ABSTRACT
Recently, consumers and consequently the food and dietary supplement industries have become very interested in products that maintain immune health. Probiotics, prebiotics, and nutrients such as vitamin E, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids are being added to products to modulate immune function. In fact, it was reported that 144 new foods or beverages with structure/function claims related to immune health were introduced in North America during 2009. ´is is in contrast to only nine new products with similar claims in 2006.1 Prior to marketing products using immunity claims, substantial supporting evidence must be available. ´ese data can be di²cult to obtain because structure/function claims must re ect maintenance of health in healthy individuals, where immune function may already be adequate to prevent potential illness. Consequently, human intervention studies examining maintenance of immune health frequently use infants or aged adults. ´ese are times during the life cycle when the immune system may be immature or immune function becomes dysregulated (i.e., immunosenescence).2-4
Obtaining scienti…c evidence to support immunity claims in healthy adults would be an easier task if biomarkers for optimal immune function were available.
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