This post has been sponsored by Wellmune® through Kitchen PLAY.

How to support your immune system health is a topic on the minds of most of us these days, myself included – especially as an athlete over 50 years old! Surprisingly, a heavy training load and being older can both have negative effects on your immune response — despite being fit and “healthy.” To give my immune system a fighting chance to do its given job despite the stresses I put it under, I follow an overall clean lifestyle. This encompasses: a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, regular exercise, no smoking or little to no alcohol, adequate quantity and quality of sleep, and the reduction of personal stress.  Also, staying on the defensive against the onslaught of environmental assaults like allergens, viruses and pollutants is an important strategy, too. I’ve also recently learned that incorporating yeast beta glucans into my daily wellness regimen is a specific, proven way to help support immune health. Read on to learn more about immune health, yeast beta glucans, and the natural ingredient, Wellmune®, which is used by various food, beverage and supplement brands to create immune-boosting consumer products.

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What are beta glucans?

Beta glucans are naturally occurring fibers found in the cell walls of cereals (like oats, barley and rye), bacteria, algae, and fungi (like yeast and mushrooms). Not all beta glucans are the same, however! Each type of beta glucan has a different molecular backbone and interacts with the body in distinct ways. For example, prior to learning about Wellmune, I had heard of beta glucans in oats and how they may help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol. But this is not the functionality of all beta glucans. Learn more about the different types of beta glucans HERE.

More about yeast beta glucans:

Yeast beta glucans come from, you guessed it – yeast (both baker’s and brewer’s yeast). Research on baker’s yeast beta glucans has provided well-substantiated evidence of their immune-supporting properties. Brewer’s yeast, along with other beta glucan sources, likely have some level of benefit for immune health, but the best choice in potency and efficacy has been clinically proven to be beta glucans from baker’s yeast.

What is Wellmune®?

Wellmune is an award-winning, proprietarily-sourced baker’s yeast beta glucan, highly-researched and clinically proven to help strengthen your immune system in tandem with a general healthy lifestyle.  It is used by various food, beverage and supplement companies as an immune-supporting ingredient in health and wellness products targeted to an array of ages and interest groups. Once in the body, Wellmune works to prime billions of immune cells and charge them with quickly seeking and destroying harmful bacteria and viruses. You can learn more specific details about how Wellmune works in this video:

Why I use health and sports nutrition products with Wellmune®:

Sports Recovery: As a lifelong competitive athlete, I take my workout recovery very seriously – especially now that I’m (ahem) a bit older. Research and my own anecdotal experience as a marathon and obstacle course racer have shown that hard training cycles can tear down your immune system, decreasing your ability to ward off environmental hazards. Pair being “worn down” with touching things in a germy gym, traveling to a race, having your sleep schedule disrupted, and exposure to the large crowds and, BOOM, you’ve picked up an upper respiratory infection or other bug and are laid up in bed. No training, no race, no podium. No way, that’s not for me!

Baker’s yeast beta glucans are not a “cure,” but rather a proactive measure to enhance your training recovery toolbox in addition to diet, sleep, stress-reduction (try yoga!) and other appropriate supplementation for your needs. I look at it as a very easy “better safe than sorry” measure I can take when in high training mode. I have used supplements with Wellmune and feel they helped me to optimize my training thanks to less downtime and improved recovery. This is proven clinically, you can read more HERE.

I have used a couple sports nutrition/recovery products that feature Wellmune, like Gold Standard BCAA Train + Recover from Optimum Nutrition. I already love Optimum Nutrition products (and have visited their HQ last year to learn more about their products), and am so happy they have added a Wellmune product to the lineup. You can see from the photo above how to spot if Wellmune is used in a health, wellness or sports nutrition product – it will be listed in the ingredients.

Healthy Aging: Also, despite my husband and I both being in great shape (I’m almost 53 and he is 58), the cruel joke of getting older is a less robust immune system. Of course, all our healthy lifestyle factors help make the best of what we’ve got – but it’s still in slow, steady decline. I don’t want either of us to be sick and miss the travelling and fitness things we enjoy together as active older adults! A recent Wellmune study showed that healthy adults, ages 50 to 70, may be protected against upper respiratory infections and/or experience a reduction in duration of symptoms while using Wellmune yeast beta glucan. You can learn more about this study and healthy aging with Wellmune HERE.

Wellmune is found in hundreds of other supplement, food and beverage products, for various age ranges from children to adults to seniors. You can check out the Wellmune product list HERE.

Important things to remember about Wellmune®:

• Immune health benefits other types of beta glucans can’t offer.
• Natural and safe for use daily in all age groups.
• Highly researched and clinically proven to be effective.
• Not a consumer product, but rather an ingredient to look for in many consumer brands.
• Patented and award-winning.
• Proactive way to step up your immune health game.
• Best used in conjunction with an overall healthy lifestyle.

Please reach out to me in the comments if you have any questions or check out Wellmune.com for a wealth of information about yeast beta glucans and immune health – and also their FAQ.