With winter upon us, how can we bootstrap ourselves to help ward off the seasonal cold and flus?
The immune system is a complex and dynamic system that is highly influenced by the foods we eat, our mineral and vitamin intake and activity levels.
Stress and inflammation are key factors for weakening the immune system, so eating foods with anthocyanins, which help modify the body’s stress response and promote good gut bacteria, are beneficial.
Vitamins C and D are common go-tos during the winter and critical for good immune function, but few people make the connection between berries and immunity.
Rich in plant bioactives called anthocyanins, berries help increase the body’s innate immune defences. Normally, the immune system ‘ramps up’ when triggered by a pathogen, but it appears that anthocyanins prompt immune function to work proactively and not just when a pathogen is detected.
Anthocyanins also multi-task as antioxidants which help to combat oxidative stress, which damages healthy cells and undermines the immune system and its mucosal defences.
Five weeks’ intake of blackcurrant extract has been shown to increase expression of immune factors associated with maintenance of innate immune defences and enhanced cellular antioxidant/anti-inflammatory properties.
Six weeks’ consumption of blueberry anthocyanins have been shown to elevate innate immune indices and also enhance anti- inflammatory/antioxidant status.
Elderberry has long been recognised as an immune promoter, with studies showing that colds are less severe and reduced in duration with elderberry.
When it comes to fighting viruses, blackcurrants and elderberries have exhibited a three-pronged effect by reducing adsorption of viruses onto cell surfaces, preventing growth within cells and stopping replication to avoid spreading.
We have your daily immune support supplement needs covered this winter thanks to CurraNZ and our Immuno3B super-complex, a proprietary formulation of berry extracts, containing the equivalent of 2,500mg of fresh CurraNZ blackcurrants, blueberries and elderberries.
Rounding off our evidence-based formulation are Vitamins C, D A, plus Selenium and Beta Glucans, which have been used in traditional Chinese medicine as immuno-modulators for centuries.
A super-complex of nature-identical ingredients, CurraNZ Immune is designed as a daily dietary support that can be used as a companion supplement to CurraNZ Original.