Herbal blend to boost immunity

Insure Your Health, producer of Cran-max, has announced the launch of its latest product Anti-max, a blend of elderberry, green tea, ginger and nigella sativa​, designed to boost the immune system.

The company highlights recent research on the immune boosting, anti-viral powers of elderberry. A study performed by Dr Gerhard Rechkemmer, director of Germany's Bundesforschungsanstalt research centre for food, found that elderberry anthocyanins enhance immune function by boosting the production of cytokines, proteins acting as messengers in the immune system to help regulate immune response. He also found that these anthocyanins have more antioxidant capacity than either vitamin E or vitamin C.

Other properties of the Anti-max supplement cited by the company include the antioxidant attributes of green tea, the anti-inflammatory traits of ginger and the extra boost to the immune system provided by the nigella sativa​ extract.

The product is currently available in encapsulated or bottled form and further applications are also being considered. Insure Your Health says it now has the technology to provide Anti-max in the form of an 'immune bar' which as Dana Lawrence Forrar, operations manager at the firm told NutraIngredients.com, "could be rather more interesting then simply popping a pill"​.

One of the key components in Anti-max, according to Forrar, is the use of the Bio-shield technology which delivers the active ingredients through the stomach acids without deterioration, allowing the properties to be absorbed directly into the blood stream. He adds that the body then cleverly knows precisely where to send each component in order to maximise the benefit of each individual property.

The company says that it is this increase in bio-activity that has been responsible for the popularity of all of the Max products​. These include Cran-max, its flagship product derived from cranberries, Blue-max and Eye-max among others.

The new product, developed by Cape Cod Biolab, is exclusively licensed to Insure Your Health, which is currently looking for distributors. Discussions are underway, with the Buckton Scott Group as a possible partner in Europe, according to Forrar.