what does it mean for something to "support immune health"?

It has pom-poms and does a little cheer from the sidelines. That makes me feel totally supported.

Also, claims like "it has extracts from 17 kinds of mushrooms!" always make me roll my eyes a little. Okaaaaaaay, that sounds like a lot of mushrooms. Are more mushrooms better? Better at doing what?

To make the cheerleader pyramid at halftime. You just can't do that with only one.

Serious question:

But I'm generally suspicious of products which are forbidden by the FDA from making specific medical claims.

Like vitamins? (Some people do think vitamins are sketchy; that's not a snarky question. I'm just curious where vitamins fall on your snake-oil-ometer. Because vitamins are also not allowed to claim more than vague statements about the structure/function of the body [i.e., improves sleep, supports healthy joints, etc.]. Anything that claims to cure/prevent an illness would be considered a drug.)

Like vitamins?

I think in most cases vitamins are a waste of money. In other cases they're potentially dangerous - the really sketchy "research" out there that recommends megadosing in order to cure cancer, for example.

And then there's the underlying problem of uneven manufacturing standards - I made my OB write me a prescription for my prenatal vitamins so that I could be sure I was getting the amounts specific in each pill. Surveys of dietary supplements (including vitamins) have found vast discrepancies between the doses on the label and what's actually in each pill. (See what happened to Gary Null, for example.)

Like vitamins?

I think in most cases vitamins are a waste of money.

Fair enough. Then I think an explanation of mushrooms' immune-strengthening effect would be a waste of your time and mine.

This article from Science-Based Medicine pretty much sums up my feelings on vitamins.

I think an explanation of mushrooms' immune-strengthening effect would be a waste of your time and mine.

Wow, um. Okay. I'll do my own research and keep my questions out of this thread. Sorry.

Wow, um. Okay. I'll do my own research and keep my questions out of this thread. Sorry.

Jess, your original question didn't sound like just a question; it sounded like, "I don't believe this stuff; why would you take it?" When you include phrases like "roll my eyes" and "generally suspicious," that doesn't come across to me as a neutral question. And I don't really feel the need to defend something that you're already disinclined to accept as effective. That's not an irrational response on my part; it's a practical one. Saves everybody time.

You're right, I don't believe in this stuff. However, I'm willing to listen to any evidence that's put in front of me and possibly change my mind. If you'd rather not engage, that's fine, but my question was a genuine one. If immune-support supplements really work, I would like to know how they do it. But clearly this thread is not the place to ask that question.

But clearly this thread is not the place to ask that question.

Given that more people than the 2 of us post in this thread, I think that's a faulty assumption.

I have mixed feelings about supplements. I'm generally a very committed 'prove it with an article in a peer-reviewed journal' type, especially where my money is concerned. The humanist/atheist/rationalist movement here (UK) has had some very convincing campaigns around the pointlessness of homeopathy and other alternative treatments - in terms of evidence under double-blind trials, at least. Ben Goldacre's 'Bad Science' is a very funny contribution to the debate [link] . All of that said, I take vitamins (especially vitamin B), fish oils and feverfew. I've tried a lot of other things, and these are supplements that actually seem to help me. The vitamins and fish oils were suggested by my consultant and GP (to encourage energy and help my joints), but the feverfew was a suggestion from an entirely un-medically-trained friend who said they helped with her migraines. I'm willing to try things that make a difference. I quickly move on from things that have no observable effect. I know you have to take the placebo effect into account, but even if that's all it is, it's entirely worth the £10 or so per month I spend on supplements. I'd still like to see more evidence and testing of alternative medicine under double-blind trials.

I'm curious about it myself.