Is ‘boosting immunity’ a real thing?

The concept of “boosting immunity” and its ever-growing popularity around the world has convinced people to adopt many practices intending to keep infections at bay. The devastation caused by the pandemic has been an additional opportunity for a plethora of products to come into the market and claim to increase the ability of one’s immune system. However, this concept is flawed at its very foundation. 

“Boosting your immune system is a dangerous, ill-conceived concept and probably not even possible,” says New York Times journalist Matt Richtel, author of An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System. The immune system is a complex mechanism and there are no studies confirming its enhancement through various products. It generates, stores and distributes the white blood cells that combat bacteria and viruses that enter one’s body, especially during cold and flu season.

“There are three different components to immunity,” says Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University. “There are things like skin, the airways, and the mucous membranes that are there, to begin with, and they provide a barrier to infection. But once the virus gets past these defenses, then you have to induce the ‘innate’ immune response.” This immune response is not specific and is activated because of an intrusive presence in your body. “When that is not enough, then we kick in the adaptive immune system,” she says. These are cells tailor-made to fight specific infections and will perform only specific functions.

Proteins called cytokines, which act as a medium of communication between immune cells, control these responses and their functioning is beyond regulation through food or other products. The most popular products claiming to enhance immunity are vitamins, supplements, herbs, and other concoctions. Inflammation is part of the innate immune response and ironically, it is what a lot of these products claim to reduce. “The problem is that many of these claims (about certain supplements boosting immunity) have no grounding in evidence,” says Iwasaki.  

The proper functioning of the immune system requires balance and harmony within the body and there is still a lot that needs to be known about its intricacies and connections to lifestyle habits. However, controllable activities such as eating well, sleeping enough, exercising, and keeping a check on stress provide the ideal conditions for the best possible immune response. Vaccination continues to be the only sure-shot scientifically proven way to improve the immune response to certain pathogens.