Your immune system is comprised of organs, tissues, specialized cells and specific proteins. The function of your immune system is to defend your body against microorganisms and inert matter that cause infection or disease. Human immunity operates using multiple strategies, such as producing a defensive barrier, utilizing offensive "killer" cells and being adaptive to the behavior of invaders. Certain vitamins provide you essential support for an efficient immune system.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is essential for your immune system's defensive barrier. Vitamin A helps keep viruses, bacteria and other invaders from penetrating your body by maintaining mucous membranes, as cited in "The Vitamins." With the help of vitamin A, mucous membranes lining your nostrils, sinuses, eyes, inner mouth, throat and gut stay moist and evenly dispersed, which blocks, traps and eliminates potential invaders and harmful material. Vitamin A also supports your immune system's offensive element by contributing to the manufacture of enzymes that search and destroy invaders that manage to penetrate the defensive barriers.
B Vitamins
The B-vitamin group, which consists of eight different molecules, is mainly involved in cellular metabolism and energy production, which is essential to support the needs of an active immune system. A few members of the group -- specifically folic acid, B-5, B-6 and B-12 -- contribute directly to the offensive efficiency of your immune system. Vitamin B-6, or pyridoxine, is partially responsible for increasing white blood cells in your bloodstream, which includes the thymus-derived lymphocytes, "killer T-cells." A study reported in a 2002 edition of "The Journal of Nutrition" found that females who increased their daily pyridoxine intake to 2.1 mg also increased their white blood cell count by 35 percent.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is perhaps the best-known immune-support vitamin, due mainly to the research and publications of Dr. Linus Pauling. Whether vitamin C can prevent certain infections is still debated within the medical community, but it is known to affect and support your immune system in multiple ways. According to the Linus Pauling Institute, vitamin C stimulates the production and function of many white blood cells, especially neutrophils, lymphocytes and phagocytes. Neutrophils actively attack foreign bacteria and viruses. Supplemental vitamin C increases serum levels of circulating antibodies. Vitamin C also contributes to the production of interferon, a protein that kills viruses, and glutathione, a powerful antioxidant that boosts immune function.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D, which is produced in the skin from sun exposure, is also supportive of your immune system. A study reported in a 2010 edition of "Nature Immunology" found that vitamin D is needed to activate the killer T-cells of the immune system so they can detect and kill foreign microorganisms, potentially preventing serious infection. Dr. Marina Rode von Essen and the other researchers discovered that killer T-cells rely on vitamin D in order to be activated from their dormant state.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is an efficient antioxidant and a modulator of your immune system. Vitamin E supports immunity by producing interleukin-2, a powerful protein that can destroy bacteria, viruses and cancer cells. A study reported in a 2000 edition of "The Journal of Nutrition" found that vitamin E supplementation improved cell-mediated immunity and oxidative stress in Chinese men and women.
References
- "The Vitamins, Third Edition"; Gerald F. Combs; 2007
- "The Journal of Nutrition"; Improved Vitamin B-6 Status Is Positively Related to Lymphocyte Proliferation in Young Women Consuming a Controlled Diet; Ho-Kyung Kwak, et al; November 2002
- Oregon State University Linus Pauling Institute: Vitamin C
- "Nature Immunology"; Vitamin D Controls T-cell Antigen Receptor Signaling and Activation of Human T-cells; Marina Rode von Essen, et al; April 2010
- "The Journal of Nutrition"; Vitamin E Supplementation Improves Cell-Mediated Immunity and Oxidative Stress of Asian Men and Women; F. Wan, et al; December 2000
