How to Boost Your Immune System: Arm Your System for Battle

When your body detects a dangerous invader, your immune system gets the signal to go into attack mode. Specialized fighter cells track down the enemy, surround it, and destroy it. The strength of this built-in self-defense system determines whether you fight off an illness-causing germ or go down for the count. To maintain your internal army, you have to get enough of the nutrients that can build and protect your immune cells so your body can fight back.

Here is a look at the vitamins and minerals that answer the question of how to boost the immune system.

How to Strengthen Immune System: Immune Cell Builders

• Zinc is essential to the formation of T-cells, immune cells that help tailor your response to specific invaders and also help boost the response of other kinds of immune cells. ^{1, 2, 4}


• Vitamin D is crucial to the process of activating T cells—white blood cells that play multiple roles in your immune system, including directly attacking invaders and activating other immune cells.


• Iron is required for the formation of many immune cells, especially lymphocytes—small white blood cells in the lymphatic system.¹


• Probiotics play an important role in the gut microbiome composition by helping stimulate the immune system.

How to Strengthen Immune System: The Supporters

• Vitamin A is involved in the development of immune system cells and is also involved in signaling cellular immune responses when a threat, is detected.⁵


• Vitamin C is another well-known immune nutrient that can help with optimal health.

How to Strengthen Immune System: The Antioxidants

• Vitamin E plays a part in nearly 200 biochemical reactions in your body, and is especially important to collecting loose electrons—so-called “free radicals”—that cause oxidation, which damages cells.


• Selenium is an antioxidant that has been shown in studies to be associated with an enhanced immune response because it goes after free radicals in the body.³

The high-potency multivitamin blend found in some of the GNC Routines can be your immune system’s secret weapon.^ Each capsule has more than 100% of the recommended daily allowance for vitamins A and C, and the minerals zinc, iron and selenium. It also has the vitamin D you need to target immune cell production and vitamin E, the antioxidant that helps kick off the immune response.

You’ll also find GNC’s Probiotics Solutions with Enzymes in the General Health Routine as an additional solution for how to strengthen your immune system.

Sticking to your routine is a smart, easy way to support your immune system.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

^In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 112 healthy volunteers, subjects taking the GNC vitamin and mineral blends for six weeks experienced significant improvements in serum levels of certain key nutrients compared to a placebo and a leading multivitamin formula based upon multivariate statistical analysis of a group of B vitamins (thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, biotin, folic acid and vitamins B-6 and B-12) and key antioxidants and carotenoids (a group of beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, selenium, lutein and lycopene). Statistical improvements in SF-36 Vitality and Mental Health scores were also observed compared to placebo.