Whether you’re in the middle of a global pandemic or flu season, it’s never been more important to keep your immune defenses strong.
Regardless of whether it's fighting a bacterial infection or just protecting your body from pollen, the immune system is constantly working overtime to keep your body safe. But to do so, it relies on the right balance of vitamins, minerals, and other key nutrients like fatty acids and antioxidants. It only seems logical that getting these from food would be the preferred way, and - while it totally is - sometimes food isn’t enough.
That’s where supplementation proves key. Just like your immune defenses keep your body safe, immune-boosting supplements keep your immune system safe.We’re giving you a rundown of our best and favorite products for supporting your immune system. Bring on the challenges—this stack has you covered:
- Performance Lab PL-Immune
- Performance Lab NutriGenesis Multi
- Performance Lab Prebiotic
- Performance Lab Sleep
Why You Need To Support Your Immune System
Our immune system does a lot for us and it works day in and day out to protect us from harm's way.
And while we may be under the impression that eating healthy is one of the best things we can do for our immune system, and it is, there seems to be several other prominent factors that interfere with how well it operates.
Stress
Stress is huge and impacts nearly every function in the body, but has a profound impact on the immune system.
Acute stress can be beneficial for boosting immunity and up-regulating immune defenses, but when it becomes chronic is when it turns problematic.
Chronic stress causes elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can lead to the immune system becoming “resistant,” accumulation of stress hormones, and elevated production of inflammatory cytokines that further compromise immune function 1.
And if that’s not enough, high cortisol also prevents the production of inflammatory mediators, causes fewer receptors to be produced in immune cells, and triggers chronic inflammation. So, with chronic mismanaged stress and high cortisol comes chronic suppression of immune function.
Sleep
Sleep is perhaps one of the most underestimated practices you can do for your immune system. Sleep deprivation affects both your body’s ability to respond and defend against pathogens, but also your ability to recover.
Studies show a strong bidirectional relationship between sleep and immunity whereby activation of the immune system alters sleep, and sleep in turn alters both the innate and adaptive arm of the defense system 2.
Stimulation of the immune system upon invasion triggers an inflammatory response, which, depending on the magnitude and duration, can increase the need for sleep, but can also disrupt sleep.
However, in the absence of infection, sleep actually promotes inflammatory homeostasis through its effects on various inflammatory mediators, including cytokines.
Studies consistently find that prolonged sleep deficiency can lead to chronic, systemic low-grade inflammation, as well as several diseases inflammatory-based diseases, including diabetes, atherosclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases 2.
Poor diet
Poor nutrition can impact a lot of things, but the immune system takes an especially big hit.
Because our bodies rely on a delicate balance of nutrients, malnourishment is a huge impedance to immune function. Nutrient deficiencies, either of macro- or micronutrients cause the most harm to immune function by suppressing immune cell’s abilities to fight pathogens.
Studies consistently find that adequate vitamin, mineral, and protein intake enhances resistance against infection, but inadequate intake suppresses it 3. But it can also be impaired with excess.
Things like sugar and refined carbohydrates are notorious for impairing immunity and contributing to illness and disease.
Dietary restrictions
Plant-based diets have a lot to offer in terms of maxing out on nutrient intake, but one of the downfalls of a plant-based diet is something called anti-nutrients—compounds inherently present in plant foods that interfere with the absorption of nutrients 4.
And a lot of these nutrients are critical for supporting immune function—zinc, iron, calcium, magnesium, and iodine.
Signs Of A Weakened Immune System
Have a hunch that maybe your immune system isn’t working at full speed? Here are some of the most common signs and symptoms that your immune system may need a bit of extra love:
- Fatigue
- Frequent colds or infections
- Chronic gut problems
- Diarrhea
- High stress
- Slow wound healing
- Cold sores around the mouth
- Muscle and joint aches
If you’re constantly dealing with any of these, getting on board with the immune-boosters we’re talking about next is key.
Essential Nutrients For Immune Support
We mentioned before how nutrient deficiencies can have a huge impact on immune function, so which ones are we talking about? This isn’t an inclusive list, but there are 4 vitamins and minerals specifically that play a major role in supporting immune defenses.
#1 - Vitamin D
When it comes to a vitamin powerhouse, vitamin D is it. It plays an essential role in nearly every system in the body, and of course a pretty big role in the immune system.
Studies show that vitamin D is involved in both branches of the immune response—innate (immediate) and adaptive (long-term, acquired) immune responses—and it’s not only the vitamin D receptor (VDR) that immune cells express, but also the gene required to synthesize vitamin D3 5. Because of this, vitamin D is required to support immune cells like monocytes and macrophages and is also needed to modulate inflammation levels 6.
