5 Best Immune Support Supplements

As the seasons shift and the kids head back to school, exposure to viruses begin to increase. The immune system needs to function optimally to keep you well, and this requires a lot of nutrition, sometimes more than you can get from food alone.

It's a good time of year to stock up on immune support supplements!

Keep reading as we dive into the five best immune support supplements:

• Glutathione
• Vitamin C
• Curcumin
• Vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin) and folate (methylfolate)
• Iron

Glutathione

As the body's "master antioxidant," glutathione protects cells from free radicals and supports detoxification. Optimal glutathione levels also help protect against chronic disease.

In acute illness, glutathione is essential for immune function and the immune response to viral infections, including influenza. Balanced glutathione helps promote a healthy fever to fight infection, but without enough, it can block the healing a fever brings. Supplementing with glutathione (500 to 1000 mg daily) can promote these immune benefits and lower oxidative stress. (Source 1, 2, 3)

"In acute illness, glutathione is essential for immune function and the immune response to viral infections, including influenza."

Glutathione is on the immune support supplements list, and for good reason. However, not all glutathione supplements are created equal. Liposomal glutathione is superior for absorption, bioavailability, and immune support. Core Med Science Liposomal Glutathione Liquid offers 500 mg per serving in a great-tasting, convenient liquid.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant vital to immune health. It's widely found in fruits and vegetables and an excellent supplement to have on hand during cold and flu season.

Vitamin C deficiency increases the susceptibility to infections, but supplementation can help lower the risk and shorten the duration of a cold. This benefit is especially true for those under stress, as stress can deplete vitamin C levels so it's unavailable to the immune system. (Source 4)

"Vitamin C deficiency increases the susceptibility to infections, but supplementation can help lower the risk and shorten the duration of a cold."

Vitamin C supplements are very safe, even at high doses, but can cause some digestive discomfort. To avoid side effects and increase effectiveness, choose liposomal vitamin C. Core Med Science Liposomal Vitamin C - Softgels provides 1000 mg of highly available vitamin C per serving. Learn about how much to take when sick here.

Curcumin

Curcumin isn't an essential nutrient; it's the active plant compound found in turmeric spice. It's incredibly anti-inflammatory, provides antioxidant support, and helps modulate the immune system to reduce pain and inflammation. (Source 5)

Viral infections like Covid and pneumonia produce excessive inflammation (a cytokine storm) where the immune system can't turn off the inflammatory signaling. This situation can be life-threatening. Curcumin has been used in various acute and chronic health situations for its anti-inflammatory benefits. (Source 5)

Core Med Science Liposomal Curcumin provides 500 mg of highly bioavailable curcumin per serving, offering many health benefits.

Vitamin B12 & Methylfolate

Vitamin B12 and folate are essential B vitamins that play a role in the healthy balance of the immune system, including the formation of immune cells. Deficiencies in one or both nutrients can affect the synthesis of DNA and proteins and reduce methylation, metabolism, and immune cell function. (Source 6)

The mechanism by which vitamin B12 and folate are involved in immunity is via the methylation cycle. Methylation can shift epigenetics and the immune response when exposed to pathogens, either promoting host protection or allowing pathogens to evade immunity. (Source 7)

Core Med Science Active Methyl B12 Folate Lozenges effectively increase folate and vitamin B12 levels and support methylation and immunity. By bypassing the gut, the nutrients are absorbed directly into circulation. Additionally, this product offers the active forms of each nutrient: methyl vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin) and methyl folate (methyltetrahydrofolate), which cells can immediately use without any conversion.

Iron

Iron is a Goldilocks hormone: we need enough, but not too much. We need optimal levels for oxygen transport, which affects all body systems including immunity. At the same time, too much iron, as in the case of iron overload (hemochromatosis can be inflammatory and even suppress the immune system. (Source 8)

Supplementing with iron is an effective way to correct iron deficiency anemia and maintain iron levels in those with low levels due to low iron intake, high iron needs such as pregnancy, and blood loss (such as people with heavy periods). The issue with iron supplementation tends to be poor tolerance and GI side effects

Core Med Science Liposomal Iron overcomes this challenge with the effective liposomal formula to improve absorption and decrease side effects, even for those with a sensitive stomach.

As cold and flu season intensifies, it's an excellent time to stock your medicine cabinet with essential immune support from Core Med Science!

"As cold and flu season intensifies, it's an excellent time to stock your medicine cabinet with essential immune support from Core Med Science!" 

References:

1. Sinha, R., Sinha, I., Calcagnotto, A., Trushin, N., Haley, J. S., Schell, T. D., & Richie, J. P., Jr (2018). Oral supplementation with liposomal glutathione elevates body stores of glutathione and markers of immune function. European journal of clinical nutrition, 72(1), 105-111. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6389332/
2. Wrotek, S., Sobocińska, J., Kozłowski, H. M., Pawlikowska, M., Jędrzejewski, T., & Dzialuk, A. (2020). New Insights into the Role of Glutathione in the Mechanism of Fever. International journal of molecular sciences, 21(4), 1393. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7073131/
3. Hong, K. S., Pagan, K., Whalen, W., Harris, R., Yang, J., Stout-Delgado, H., & Cho, S. J. (2022). The Role of Glutathione Reductase in Influenza Infection. American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology, 67(4), 438-445. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9753556/
4. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/ImmuneFunction-HealthProfessional/
5. Liu, Z., & Ying, Y. (2020). The Inhibitory Effect of Curcumin on Virus-Induced Cytokine Storm and Its Potential Use in the Associated Severe Pneumonia. Frontiers in cell and developmental biology, 8, 479. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7303286/
6. Mikkelsen, K., Apostolopoulos, V. (2019). Vitamin B12, Folic Acid, and the Immune System. In: Mahmoudi, M., Rezaei, N. (eds) Nutrition and Immunity. Springer, Cham. Full text: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-16073-9_6#citeas
7. Qin, W., Scicluna, B. P., & van der Poll, T. (2021). The Role of Host Cell DNA Methylation in the Immune Response to Bacterial Infection. Frontiers in immunology, 12, 696280. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8358789/
8. Reuben, A., Chung, J. W., Lapointe, R., & Santos, M. M. (2017). The hemochromatosis protein HFE 20 years later: An emerging role in antigen presentation and in the immune system. Immunity, inflammation and disease, 5(3), 218-232. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5569368/