Supplementation Regimen May Support Immune Function
The following list is provided from a significant number of published clinical studies analyzing which nutrient levels maximized their subject’s immune system function. Consuming the ingredients on this list does not assure that illness will be prevented for you but rather follows clinical guidelines so you can support and assist your immune system to operate well. We do not offer any of these ingredients in supplement form so this list is purely for your educational benefit and has not been reviewed by the FDA or any other governmental agency. For a PDF to keep for your records, click here.
(These suggestions are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.) Brand names are not provided so we encourage you to find supplements which contain these amounts. We do not recommend exceeding these nutrient amounts because over-supplementation may weaken immune function. We do recommend that you clear all these recommendations with your doctor before taking.
Our Suggested List for before and during a viral infection is:
Vitamin C - 100-200mg/d does saturate white blood cells but intracellular vitamin C does go down with infections and thus larger doses should be considered, such as, 200mg/day.
Vitamin D - 1200IU for kids/2000-5000IU for adults
Vitamin A - 100% DV 900mcg RAE (retinol activity equivalents) or 5000IU
Zinc - 10-15mg have been shown to be effective with gluconate being most common supplemental form. For an extra boost for a short time (one week) when desired, up to 50 mg of zinc can be taken daily. If you also want to include quercetin (see below), then best to take zinc in divided doses twice daily with the quercetin. A published scientific review article concludes there is “clinical evidence examining zinc as a direct antiviral, as well as a stimulant of antiviral immunity.”¹
Selenium - 55mcg/d for maintenance and 200mcg/d for active infection w/high-selenium yeast being the best form
Elderberry - it usually comes in a liquid which has the best data taking 10-15ml four times daily. This functions as a carrier (ionophore) of zinc allowing it to get into cells for increased efficiency.
Quercetin - 500mg twice daily. This also functions as an efficient zinc carrier (ionophore) but uses a different mechanism that elderberry.
N-acetylcysteine - 600mg once per day. May take up to 3 tabs per day but should discuss with your doctor. It increases T cell response, provides a healthy inflammatory response especially with viral infections.
¹Ref. - Adv Nutr. 2019 Jul; 10(4): 696–710.