As we make our way through the winter season, bundled warm in our closed-up homes and offices, we begin to see a rise of ills and chills. With nowhere to hide to protect ourselves, all we can do is cross our fingers and hope we don’t become the latest victim!

Although it may seem like a losing battle, your body has no interest in subjecting itself to a game of chance. That’s why you have an immune system! Now, before you load yourself with every immune-stimulating product on the market, it would be wise to make sure that you have an immune system to stimulate first.

Think of it this way – you wouldn’t try to put rocket fuel in a push bike. There’s no way that would work, because the push bike is not prepared for it. The best immune defence is to provide your body with the nutrients it needs to manufacture and initiate immune cells.
Minerals are essential nutrients for virtually all functions of your body. This is largely because minerals play an integral role in the formation and activation of metabolic enzymes. Specifically, calcium, magnesium, and zinc are shown to play specialised roles in the development and activation of immune cells.

For years, calcium was recognised as one of the primary minerals for the construction of bones and teeth, but in more recent times, researchers have learned of calcium’s other biological uses. One such use of calcium is a ‘gate keeper’ on the outside of specialised cells. When this calcium gateway is notified of an immune challenge, the calcium ion gate is opened, and the cell is activated as an immune specific cell.

Magnesium is another mineral that often is misunderstood. In fact, the broad range of biological uses of magnesium is staggering. Specific to the immune system, a large amount of research has shown evidence of magnesium’s use in the synthesis of immune factors and immune system-specific enzymes, immune cell adherence to pathogens, and in the activation of immune cells.

Zinc’s relationship with the immune system has long been known as one based on deficiency. Fifty years ago, in the Middle East, researchers noted severe immune dysfunctions in zinc-deficient patients. Newer science has now recognised that, although a deficiency adversely effects the growth and function of immune cells, zinc is also used in adaptive immunity – the branch of your immune system that recognises pathogens. Zinc, as it appears, has a one-two punch!

So, as you find yourself locked up in small spaces and cooler temperatures, prepare by building an immune system with the minerals it requires. Solgar Calcium Magnesium Plus Zinc is a balanced-ratio mineral formulation that uses multiple forms of these important minerals to increase absorption and metabolism, thereby supporting your immune system’s needs during the cold, damp, New Zealand winter.