Immune Support For Traveling: 17 Best Tips, Tricks, & Vitamins

Immune support for traveling is important if you don’t want to be stuck in bed during your entire vacation. In the following article, I’ve listed the seventeen best tips, tricks, vitamins, and supplements you can use to boost your immune system before you travel.

1. Eat Fruits and Veggies

Eating whole foods like fruits and veggies will ensure you get some antioxidants which have been shown to decrease inflammation and give you an upper hand against harmful pathogens. (25)

Nuts, seeds, and legumes are some other great foods that are rich in nutrients and antioxidants.

The fiber from the plants will also help feed your gut microbiome so it’s healthy enough to keep harmful pathogens at bay. (26)

2. Exercise Regularly

Regular, moderate exercise has been shown to help your immune cells regenerate and has also been shown to reduce inflation. But don’t go too hard when you exercise because that can lead to a suppressed immune system. (18)

3. Don’t Drink Alcohol

Drinking alcohol puts stress on your body and uses up energy that it could be using to fight harmful pathogens

4. Stay Hydrated

If you’re not hydrated you risk headaches as well as declining strength, focus, mood, digestion, and heart and kidney function which can lead to an increased susceptibility to illnesses. (17)

5. Eat Fermented Foods or Take a Probiotic

Fermented foods and probiotics contain beneficial bacteria that populate your digestive system.

Some good probiotic foods to eat are yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, and natto. If you’re going the probiotic route, I recommend one with Bifidobacterium animals as people who take it have been shown to have a stronger immune response and lower virus levels. (19)

6. Get Enough & Regular Sleep

Not having enough quality sleep has been linked to a higher rate of illness. A study of 164 adults showed that those who slept fewer than six hours each night were more likely to get sick than those that slept at least six hours per night. (20)

Adults should get at least seven hours of sleep a night, teens should get eight to ten and younger children and babies should get up to fourteen hours of sleep a night. Getting enough sleep will strengthen your natural immunity and allow your immune system to have a better response. (21)

7. Take Steps to Avoid an Infection

Wash your hands and cook meats thoroughly

8. Minimize Stress

Minimizing your stress will help protect against inflammation and help will imbalances in your immune cell function. (15) Prolonged stress has been shown to suppress the immune response in children. (16)

9. Take The Recommended Vaccines

Vaccines are designed to help your immune system fight off any infections before they have a chance to take hold in your body.

10. Eat Licorice

Licorice contains glycyrrhizin which has been shown to protect against strep-throat as well as having anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antiviral effects. (22) (23) (24)

11. Take Vitamin C

A review with over 11,000 people showed that taking 1,000 to 2,000 mg of Vitamin C daily reduced the duration of colds by 8% in adults and 14% in children. (7)

12. Take Vitamin D

If you are deficient in vitamin D you have an increased risk of getting sick. (8)

13. Take Zinc

A review with 575 people showed that taking 75 mg of zinc daily reduced the duration of colds by 33%. (9)

14. Take Elderberry

A meta-analysis of randomized, controlled clinical trials found that elderberry could reduce the symptoms of viral upper respiratory infections. (10)

15. Take Garlic

A study with 146 people showed that taking garlic reduced the incidence of the common cold by about 30%. (11)

16. Take Echinacea

Echinacea is closely related to daisies and has been shown to improve immune systems and it may also protect against respiratory viruses like the common cold. (14)

17. Take Medicinal Mushrooms

There are over 270 species of mushrooms that are known to have immune boosting properties. (12) Cordyceps, lion’s mane, maitake, shitake, reishi, and turkey tail are the most well-known mushrooms that have been shown to benefit your immune system. (13)

Alex Knoch

I like to travel and I've traveled in every way possible. I've traveled by flying in planes, riding and hopping trains, road trips, joining van life, and I've even hitchhiked across the United States a couple of times. Now my goal is to make it easier for anyone to travel and experience the world by sharing with you the best travel tips, gear, and destinations out there. Find my other websites and socials at AlexKnoch.com.