With insufficient levels of vitamin D, you not only are more susceptible to infection, but also the risk of developing autoimmune conditions like MS, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes 7.
#2 - Vitamin C
If you want to turbocharge your immune system, vitamin C is mandatory. As a powerful antioxidant, its role in immune function is two-fold.
It plays a major supporting role in supporting the function of several immune cells by enhancing their ability to protect against infection, but it also supports the epithelial barrier function (skin) by promoting oxidant scavenging activity to reduce environmental oxidative stress 8.Low vitamin C status has been linked to impaired immune function and a higher susceptibility to illness and infection, and when you’re sick, the demands for vitamin C further increase, so keep your levels up!
#3 - Zinc
Zinc is a powerhouse for several reasons, but when it comes to immune function, it’s all about supporting immune cell development, communication, and modulating the inflammatory response.
And like vitamin C, zinc also supports the integrity of the epithelial barrier, which is your first line of defense against external pathogens 9. Low zinc levels pack a whammy on immune function. Deficiency can impact immune function by altering immune cell homeostasis, which may lead to the impaired formation, activation, and maturation of lymphocytes, disruption to intercellular communication, and weakened innate immune defenses 10.
#4 - Selenium
Selenium plays a much-undervalued role in immune function due to its incorporation into selenoproteins - proteins involved in regulating inflammation, oxidative stress, and other cellular processes in most tissues and cells, especially those of the innate and adaptive immune systems11.
Studies find that low selenium levels could impair the function of critical immune cells, including B cells, T cells, lymphocytes, and natural killer (NK) cells.
Best Supplements For Immune Function
If you’re up for supporting your immune system in every way possible, getting yourself a good immune-boosting stack is essential.
With the Performance Lab lineup, you’re covered from every angle for body-wide support during even the biggest of challenges
Performance Lab PL-Immune
When it comes to the ultimate immune support, PL-Immune™ is it. It’s the most dynamic immune support supplement combining 6 powerful ingredients that maximize immune defenses. PL-Immune™ is a breakthrough immune-boosting probiotic and antioxidant stack that supports short and long-range immune activates by powering up 5 different types of immune cells to quickly restore frontline defenses and support your body’s natural immune function. In each capsule you’re getting:
- 20mcg NutriGenesis® Vitamin D
- 30mg NutriGenesis® Vitamin C
- 25mcg NutriGenesis® Selenium
- 5mg NutriGenesis® Zinc
- 50mg IMMUSE™ Paraprobiotic
- 250mg Setria® Glutathione
Designed for maximum performance, PL-Immune™ delivers true broad-range supporting by:
- Fortifying first-line immune defenses and long-range immune responses
- Increasing numbers and activities of various immune cells
- Maintaining work productivity and performance by supporting overall immune wellness
- Replenishing antioxidant status to boost and support immune system offense and defense
- Fighting immune challenges and fatigue associated with stress
- Restoring foundational immune support with NutriGenesis® vitamin and mineral complex
Whatever the immune challenge you’re facing, PL-Immune™ helps you recover and bounce back faster and stronger than you ever thought possible.
And because it uses only the best and purest sourcing you’re getting enhanced absorption, bioavailability, and immune-supportive activity to keep you powering through even the toughest of challenges.
Performance Lab NutriGenesis Multi
NutriGenesis Multi is one of the smartest, most innovative multivitamin supplements on the market. Because we live in an environment where everything works to delete our nutrient status, ensuring you get your daily fill of vitamins and minerals is key to supporting every system in your body, not just your immunity. Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multi is an upgraded multivitamin designed for overall health and peak human performance. It helps restore nutrients that may be missing from your diet or depleted by things like stress and exercise to promote healthy cell performance across all body systems. Unlike other multivitamins that supply inferior isolated and synthetic nutrient forms that are difficult for the body to absorb and utilize, NutriGenesis® Multivitamins and minerals are different.
Performance Lab® proprietary NutriGenesis® vitamins and minerals are a nutrition technology breakthrough.
They are bioengineered using groundbreaking technology designed to mimic what’s found in nature, allowing for maximum nutritional value packed into the smallest possible capsule. You’re getting ultraclean performance, customized specifically for male and female needs.And if that’s not enough, each dose supplies 100%+ of your daily recommended intake of 17+ essential vitamins and minerals delivered in NutriCaps®—prebiotic-infused and vegan-friendly capsules for digestive support and peace of mind.
Performance Lab Prebiotic
More than 70% of your immune system resides in your gut, which means that a healthy microbiome is beyond important to a healthy immune system. Really, you can’t have one without the other. And while probiotics have always been the go-to for gut health support, there’s something that may be even more effective—prebiotics.For your good gut bugs to survive and thrive, they need food. That food comes in the form of prebiotic fiber. But why are probiotics better than probiotics?The reality is that most probiotic supplements are unpredictable.
