Introduction: Cutting Through the Noise of Immune Boosters
As a functional medicine doctor, I understand how overwhelming it can be to navigate the world of immune boosters. Every winter, we're bombarded with endless claims about products that promise to keep illness at bay, and during travel, the risk of falling ill increases even further. But how do you know which ones work? What is the science and research behind them? What dose should you take, and what combination?
Can taking this at the right time shorten a bout of flu or a cold, or prevent you from catching a bug in the first place?
This article is an introduction to a series of four in which I examine herbal adaptogens, medicinal mushrooms, vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and other supplements, and the immune system.
We have focused on ARI's acute respiratory illnesses, such as the common cold, influenza, coronaviruses and pneumonia.
Given that the companies we work with have many of these products, we set out to build the ultimate immune stack, to cherry-pick those with the most evidence and synergy to come up with the “ultimate advanced immune booster?”
We paid particular attention to the doses quoted in the literature and which products work synergistically. We have also shared some of the stronger evidence on these, including Cochrane and systematic reviews. (1)
Is there really any benefit to traditional remedies like echinacea or elderberry? To go beyond basic vitamins and minerals like zinc and vitamin C, which I will cover, to understand if there are more potent and effective solutions out there that are ignored. And if so, how do they work?
We started this almost a year ago and have been trialling the combination. We believe we have created the best natural immune booster possible. If you can find a better one, please let me know!
During the research, we found three standout products with robust evidence plus two often quoted ones with limited or no evidence, which are probably a waste of time.
Like many Doctors, I tend to reject things I don’t know about, so I had to approach this with an open mind. I’m happy to share how we did it.
Our methodology
Rather than relying on marketing hype, my team and I took a scientific, evidence-based approach to determining what helps strengthen the immune system. We reviewed the latest clinical research and combined our functional medicine expertise to create the ultimate immune support stack—a collection of supplements designed to prevent illness and help you recover faster if you fall sick, especially in high-risk environments like travelling.
Rather than compiling a list of supplements, we focused on identifying synergistic combinations that amplify each other’s benefits, resulting in a combination greater than the sum of its parts.
Building the Immune Support Stack: The Functional Medicine Method
Functional medicine aims to treat the root cause rather than address symptoms. Can you optimise function and enhance the immune system?
When it comes to immune support, this means we want to want to do three things:
- Boost immune function
- Manage/ reduce inflammation
- Provide long-term protection
We started by identifying key categories:
- Herbal Adaptogens: To balance and strengthen the immune system naturally.
- Medicinal Mushrooms: To modulate and enhance immune function.
- Vitamins & Minerals: The foundational nutrients essential for immune resilience.
- Antioxidants & Support Compounds: To reduce oxidative stress and support cellular health during immune challenges.
Once we had these categories, we reviewed peer-reviewed studies and evidence-based research to identify synergistic combinations that make these supplements more effective when taken together.
Our final selection includes well-researched ingredients that support immune health at multiple levels, helping you stay resilient through winter illnesses and high-exposure environments like air travel. We also looked at the doses used in trials; one of my bugbears is when the benefits of a product are touted, but the actual strength does not correlate with the evidence.
So, if you want to boost your immune system or shorten the length of time you are ill (there is good evidence for both), read on. We have combined all of these into our Advanced Immune 14—and 28-day packs.
My advice on using these is to take a pack for a day before possible exposure (e.g. a long-haul flight) and a day afterwards. Or, take them for as long as you are ill. If you have the flu, it will likely shorten the illness by around 2-3 days.
As putting all of this information into a single blog would make this an enormous article, we have looked at the four different categories:
Dr Geoff Mullan
Functional Medicine Doctor
References
- Poles J, Karhu E, McGill M, McDaniel HR, Lewis JE. The effects of twenty-four nutrients and phytonutrients on immune system function and inflammation: A narrative review. J Clin Transl Res. 2021 May 27;7(3):333-376. PMID: 34239993; PMCID: PMC8259612.
