helps you stay healthier this year.

Stay Strong,

Bo Railey