Airborne is a vitamin supplement that was created by elementary school teacher Victoria Knight-McDowell in the 1990’s. She developed Airborne in an effort to reduce illness by providing a boost to the immune system with natural ingredients including a number of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants and electrolytes.

The vitamins and other natural ingredients within one tablet of Airborne include Vitamins A, C, E and B along with Zinc, Manganese, Potassium, Sodium and Magnesium. Herbal ingredients include Echinacea, ginger and Forsythia.

Airborne is available in tablet form and is used by dropping one in a glass of water. The tablet effervesces and the consumer is able to drink his or her vitamins as opposed to swallowing pills. Airborne is available in a variety of flavors and even comes in a convenient on-the-go packet. This packet contains the same vitamins and minerals in powder form.

The recommended dosage of Airborne is one packet per day although it has been suggested that it can be used up to three times in 24 hours in the case of illness. However, it is possible for the consumer to experience side effects from ingesting a toxic level of vitamins and, therefore, should not use this product more than once a day without consulting a physician.

Airborne has not been approved by the FDA and has been subject to a number of lawsuits during 2008 regarding its ability to actually prevent or lessen illness such as the common cold. There were also claims that Airborne creator Knight-McDowell had falsely claimed the product’s ability to reduce or prevent illnesses as proven in lab studies.

Whether or not Airborne and similar products may prevent or reduce the severity and length of a cold or flu have been under investigation. The FDA has found little to no evidence that herbs like Echinacea or Vitamin C have any impact on illness. Zinc has been shown to have some effect on illness, but the dosage included in a tablet of Airborne is not considered to be enough to do so.

There are no reported side effects when using this product. However, overuse of the product can lead to a toxic level of vitamins within a person’s body. Symptoms of toxicity include kidney failure, nausea, vomiting, altered mental status, insomnia, headache, muscle pain and weakness.