Looking to Strengthen Your Immunity?
A Good Multivitamin Is the Place to Start*

As the seasons change and school resumes, many of us are thinking about how to naturally support our immune health. You may already be stocking up on elderberry, echinacea, and oil of oregano. But don’t forget the basics. A good multivitamin can strengthen your natural defenses so you may not even need those herbal remedies.* 

Experts Say These 6 Micronutrients Are Critical

Researchers from the Global Centre for Nutrition and Health at St. John’s Innovation Centre, Cambridge, UK, recently published a paper in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health explaining how deficiencies in micronutrients may weaken immune resistance.[1] They singled out these 6 as being the most important to watch out for:

1. Vitamin A:

Your skin and mucous membranes play an outsized role in protecting you from harm. They are the first barriers that foreign invaders must penetrate to gain entrance into your body. Vitamin A helps keep those barriers nice and tight, making it harder for the bad guys to get in.*

2. Vitamin C:

No surprise vitamin C is on the list. This stalwart vitamin has stood the test of time when it comes to proving its immune chops. Chalk that up to its antioxidant power. By donating electrons to immune cells, vitamin C helps them protect you better.*

3. Vitamin D:

Over the last year and a half, researchers have realized just how vital vitamin D is to your ability to fend off whatever’s going around, as well as to recover from any setback. There are particularly high levels of vitamin D receptors in the lungs, where it acts as a nutritional bodyguard.*

4. Vitamin E:

Like vitamin C, vitamin E is an antioxidant that’s important for the normal function of immune cells.* The main difference is that vitamin C is water-soluble, so it protects the aqueous interior of cells, whereas vitamin E is fat-soluble, so it protects the fatty outer cell membrane.*

5. Zinc:

Several studies have found that zinc supplementation improves several aspects of immune function.* Importantly, though, zinc is not stored efficiently by the body. This means that you need to get adequate zinc every day to replenish your levels.

6. Selenium:

The mineral selenium is incorporated into cellular antioxidants called selenoproteins, which play a role in both innate (born) and adaptive (acquired) immunity.* Selenium supplementation has been shown to increase immune response in those who are deficient in the mineral.*

Taking a high-quality multivitamin is a good way to cover your bases and make sure your body is getting the full range of nutrients it needs to put up a robust immune defense.* At Natural Factors, we’re partial to our Whole Earth & Sea^® multivitamins.

The Whole Food Advantage

Whole Earth & Sea multivitamins aren’t your grandparents’ multivitamins. Like most multis, they come with a broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals, including those 6 immune-supporting superstars. But unlike standard multivitamins, which are mostly synthetic, our whole food multivitamins source many of their nutrients from plants — like vitamin C from amla fruit, vitamin E from sunflower seed oil, and selenium from sprouted garlic.

Perhaps more importantly, the vitamins and minerals in Whole Earth & Sea multivitamins are combined with a healthy serving of Farm Fresh Factors, a powerful blend of fresh, organic, raw plants, including cruciferous vegetables, sea vegetables, fruit, and herbs — many grown on our own regenerative organic farms.

This is important if we’re thinking holistically. After all, nature doesn’t give us vitamins and minerals in isolation. Whole foods are complex and contain a broad spectrum of phytonutrients, antioxidants, enzymes, and other cofactors that work together in ways we’re just beginning to understand.

Consider absorption: Foods that include vitamin C typically also contain bioflavonoids, which have been shown to enhance the bioavailability of vitamin C.[2] Whole Earth & Sea multivitamins capture this natural synergy by giving us the vitamins and minerals we need together with the full spectrum of co-nutrients that come from whole foods.* It’s an idea straight from nature: The whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Whole Earth & Sea multivitamins come in a variety of formulations specifically tailored to your physiological needs, whether you’re male, female, younger, 50+, pregnant/breastfeeding, or looking for extra bone support.* We’ve got you covered!

Don’t Wait to Take a Multivitamin

Just remember, because many micronutrients work on the front end to strengthen your resistance, it’s important to optimize your stores before you feel any disruption in your well-being. That’s why today is the best time to start taking a multivitamin!

References:

1. McAuliffe S, et al. BMJ Nutr Prev Health. 2020 Jun 18;3(1):93-99. doi: 10.1136/bmjnph-2020-000100.

2. Vinson JA, Bose P. Comparative bioavailability to humans of ascorbic acid alone or in a citrus extract. Am J Clin Nutr. 1988 Sep;48(3):601-4. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/48.3.601. PMID: 3414575.