15 Natural Ways to Boost Your Immune System

Public Forum
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With so much propaganda and fearmongering being spread about flu again, this is such a welcome article from the IMA team. It’s easy to share and the friends I have sent it to have been delighted to receive it.

It looks at 15 practical, everyday ways to support immune health through diet, lifestyle, sleep, and nutrients…

The article explores topics like:

  • Why prevention matters
  • Sleep, stress, and immune resilience
  • Vitamin D, zinc, vitamin C, and food-based support
  • Gut health, hydration, and fermented foods
  • Supporting children’s immunity
  • Natural compounds like elderberry, resveratrol, and adaptogens

:speech_balloon: What are your top tips for staying well?

Do you focus on sleep, nutrition, time outdoors, stress reduction — or something else that works for you?

Find the full article here 15 Natural Ways to Boost Your Immune System

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I just got over a bad cold virus using natural remedies. Dr. Zelenko had discovered that all corona viruses (colds, flus, covids) can have viral replication blocked by taking Quercetin+VitaminC+zinc. So I did that for just a few days and the symptoms started reducing in intensity. Concurrently, I added herbs from my pantry to the Filter of my daily coffee (2 or 3 cups per day) - 3 shakes of Thyme, 4 shakes of ground cinnamon, 1 shake of basil, 1 or 2 shakes of ground cloves. This breaks up the enormous amount of mucus. I also gargled with salt water once a day. I then added 10 drops of Lobelia and 20 drops of Mullein to some water a few times a day (in order to soothe the lungs which needed a palliative). The bad cold is now just about gone in just 5 days instead of lingering for two weeks (or worse, possibly turning into pneumonia).

IMAHEALTH should be leading the way to studying, quantifying, and recommending natural nutrients and herbs which are never studied by the U.S. medical establishment. The only studies I see of these kind of things are in obscure Chinese journals that are impossible to translate and read. The USA is so corrupt that it refuses to train its “healthcare” workforce to understand and treat patients in these simple, cheap, EFFECTIVE ways of dealing with the fearmongering pharma companies. Just my opinion of course.

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Thank you for sharing your remedy … I have read a fair bit about mullein and it’s very powerful affect on the lungs …

The IMA do some research and often recommend herbs and nutraceuticals. Of course this is an ongoing process.

I thought I would share a few instances:

In the research where herbs show great promise in treating osteoporosis Nature's Overlooked Osteoporosis Solution: New Study Finds Up to 6% Bone Density Gains

We have a great guide on wormwood: https://imahealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ima-wormwood-guide.pdf

I know Dr. Carmen (along with most of the doctors) see food as medicine and our guides recommend foods and drinks to boost your immune system.

We often have Dr. Adylle Varon, on webinars and panels, she is a Senior Fellow with the IMA is a Doctor of Chinese Medicine.

The doctors are always looking at the alternatives, but won’t back something without clinical experience or without the research to back it up.

That’s why It’s always so good to hear from the community about their experiences.

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HI Helen,

I recently read an article by Scott Marsland, recommending NO ZINC for vaccine injured as it causes inflammation in the brain. Can you clarify this? I know you are very diligent with your research. Please advise on the ZINC

TY

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(1 of 3) The cited page 15 Natural Ways to Boost Your Immune System mentions “Sunlight, supplementation, and vitamin D-rich foods are effective ways to increase your levels and keep your immune system strong.” and links to a 2023 page: All About Vitamin D3 - Independent Medical Alliance.

These correctly state that 50 ng/mL or more circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D is needed for good health, and so, implicitly, full immune system function. However, they suggest that foods can play a significant role in attaining this level. There is very little vitamin D in foods of any kind, so food can only make a minor contribution to the vitamin D3 we need to be healthy. Sunshine has health benefits, including especially the creation of vitamin D3 in the skin due to the action of short-wavelength, high energy per excited electron, ultraviolet B light on 7-dehydrocholesterol, where it breaks one of the carbon rings, causing the resulting molecule to reconfigure itself and become vitamin D3.

However, relying on UV-B exposure to generate most or all of the vitamin D3 we need to be healthy would require exposure all year round, when, in temperate regions, it is only naturally available in sufficient quantities to do this in the middle of cloud-free summer days, without glass, clothing or sunscreen intervening. UV-B also damages DNA and so raises the risk of skin cancer, so sunlight is neither a safe nor a practical way of producing sufficient vitamin D3 to be healthy.

