Immune Boosting: Is It a Bust?

Science Vs

Spotify Studios

Education, Science, Health & Fitness

4.4 • 12.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 March 2021

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Internet influencers have been pushing “immune boosters” during the pandemic — claiming they’ve got just the pill, berry or brew to rev up our body’s defenses. But is there really a way to boost our immune system? We’re finding out whether these vitamins and supplements truly work as a shield against colds and viruses. We speak to public health Prof. Tim Caulfield, nutrition Prof. Carol Johnston, immunologist Shiv Pillai, and immune aging researcher Niharika Duggal. UPDATE 3/12/21: An earlier version of this episode overstated the evidence that starting to exercise leads to fewer colds and flus. While we do have lots of evidence that suggests exercise is good for our immune system, the research around starting an exercise program is more mixed. We've updated the episode. Check out the transcript right here: http://bit.ly/3cjIe6f And find more rhymes from Shiv on TikTok: profpillaipoet Credits: This episode was produced by Rose Rimler with help from Wendy Zukerman, as well as Taylor White, Nick DelRose, Meryl Horn, and Michelle Dang. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Music written by Peter Leonard, Marcus Bagala, Emma Munger, and Bobby Lord. A huge thanks to all the researchers we got in touch with for this episode, including Dr. Brian Crucian, Dr. Harri Hemila, Dr. Wendy Weber, Dr Shai Shen Orr, Dr. Ravindra PV, Prof. Philip Calder, Dr. Oveta Fuller, Dr. Kate Edwards, Dr. Hawley Kunz, Prof. Graham Rook, Prof. Emily Ho, Dr. Dayong Wu, Prof. David Nieman, Dr. Byron Quinn, Dr. Allison Kelliher, and Prof. Adrian Martineau. And special thanks to Willa Rubin, the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman and you're listening to Science Vs from Gimlet, and we're back with a brand new season.
0:06.4	So, to kick us off on today's show, we are asking, can you boost your immune system?
0:15.6	Yeah, we're putting facts against fighting off infections.
0:19.8	And this idea that we can pop a pill to boost our immune system,
0:28.8	it started exploding during the early days of the pandemic.
0:32.6	Tim Corfield, a professor of public health at the University of Albertin, Canada, was watching, as it all took off.
0:40.2	It was in the air, you know, this idea of immune boosting.
0:44.6	It was just part of the gestalt, you know, and it remains so.
0:51.4	And as the pandemic got worse and worse, this idea grew and grew.
0:56.6	And it felt like products to boost our immune system were suddenly everywhere,
1:01.4	especially as we've seen all over social media.
1:05.4	And Tim wanted to know what exactly was this stuff that was getting touted all over the internet.
1:12.0	So, he did want any self-respecting academic would do.
1:15.8	And he started scrolling Instagram.
1:17.8	And I really did. I went through hundreds and hundreds of posts.
1:21.6	A hard day for work at the lab for you is getting a coffee and scrolling Instagram.
1:27.0	And, you know, I wish I could say it was fancier, but that's what I did.
1:31.4	Tim and his team systematically trolled Instagram, looking for the top trending posts labelled with the hashtag, ImmuneBooStar.
1:40.0	And there was a lot of the stuff that you'd expect.
1:42.4	So called superfoods, a lot of vitamins and herbs were in the mix too.
1:47.2	I saw supplements from a vitamin D to zinc and obviously vitamin C, ginger, elderberry,
1:54.6	echinacea, I saw a lot of smoothies, a lot of smoothies out there.
	...

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