This episode is devoted to immune health. I have brought Thomas Pennel back again today to talk about immune health and advise us on which supplements to take to boost our immunity or for acute support when we get sick. Three things that maximize immune function: Building a good gut barrier Building up metabolic reserves Removing things that overstimulate the immune system Guest Bio: Thomas Pennel is an Account Executive who has worked in the supplement and nutrition space for a company called Ortho Molecular Products. After receiving a degree in Integrative Biology from the University of Illinois, a little health scare with his now fiancé gave him his first interaction with functional medicine.  After seeing first-hand how functional medicine impacted her life, this drove him to seek out professional nutrition companies for the opportunity to work with providers and help shape patient care.  He has worked with over 1000 clinics across the Midwest which has included a wide array of practitioners, clinics, and pharmacies.  He has previously worked with practices across Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania and now resides in Iowa where he currently works with over 400 active practices. He uses this experience to help providers consult and bring functional medicine to their patients with a strong focus on improving clinical outcomes.  In this episode: Why it’s vital to purchase quality supplements from professional channels. (2:50) Where Ortho Molecular Products sources its products. (7:14) The testing Ortho Molecular Products does on all their raw materials. (8:15) How your immune timeline literally starts in the womb. (11:15) Supplements that will build a nutritional foundation for your immune system. (16:02) Why we need to supplement with Mitochondrial Complex, and how it works. (18:02) How the “power trio” (Acetyl L-Carnitine, Alpha Lipoic Acid, and Acetyl-Cysteine) works to maximize mitochondrial input and output. (19:15) How Mitochondrial Complex helps boost the immune system. (21:41) Why we need Vitamin D for our immune system. (23:10) The main ingredients in Immune Support. (28:48) How probiotics support the immune system. (33:56) What the ingredients in Viracid do for the immune system when we get sick. (45:10) Products that provide acute support for kids when they get sick. (48:50)   Quotes: “If you’re a patient who has ever been interested in immune system health or taking something for the immune system, this is probably the most important time ever to seek out professional nutrition. Because if we’re not doing professional nutrition at this point, we’re really kind of rolling the dice to see what’s left or what company has stepped up and just made products to make products.” “Your immune timeline is essentially a timeline of what created you. Because if you think about your immune system as not something that is just happening in this moment. It’s not my immune system today at 4 o’clock. It’s my immune system as it’s grown with me over the last twenty-something years. So this immune system starts from the day you’re born. Were you C-section? Were you vaginal delivery? That affects your microbiome. It affects the way your immune system begins to develop literally from the day you were born.” “Metabolic reserve is basically how much I have in my gas tank.” “If we are not able to optimally create ATP at the starting point, then we’re going to have problems at the finish line. As our bodies are looking to create energy or looking for energy to use, it’s just not going to be there. It just isn’t going to happen. So the reason I want to supplement Mitochondrial Complex is we want to give those mitochondria a fighting chance. We want to give those mitochondria all of the micro-nutrients that they could possibly need to keep themselves built and keep themselves healthy and happy.” “Quercetin is basically like zinc’s little friend because zinc doesn’t like to get into cells. Our cells don’t like to bring in zinc for