These pages also correctly state that, on average, 125 micrograms (5000 IU) a day, is a good amount for average weight adults to supplement. However, this is stated as if it applies to all adults, which is not the case. Prof. Sunil Wimalawansa’s recommendations (see a my further comment below) will reliably attain at least 50 ng/mL circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D, without the need for blood tests or medical intervention. The 2023 page states: “It is essential to test blood (serum) levels to determine deficiency or sufficiency accurately.” This is not so for those following Prof. Wimalawansa’s recommendations, in which the supplemental quantity depends on body weight and obesity status.

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(2 of 3) The most important method of “boosting the immune system” is proper vitamin D3 supplementation, to attain at least 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L = 1 part in 20,000,000 by mass) circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D. This is measured in “vitamin D” blood tests, but it is a separate molecule, with different functions from those of vitamin D3.

Skin-produced and ingested vitamin D3 cholecalciferol is hydroxylated, primarily in the liver, so that about 1/4 of it goes into circulation as 25-hydroxyvitamin D (calcifediol AKA “calcidiol”).

Many doctors think that, for average weight adults, a supplemental vitamin D3 intake of 15 to 25 micrograms (600 to 1000 IU) a day, on average, is sufficient for full health.

This is generally sufficient to raise the circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D level to at least 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L), which enables the kidneys to play their part in the feedback system which regulates calcium-phosphate-bone metabolism. They do this by responding to signaling from the parathyroid gland and osteocytes (bone cells) to maintain a low, stable, level of circulating 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D calcitriol - 0.05 to 0.1 ng/mL. This functions as a hormone - a long-distance, blood-borne, signaling molecule which affects the behavior of several cell types which are involved in this metabolism.

Unfortunately, most doctors and vitamin D researchers are not aware of 2014 research at Massachusetts General Hospital on the relationship between pre-operative 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the risk of post-operative infections in 770 morbidly obese people who all underwent the same Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/1782085 discussed at https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/#00-50ngmL.

Patients with 50 ng/mL or more pre-operative 25-hydroxyvitamin D had a 2.5% risk of post-operative surgical site infections and a 2.5% risk of hospital-acquired infections. The further below 50 ng/mL the pre-operative 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was, the higher the risks. Those with 20 ng/mL had risks, of each of these two types of infection, of around 25%. This shows the immune response to these primarily bacterial infections weakened progressively with lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels.

20 ng/mL is a common level for those who are not supplementing vitamin D3 properly and who have not had recent high-level ultraviolet B exposure on ideally white skin.

While those suffering from obesity have greater difficulty raising their circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D level, for any given vitamin D3 supply as a ratio of body weight, there is no reason to believe that they need higher levels to run their immune system properly. (Obesity reduces the rate of hydroxylation in the liver to 25-hydroxyvitamin D and because the excess adipose tissue absorbs 25-hydroxyvitamin D and vitamin D3: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/#obesity- deficit. ) So it is reasonable to assume these observations are directly relevant to people not suffering from obesity.

There is a vast amount of research showing higher 25-hydroxyvitamin D, at least up to 50 ng/mL, lead to better health outcomes, including by stronger immune responses and better regulation of potentially self-destructive, indiscriminate cell-destroying, immune and auto-immune responses. See the research cited and discussed at: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/.

Many types of immune cell require a good supply of 25-hydroxyvitamin D as a raw material to be used in their intracrine and paracrine signaling systems, which operate within individual cells (intracrine) and between nearby cells (paracrine). These systems are unrelated to hormonal signaling and do not significantly effect, or are affected by, the very low, stable, level of hormonal, circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D.

These signaling systems are crucial to the ability of individual cells to respond to their changing circumstances. Very few doctors or researchers are properly aware of these signaling systems, since there are no peer-reviewed tutorials explaining them. They are not complex, and all medical professionals need to understand them. My non-peer-reviewed tutorial is: Vitamin D intracrine signaling - illustrated tutorial (Also, incorrectly, referred to as Vitamin D based autocrine signaling.).

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(3 of 3) The only peer-reviewed vitamin D3 supplemental intake recommendations which are intended to achieve at least 50 ng/mL circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D are by New Jersey based Professor of Medicine, Sunil Wimalawansa, who has been advising the IMA (then the FLCCC) on vitamin D3 supplementation since 2022. The amount depends on body weight and obesity status, so these recommendations are applicable to people of all ages and body types. These have been published in several peer-reviewed journal articles, including, with professors of medicine and pediatrics: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/22/3969.

