I have to be honest, I take handfuls of supplements everyday and I don’t mind it at all. In fact, I sort of revel in all the different vitamins and functionalities as I go. If you’re blinking hard at me through your phone, I get it: I’m definitely an outlier here! Most people I know are looking for any possible scenario in which they can reduce the chore and confusion of taking multiple supplements a day. 

This year, supplementing for immunity is a non-negotiable, but if you’re overwhelmed by what to take — or just the sheer amount of supplements you’re being recommended, you’re not alone!

Further Food now offers a new doctor-formulated daily supplement with twenty-seven powerful immune enhancing ingredients, including all the heavy hitters like vitamins C and D, plus antioxidants, minerals and superherbs, in every capsule. This is the ultimate supplement for those who don’t want to mess with a shelf of tinctures and pills and it’s formulated by Further Food’s own Functional Medicine Doctor who is breaking down everything about the new Ultimate Immune Support with us below… 

Functional Medicine is one of the most vital movements happening in wellness and healthcare right now. Having a Functional doctor’s own take on immune health now? Pretty priceless.

We asked Dr. Chris Oswald, Functional doc and Further Food’s Chief Science Officer to unpack their potent new daily supplement and talk to us about what’s inside…

THE CHALKBOARD: Dr. Oswald, you told us that Ultimate Immune Support is the supplement you’ve dreamt of giving your patients. Can you talk about why?

Dr. OSWALD: Throughout my career working with patients, I have always been pretty sensitive to “pill fatigue” and how it can be overwhelming for them to manage taking the right immune supplements. There are so many great options to support the immune system, and they all do it in a slightly different way, all of which matter!

While it’s so important to take a variety of immune supportive vitamins, minerals and herbs, the challenge is that doing this the right way requires taking 6, 8, 10 or more different supplements! That’s not convenient for most people, not even myself, and taking care of ourselves shouldn’t be so hard.

“Ultimate Immune Support is my ‘dream’ supplement because it cuts that number of supplements down from near a dozen to one.”

Working with just one immunity supplement helps cut out all the guesswork for my patients and reduces that medicine cabinet full of supplement bottles. Now we’ve got a single option to replace them all!

TCM: Let’s talk about what’s inside the daily supplement — 27 ingredients is a lot!  Can you share a bit about each or at least the superstars in the mix that people might not be familiar with?

Dr. OSWALD:

Vitamins: Ultimate Immune Support contains the immune superstars we all know and love: vitamins C & D, but also Vitamins A & E which provide lesser known, but powerful immune benefits as well. Making sure you have enough of all your important vitamins is key to keeping your immune system at its best.

Minerals: The powerhouse here is Zinc, essential to healthy immune function, but also necessary for over 200 reactions in the body. Zinc helps you do just about everything!

Mushrooms: Maitake mushroom leads the way here with a growing amount of clinical evidence pointing to its immune superpowers. The rest of the mushrooms further help to buoy the immune support you’re getting in the other ingredients by providing a variety of important beta-glucans and other polysaccharides.

Antioxidants: The primary antioxidants; vitamins A, C, & E and selenium, are all included in ideal dosages, but there are also herbs which help the antioxidants work significantly better. While there are many to choose from, Green Tea extract and Quercetin provide the bulk of this support.

Herbs: There are a variety of herbs in the formula that alone have great clinical evidence around their immune-enhancing potential, like Astragalus and Andrographis (which both have been used for centuries in Chinese medicine). The clinically studied herbs like elderberry and echinacea were also included to provide that multifaceted support so many people are looking for and need.

While including herbs that have human clinical evidence are important to me, I never forget about those herbs with hundreds, if not thousands, of years of use in traditional medicine. Things like garlic and ginger have been relied on by many health practices across the world, and the long rich history of the use of elecampane, horehound, and english ivy to support healthy respiratory function also shouldn’t be forgotten. There’s a reason humans have relied on powerful plants to keep us healthy for so long, and there’s a reason why those practices and that knowledge keeps getting passed down!

TCM: We also take Further Food’s Elderberry Syrup everyday after reading the research about elderberry and the flu virus. Okay to double down? What’s your take on Elderberry?

Dr. OSWALD: Elderberry is great and can certainly be combined with Ultimate Immune Support! Native American and Naturopaths have both long relied on this remedy. The mounting clinical evidence supports the wisdom of traditional medicine that points to the use of this powerful little berry. A spoonful of Elderberry a day plus your daily Ultimate Immune Support sounds like a powerful immune duo to me!

TCM: Some people will ask, “Can’t I just take a one and done Vitamin C and call it a day?” Talk to us about why it’s so important to approach immune health with all of these ingredients?

Dr. OSWALD: I have long recommended vitamin C, but that is only a single part of a much larger puzzle. The best way to describe why taking a variety of vitamins and minerals is that they help to fill your gas tank.

What do I mean by gas tank? I mean that these diverse nutritious sources provide your body with the nutrients necessary to support the immune system. In each Ultimate Immune Support capsule, you have this collection of herbs, mushrooms and antioxidants to help promote a healthy immune response. For the best immune support, you’ve got to keep that gas tank at full, and the easiest way to do that is to make sure you’re getting that diverse range of vitamins, minerals and nutrients I talked about.

TCM: What else are you sharing with patients recently for immunity? Certainly plenty of rest is in order for us all!

Dr. OSWALD: Supplements to nourish the body are one thing, but you nailed it that healthy levels of rest and sleep are paramount to the body’s ability to heal and stay well.

With my patients, I always focus on a foundation of healthy food and exercise as non-negotiable. While you don’t need to be perfect at all times, a balanced diet with a focus on fresh fruits and vegetables, paired with regular exercise is one of the most potent combinations to promote immune health I can think of. What you put into your body and what you do with your body are key to maintaining good health!

This story is brought to you in partnership with Further Food. From time to time, TCM editors choose to partner with brands we believe in to bring our readers special offers. The Chalkboard Mag and its materials are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure or prevent any disease. All material on The Chalkboard Mag is provided for educational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider for any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise or other health-related programs.