This is not an uncommon mindset, and it's exacerbated by the nutraceutical rules (championed by my favorite quack punching bag, Linus Pauling) that prevent the FDA from putting the kibosh on advertising catchphrases like "boost your immune system". https://twitter.com/TomHeartsTanks/status/1331473456748134401

Except in very rare cases, you do NOT want to boost your immune system.

I'm kinda busy today, so updates to this thread will be sporadic, but I'd like to address this issue with some data and science.

The issue is extremely relevant in the COVID pandemic. It also lies at the confluence of one of my intellectual avocations (the psychology of belief in nonsense and the intersection of pseudoscience and science) with my vocation: immunological drug development.

I'm going to run off to work for a bit, so for anyone reading this thread: before I return, ask yourself: "What do I *mean* by "boosting" my immune system?"

In your life, has more *always* been better?

Do you know enough about how immunity works to even gauge if more is better?

And if you have time, look up @CultExpert's definition of "thought stopping behavior".

As H. Beam Piper said in Cosmic Computer: "Always double check these things everybody knows. Nine times out of ten, they're not so."