Although, the common cold might not be harmful to most people when you have goals and weekly tasks that you must complete any distraction becomes a major problem. If like many of us high performers, you are trying to do 10 things at once, losing sleep, working a lot and probably experiencing high than average stress levels then you MUST take the steps to bullet-proof your immune system.
Luckily, our Nutrition’s Solutions Sports Scientist and Researcher, Rudy Mawer has searched through the literature to provide you with 3 supplements proven to help boost your immune system!
1.) Garlic
Garlic has been used in traditional medicine for over 4000 years and can treat or aid in malaria, tuberculosis, arthritis, diabetes and even the common cold!
Recently, research has shown that garlic is a potent immune system enhancer. One enzyme, in particular, that seems to provide garlic with its ability to enhance the immune system function is allicin.
Dose around 1000mg, twice per day. You can buy garlic capsules (odorless) from any store or amazon for around $10.
2.) Zinc
Zinc is another common cold remedy that has been applied for many years. Zinc supplementation may work by attacking the cold symptoms at the source and prevent the virus from multiplying.
A recent review compared 5 trials looking at the effects of Zinc supplementation and enhancing your immune system. The results showed that when zinc (> 75mg/day) was administered within 24 hours after the onset of symptoms there is a significant reduction in the duration of the cold!
3.) Vitamin C
Last but not least we have Vitamin C! Vitamin C has been shown to improve components of the immune system by acting as an antimicrobial and natural killer for cell activities. Vitamin C also helps prevent the build of reactive oxygen species and has an anti-inflammatory effect.
As a result, Vitamin C supplementation has been proven to reduce the incidence and duration of the common cold!
We include antioxidant’s and vitamin C rich foods in a lot of our weekly meals. IF you do need a high dose, try using 500mg of Vitamin C supplementation twice per day.
Time to Get Bullet Proof
We hope you found the post informative and helpful! All of these supplements have been proven in the research and give you lots of other unique benefits. I recommend you use them long-term to keep you healthy and bulletproof your immune system long-term.
Author: Rudy Mawer, MS International Celebrity Trainer, Sports Scientist
References:
1.) Josling, P. (2001). Preventing the common cold with a garlic supplement: a double-blind, placebo-controlled survey. Advances in therapy, 18(4), 189-193.2.) Marshall, I. (1999). Zinc for the common cold. The Cochrane Library.3.) Wintergerst, E. S., Maggini, S., & Hornig, D. H. (2006). Immune-enhancing role of vitamin C and zinc and effect on clinical conditions. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 50(2), 85-94.
