Winter Wellness: Supplements to Boost Your Immune Health This Winter
| Article At A Glance |
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Boost your immune system with vitamin C by incorporating citrus fruits, strawberries, and capsicums into your diet or considering vitamin C supplementation. |
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Support winter wellness by ensuring adequate levels of vitamin D through sunlight exposure and vegan vitamin D3 supplements. |
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Strengthen your defenses naturally by consuming zinc-rich foods or affordable zinc supplements to replenish this critical mineral and fortify your immune system. |
| Product Recommendations |
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| Ester-C Chewable by Nutra Life |
| Zinc Advanced by Fusion |
| Vegan Vitamin D3 by iThrive Nutrition |
| Greens Gut Health Immunity by White Wolf Nutrition |
| Astra 8 by Fusion |
As the coldness of winter creeps in, it's important to prioritise your immune health to ensure your training stays on track.
While a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle are crucial in supporting a healthy immune system, certain supplements can provide an extra well-needed boost.
This blog post explores the various vitamins, minerals, and supplements that may help support your immune health and keep you well this winter!
Vitamin C: A Powerful Immune Booster
Vitamin C is an essential micronutrient that aids in maintaining healthy cellular functions that support immune defense (Ac & S, 2017).
Incorporating citrus fruits, strawberries, and capsicums into your diet can increase your intake of this vital nutrient and boost your immune system.
Supplementing with Vitamin C can provide a convenient and effective boost to help support your immune system.
Vitamin D: Essential for Winter Wellness
Commonly known as the sunshine vitamin, Vitamin D is one of the most underrated nutrients for maintaining optimal health.
Vitamin D deficiencies are commonly associated with increased susceptibility to infection, so ensuring adequate levels helps our immune system function optimally (Martens et al., 2020).
Getting at least 20 minutes of sun exposure daily or taking a quality Vegan Vitamin D3 supplement can help raise your Vitamin D levels.
Zinc: Strengthen Your Immune Defenses
Zinc plays a vital role in maintaining a healthy immune system and is necessary for developing, activating, and maintaining immune cells.
During periods of high stress and illness, the Zinc levels in your body can rapidly deplete, increasing your risk of Zinc deficiency (Maares & Haase, 2016).
Consuming foods such as oysters, beef, pumpkin seeds, and cashews can help get more Zinc into your diet.
Consuming oysters, beef, pumpkin seeds, and cashews can boost your dietary intake of Zinc. Those who struggle to consume adequate amounts of dietary Zinc may greatly benefit from a Zinc supplement.
Learn more about Zinc in this article.
Daily Greens: Packed with Essential Nutrients
Incorporating daily greens powder into your winter wellness routine can significantly boost your immune health.
Powdered greens contain essential vitamins, minerals, and immune-boosting phytonutrients to promote a healthy, resilient immune system.
While getting most of your daily greens through wholefoods is recommended, supplementing with a Greens Powder can help fill in the nutritional gaps you may miss!
Astragalus: An Ancient Guardian of Immunity
Astralagus is a powerful herb used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine for its immune-boosting properties.
This adaptogenic herb contains compounds that can enhance the activity of immune cells, strengthen the immune response, and promote overall immune system health (Zheng et al., 2020).
For this one, we tend to recommend herbal immune-supporting blends that contain Astragalus, such as Astra 8 or Immunity & Stress by Fusion.
The Takeaway
In conclusion, optimising your immune system is crucial for your overall health and well-being.
Incorporating vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, vitamin D, Zinc, daily greens, and Astragalus can significantly boost your immune system and ensure you maintain your wellness this winter.
If you want other recommendations on maintaining your health this winter, don't hesitate to contact our Customer Service team!
References
- Ac, C., & S, M. (2017, November 3). Vitamin C and Immune Function. Nutrients. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29099763/
- Maares, M., & Haase, H. (2016). Zinc and immunity: An essential interrelation. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 611, 58–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abb.2016.03.022
- Martens, P.-J., Gysemans, C., Verstuyf, A., & Mathieu, and C. (2020). Vitamin D’s Effect on Immune Function. Nutrients, 12(5), 1248. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12051248
- Zheng, Y., Ren, W., Zhang, L., Zhang, Y., Liu, D., & Liu, Y. (2020). A Review of the Pharmacological Action of Astragalus Polysaccharide. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2020.00349
Authors:
Stephen Brumwell, Nutritionist (ANTA #40048)
Reviewed:
Teigen Faux, Exercise Phyioslogist (Honours) for Scientific Accuracy