Can supplements actually boost your immune system?

We asked experts about whether they have real benefits. While perusing the supplement aisle, you’ll likely pass bottles of pills and gummies claiming to boost your immune system. And if you’ve ever felt tempted to try them, you’re far from alone.

Recent research suggests that millions of people have used dietary supplements for those supposed benefits . The new study was published last week in JAMA Network Open and included more than 15,000 participants. It found that about one in nine US residents used supplements to enhance their immune systems between January 2017 and March 2020.



“It comes up all the time,” said Dr Michael Ben-Aderet, the associate medical director of hospital epidemiology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles who wasn’t involved with the study. “There’s really this sense of people trying to optimise their health.”.