If you get sick often or recover slower than most people, there’s a good chance that you need a good immune-boosting supplement. However, choosing the right one isn’t just about knowing what’s popular. You must also understand how the immune system works and the different roles of immune cells to know exactly what your body needs.
To assist you on your journey towards better health, we created this guide, which explains the importance of different immune cells and the key factors to consider when choosing supplements to boost your immune system.
More Than a Science Lesson: The Immune System
When we were younger, we were taught a couple of lessons about the human immune system. At the time, your science teacher likely mentioned white blood cells and how they fight invaders like viruses and bacteria to keep our bodies healthy. While this is true, it is only the tip of the iceberg of what these cells really do.
For one, white blood cells are divided into three groups: granulocytes, lymphocytes, and monocytes.
Granulocytes include some of the most abundant white blood cells, known as neutrophils. These cells are the first to act when there’s an infection. They are also among the most active pathogen killers in the body.
Other granulocytes include:
- Eosinophils – the primary parasite attackers of the body and allergy responders
- Basophils – the rarest type and histamine activators that control immune response
On the other hand, lymphocytes are adaptive immune cells that respond to specific types of pathogens. These include:
- T-cells that coordinate, kill, and record pathogens
- B-cells that mark their targets
- NK (natural killer) cells that eradicate tumours and infected cells without prior sensitisation
Finally, monocytes are the cells that break down bacteria. They circulate through the blood before moving into the tissues, where they transform into dendritic cells or macrophages.
While the spotlight has always been on the primary pathogen attackers, your immune system also has the cleaners or cells that engulf germ cells known as macrophages. They are important because:
- As antigen-presenting cells, they point the other immune cells towards the invaders to trigger a stronger immune response.
- As cleaner cells and potent phagocytes, they fuse their lysosomes (membranes that contain digestive enzymes) into the invading cells to trigger pathogen degradation. In addition to pathogens, they also engulf dead cells and other debris through phagocytosis. This helps resolve inflammatory response and prevent it from continuing indefinitely.
- They play a key role in trained immunity, helping the immune system “remember” past infections and boosting the body’s speed in defending itself should it encounter a similar pathogen again.
- As anti-angiogenesis cells, they halt the growth of blood vessels that nourish tumours, causing them to shrink by cutting off their blood supply.
- They induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) to promote clean cellular turnover and prevent disease spread.
- Macrophage activation ensures that microglia – the resident macrophages in the brain that act as immune surveillance cells – can monitor infections and remove invaders and damaged cells.
- They support a healthy gut microbiome by keeping the balance of good and bad bacteria in check, preventing digestive problems like leaky gut.
- They work with the body’s coagulation system to improve blood clotting during infection or injury.
Note that macrophages naturally occur in the body. That means that rather than introducing more of these cells, MAF supplements trigger their production.
More than a good-to-know science lesson, knowing and understanding the roles of the immune cells can help you make a wise choice for your health.
Choosing Immune-Boosting Supplements: Factors to Consider
Choosing vitamin supplements to boost your immune system is a crucial decision you shouldn’t make just because of a pretty ad or celebrity endorsement. Instead, consider what they contain and how those ingredients can help improve your body’s defences.
In other words, you need to get the stuff that does the right things. And the best supplements to boost your immune system are those that:
Support white blood cell production
The immune system is like an army responsible for keeping the human body safe. To do that, it must have enough “soldiers” (immune cells) to fight the invaders. Otherwise, it might lose the battle, leading to diseases like cancer.
To ensure this doesn’t happen, you should support your immune system with nutrients that foster the birth of these hardworking soldiers. Among the supplements that do this often contain the following:
Vitamin C
Vitamin C helps the adaptive immune system by promoting the growth and multiplication of B-cells and T-cells. It also gathers phagocytic cells like neutrophils and increases their activity.
Eating food or taking supplements rich in this vitamin also improves immune cells’ movement to infection sites (chemotaxis), capacity to engulf pathogens (phagocytosis), and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that help destroy invaders. It can also prevent inflammation and tissue damage by supporting programmed cell death (apoptosis).
Zinc
Like vitamin C, zinc is also involved in the production of immune cells. The only difference is that zinc is vital for both innate (e.g., neutrophils and macrophages) and adaptive immune cells (e.g., T-cells and B-cells).
In addition, zinc supports DNA and RNA synthesis, which enables cells to grow and multiply while preventing premature cell death.
Help activate immune response
Another important factor you must consider when deciding what supplements to take to boost your immune system is their ability to activate the body’s defences. This is where macrophage-activating factor (MAF) supplements can help.
As mentioned previously, macrophages occur naturally in the body. You can make full use of them through MAF supplements like GcMAF. But what is GcMAF, and how can it activate immune response?
Gc represents a protein derived from a modified vitamin D binding protein as a result of the release of B-cell and T-cell enzymes. Once consumed – through GcMAF capsules, lollies, or powder – it can activate macrophages.
As the immune system’s professional phagocytes, these powerful and efficient pathogen detectors and killers engulf, digest, and dispose of non-self or foreign cells. They also have mechanisms that help other immune cells perform their own functions better, such as:
- Toll-like receptors (TLRs) – Analyse and identify pathogen- and damage-associated molecular patterns to help determine the immune cells’ targets.
- Antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP) – Activate receptors that induce phagocytosis.
- Immune checkpoints – Serve as continuous cell surveillance for ‘cells of interest.’
These mechanisms have been the subject of several studies.
Build armour for white blood cells
Choose supplements to support immune health by equipping them with protection against cell damage. One particular nutrient that helps with this is selenium.
As a key selenoprotein component, selenium neutralises oxidative stress. That means they shield the immune cells from damage during inflammation and infections, enabling them to function more efficiently. It also reduces oxidative bursts, the body’s defence mechanism where reactive molecules are produced to eradicate pathogens.
Regulate immune function
Although immune cell production is vital, having too many is not always good. This is where supplements like vitamin D can help, by regulating immune cell production and activity. It prevents the overproduction of B-cells and T-cells and effectively reduces the inflammatory response. It also encourages immune regulation by prompting the birth of more T regulatory cells.
The Choice Is Yours
The best supplements for immune support are those that fit your body’s specific needs. By understanding the specific roles of immune cells, you’ll be able to decide which one is most suitable for you.
For instance, the GcMAF treatment for immune support helps activate your immune system’s defences and keep diseases at bay. It is available in capsules, lollies, and powder form,
Author
Dr Toshio Inui
Doctor, expert in internal medicine and worldwide authority on GcMAF treatments, Dr. Inui is the visiting professor at Kagoshima University. He has dedicated his career to developing innovative treatments using MAF, and has 22 research works and 266 citations into macrophage activating factors.