As discussed at: Vitamin D and the Immune System - how much vitamin D3 to take, by body weight and obesity status, the average daily amounts are:

70 to 90 IU / kg body weight for those not suffering from obesity (BMI < 30).
100 to 130 IU / kg body weight for obesity I & II (BMI 30 to 39).
140 to 180 IU / kg body weight for obesity III (BMI > 39).

These quantities are an update on those in Prof. Wimalawansa’s first peer-reviewed article which contained his recommendations. The update was first publicly announced in an FLCCC webinar in August 2023: Understanding Vitamin D: FLCCC Weekly Update (Aug. 16, 2023)

For 70 kg (154 lb) without obesity, this is about 0.125 milligrams (5000 IU) a day. This takes several months to attain the desired > 50 ng/mL circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D from typical baselines of 20 ng/mL or less.

5000 IU a day is 8 or more times what most governments recommend. “5000 IU” sounds like a lot, but it is a gram every 22 years - and pharma grade vitamin D costs about USD$2.50 a gram ex-factory. This will safely attain at least 50 ng/mL 125 nmol/L 25-hydroxyvitamin D over several months, without the need for blood tests or medical monitoring.

There’s very little vitamin D in food, including that fortified with vitamin D3, or the less effective vitamin D2.

UV-B light can produce sufficient vitamin D3 for full health, but this is only available to most people on Earth in sufficient quantities in the middle of cloud-free summer days, without glass, clothing or sunscreen intervening. Those with dark skin need a lot more UV-B exposure. All UV-B skin exposure damages DNA and so raises the risk of skin cancer.

So proper vitamin D3 supplementation, as recommended by Prof. Wimalawansa, is the only safe, practical, way of attaining a healthy level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, with the important exception of infants who are substantially breast-fed by vitamin D3 and so 25-hydroxyvitamin D replete moms.

The short half-life vitamin D3 and the longer half-life 25-hydroxyvitamin D are both transferred in breast milk. Since 25-hydroxyvitamin D is more easily absorbed into the bloodstream than vitamin D3 (it is more water soluble, due to having two rather than one hydroxyl groups) and since it does not require hydroxylation to raise circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D, it plays an important role in meeting the 25-hydroxyvitamin D needs of the infant. Measurements of vitamin D3 and 25(OH)D levels in human breast milk vary widely, in part due to the difficulties in measuring such low levels: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/ articles/10.3389/fnut.2023.1229445. One recent study https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/2/573 found approximately equal amounts of vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D in human breast milk. Since (at least in adults) the liver only coverts about 1/4 of ingested vitamin D3 into circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D, this means that the bulk of the benefit to the breast-fed child’s 25-hydroxyvitamin D comes from the 25-hydroxyvitamin D component of breast milk. This depends on the mother’s 25-hydroxyvitamin D level.

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Thanks for the question @sc380 there isnt a straightforward answer, as like all treatment it should be tailored to that individual.

But here is a link to our Post Vaccine treatment article: I-RECOVER: Post-Vaccine Treatment - Independent Medical Alliance

And to the free protocol: https://imahealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/I-RECOVER-Post-Vaccine-2024-03-01.pdf

You will see that although Zinc is mentioned in the I-RECOVER materials it is as part of nutrient support, not a core first line therapy.

It’s discussed outside the core first-line therapy list visible in the main PDF, typically as part of the nutraceutical and immune-supportive strategy.

The recommended dose cited in sources tied to the protocol is 25 mg elemental zinc daily with quercetin.

But our guides are just that, guides, its always recommended that you work with a trusted medical advisor as like any treatment, it should be about the individual and their specific symptoms and root causes.

If you need to find a doctor, have a look at our provider directory https://imahealth.org/providers/

And a great support for the Vax injured support https://react19.org/

Hope that helps :slight_smile:

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Great information…ty!

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:+1:

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@robin-whittle Thanks very much for this. Reading it slowly to assimilate it all. Great info. Thanks very much for taking the time to post these last three.

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Do not get too cold by going without a coat.

Do not go without sleep.

Do keep oseltamivir on hand in hour house because you will never get any in time to treat a viral infection soon enough if you have to start by calling your doctor. Osletamivir, in contrast to what one often reads, works like a charm if its use is initiated within 48 hours of the first flu symptom.