Supplements to Avoid Getting Sick

Immune system boosting supplements can help you a LOT... I can't even remember the last time I was sick enough to not be able to train.

And HOW I accomplish this is what I want to share with you today.

I'll skip over the stuff you probably already know (i.e. wash your hands, get enough sleep, etc.) and get right to the other stuff, in order of what I believe to be the most important.

Now, keep in mind, I'm not a doctor and this is not medical advice so be sure and use your common sense. This is just stuff that, in my experience and research, I believe can help you avoid getting sick and/or get well faster.

 

1. Take Vitamin D3.

This vitamin is CRITICAL to immune system function and a lot of people are deficient in it, especially in the winter when sun exposure is minimal.

And honestly, even if you DO get sun exposure, if you're in the US, Canada or most of Europe, the sun's rays aren't likely going to be strong enough to get much of a Vitamin D response in your body.

You can get Vitamin D3 (make sure it's the 3 version) from a variety of companies. It's a pretty common vitamin. I recommend Now Foods brand.

I personally get their 5,000 IU product to get the most bang for my buck (they also offer 10,000 IU if you really want to take high doses). You'd have to take a LOT more than that to have any issues, but always consult your physician before taking any supplements.

Totally worth it, in my mind, and one of the highest-impact, cost-effective things you can do every single day to prevent illness

 

2. Take Glutamine

Glutamine is one of the most abundant amino acids in your body. It's often recommend to help with muscle recovery and growth...however, I actually DON'T take glutamine for that purpose.

I take glutamine because it's FUEL for your immune system.

When you're training hard, you become more susceptible to illness because your body is being challenged to recover from that training, in addition to dealing with all the bugs that everybody else is throwing at you.

If your immune system runs low on fuel, it doesn't function as effectively. Taking glutamine can help with this.

I take AST Research brand glutamine in the 1200 g size available here. You can get it from just about any reputable company...just make sure you always get the powder, not capsules (caps aren't cost-effective).

In order to get benefits from glutamine supplementation, you need to take at least 3 to 5 grams at a time (ideally more...I generally take at least 10 to 20 grams at a time). The gut is a glutamine hog and will use up a lot of it before it can get into your bloodstream, which is why a bigger dose taken in one shot is important for getting it through.

 

3. Take Athletic Greens

"It's the terrain, not the germ." quoted Louis Pasteur on his death bed.

What this basically means is that a bacteria or virus can't gain a foothold in your body if your body is not a good host for it...and most peoples bodies are GREAT hosts, simply due to their lifestyle factors and health. Their bodies are like swamps.

However, by keeping your body healthy and your immune system strong, it's a LOT tougher for germs to take hold and cause illness.

I'm sure you know people who always seem to get sick and people who NEVER seem to get sick.

Athletic Greens is a supplement I recommend if you want to be one of those people who NEVER seem to get sick.

My wife and I take it EVERY single day (empty stomach, first thing in the morning), without fail...and even when we feel rundown and are even exposed to people who are sick, we just never seem to catch it.

It's basically a "superfood" powder that is a blend of more than 70 whole food ingredients...all in natural form with enzymes and co-factors intact.

This stuff is AWESOME...and is the one supplement I NEVER go without.

You can learn more about Athletic Greens here...

 

4. Take Colloidal Silver

This is a natural anti-bacterial, anti-viral supplement that can help prevent illness from taking hold, and can also help fight it off if you DO get sick.

Silver in this form is theorized to interfere with the enzyme necessary for single-celled bacteria, viruses, and fungi to metabolize oxygen. Pathogens can't develop immunity to it because it works against their base physiology.

So whenever I'm going to be travelling on a plane, or around large groups of people, or after I've been around sick people, I take some of this and it stops anything floating around dead in it's tracks.

It doesn't interfere with any medications and won't cause stomach upset.

I don't use it all this time...it's my "go to" treatment if I feel a scratchy throat or if I feel a bit rundown and it really does the trick for me.

The brand I've been using is called Mesosilver. You can read about it here.

 

Conclusion:

These four supplements together are what I do to keep healthy all year long.

And I'm truly not kidding when I say I can't even remember the last time that illness kept me from training...even at the peak of the overtraining that most of my programs cause.

You and I both know how frustrating it can be to have your training derailed by illness. These four things can help prevent that.