Vitamins and minerals that support immune health

3 mins to read

While support your immune system nutritionally through food should be your primary objective, it is important to understand the factors to consider if you decide to take a supplement.

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Nutritional immunology means the things we eat that can influence our immune response.

Micronutrient supplements generally show no beneficial effects unless you have a deficiency. Also, the advantage of vitamins and minerals for our health come mainly from studies of food, not supplements.

What to consider when taking a supplement?

To support your immune health nutritionally is done through the food you eat. However, if you are thinking about a supplement, you can consider these key principles:

Supplements should be there to supplement: For example, to replace something missing in your diet, such as Vitamin D if you have been diagnosed with a deficiency.
Ask if you can get it from your diet: Vitamins are best found in food, and taking more won’t necessarily make your immune system work better than baseline. In fact, negative consequences can come from long term consumption of micronutrients we don’t need.
Consider the additional ingredients in the supplements: When you read the label, look out for inactive ingredients such as sugar, fillers, binders, bulking agents, coatings, colourings, carriers.
Do your research: Check out the supporting health claims and consider your personal circumstances which may affect your micronutrient requirements, such as a specific diet you are on, underlying condition or pregnancy. Talk to a health professional if you are unsure before you start taking any supplements.
Evaluate your lifestyle: No single supplement will support every aspect of your health if you haven’t sorted out the reasons why overall diet and lifestyle might not be supporting you as needed.

List of vitamins and minerals good for immunity and why

When the immune system detects pathogens, its immune response is inflammatory, which further adds to damage to the body. It produces antimicrobial compounds that your body produces to destroy invading pathogens, but it also creates oxidative stress within the body that requires antioxidants to neutralise them.

This immune response means we need nutrients with anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, to counter the inflammation and oxidative stress it creates. Cafras says these micronutrients are helpful:

Zinc: a powerful antioxidant that helps support a good immune system and response to illness
Vitamin A: Vitamin A not only supports mucous membranes, but also supports healthy immune function, and stimulates white blood cells (the ones responsible for protecting against the unwanted pathogens)
Vitamin C: a powerful antioxidant that supports immune function, supports wound healing and blood vessel health
Vitamin K: supports healthy blood health

Cafras says that these nutrients help to support the immune system to not only fight pathogens, but to also know when to stop the inflammatory and oxidative stress response so that it doesn’t cause further damage the body.

Some supplements to support your immune system

There are other supplements that have been shown to support immune health and here are some of these:

Elderberry: Elderberry is a fruit that is high in antioxidants and has been shown to have antiviral properties. Studies have suggested that taking elderberry supplements may help reduce the duration and severity of cold and flu symptoms.
Probiotics: Keating says research suggests that taking probiotics may also reduce the risk of respiratory infections

Macciochi writes in her book that 70% of the body’s immune system is housed in the gut. This is why it’s so important to maintain a healthy gut.

Probiotics are microorganisms that help restore the balance of good bacteria in the gut. Particular strains of probiotics have been shown to secrete substances that can help stimulate the immune system. It’s best to speak with a dietitian before taking them to make sure they’re the right ones for your condition.

Lactobacillus sp. and Bifidobacterium sp. are the strains of probiotics that have been well tested for their immunomodulatory properties.