They overload the gut with too many bacterial strains, which leads to mixed cultures and gastric distress. Not to mention the fact that probiotics are fragile, so most of them could be dead on arrival, failing to help your microbiome in any way. Performance Lab Prebiotic overrides all these concerns.
Rather than adding new strains to an already stressed gut, Prebiotics instead nourishes the colonies that already exist in your gut using Orafti® Synergy1 (Inulin-FOS from chicory root) for robust growth and health. It’s 2-in-1 probiotic + soluble fiber support for healthy metabolic and microbiome performance. Prebiotics deliver safer, more natural, and more reliable microbiome support with the added bonus of fiber for digestive support, immune function, fat loss, and other benefits you don’t get from typical probiotic supplements.
Performance Lab Sleep
Like we mentioned before, sleep is a critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to immune function. And for most of us, counting sheep isn’t going to cut it when you’re stuck staring at the ceiling stressing about all the things you need to do tomorrow.
Getting enough good quality sleep is especially important for supporting T-cells in your adaptive immune response. Lack of sleep causes a cascade of hormones that affect the function of T cells and their ability to make direct contact with pathogens 12.
But lack of sleep also leads to increased chronic systemic low-grade inflammation, which is the precursor for several inflammatory-based diseases like diabetes, atherosclerosis, autoimmunity, and neurodegeneration.And if you scrap the over-the-counter sleep aids for something more natural, you may be left with next-day grogginess and feeling worse than you did the night before. Say no to the standard and synthetic supplements and trade it for something that actually works.Performance Lab Sleep is an ultramodern sleep aid designed to help you perform. It skips the next-day grogginess that most natural sleep aids cause with mega-dose melatonin and instead relies on natural low-dose melatonin derived from CherryPURE® Montmorency Tart Cherry.
With the addition of joint- and muscle-soothing antioxidants, CherryPURE® promotes a deeper, better quality rest than any synthetic melatonin supplement can. And when you add in three forms of magnesium, you’re also getting sleep-supportive muscle relaxation with no after-morning grogginess.In each serving (2 capsules) of Sleep you get:
- 100mg Magnesium + (Bisglycinate + Taurate + NutriGenesis®)
- 500mg CherryPURE® Montmorency Tart Cherry
- 200mg L-Tryptophan
Sleep is a safe, non-reliant formula designed to help you fall asleep faster and wake up feeling better. It uses only 100% natural, high-grade nutrients that combine to calm nerves, soothe muscles, and ease sleep-disrupting stress.
Taken regularly, Sleep promotes better muscle repair, brain regeneration, and overall immune support.
Final Thoughts
Natural strategies for strengthening and supporting the immune system are in high demand and it’s easy to see why.
We’re faced with a lot of uncertainty in our lives, but where your immune system is concerned, you should never be uncertain of whether it can perform or not.
Actively working to maintain a healthy immune system isn’t the easiest of tasks, but when you have an immune stack like Performance Lab offers, it’s not hard to do.
References
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- L Besedovsky, T Lange, M Haack. The Sleep-Immune Crosstalk in Health and Disease. Physiol Rev. 2019;99(3):1325-1380.
- K Karacabey, N Ozdemir. The Effect of Nutritional Elements on the Immune System. J Obes Wt Loss Ther. 2012; 2(9):1-6.
- W Petroski, DM Minich. Is There Such a Thing as "Anti-Nutrients"? A Narrative Review of Perceived Problematic Plant Compounds. Nutrients. 2020;12(10):2929.
- DD Bikle. Vitamin D and immune function: understanding common pathways. Curr Osteoporos Rep. 2009;7(2):58-63.
- M Di Rosa, M Malaguarnera, F Nicoletti, L Malaguarnera. Vitamin D3: a helpful immuno-modulator. Immunology. 2011;134(2):123-139.
- KL Munger, LI Levin, BW Hollis, NS Howard, A Ascherio. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and risk of multiple sclerosis. JAMA. 2006;296(23):2832-2838.
- AC Carr, S Maggini. Vitamin C and Immune Function. Nutrients. 2017;9(11):1211.
- I Wessels, M Maywald, L Rink. Zinc as a Gatekeeper of Immune Function. Nutrients. 2017;9(12):1286.
- M Maares, H Haase. Zinc and immunity: An essential interrelation. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2016;611:58-65.
- PR Hoffmann, MJ Berry. The influence of selenium on immune responses. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2008;52(11):1273-1280.
- S Dimitrov, T Lange, C Gouttefangeas, et al. Gαs-coupled receptor signaling and sleep regulate integrin activation of human antigen-specific T cells. J Exp Med. 2019;216(3):517-526.
