3 week plan to boost immune system?

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geebusuk
geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Looking for an idea of some decently proven* studies to improve my immune system over the next 3 weeks.

Eat a varied diet with lots of fruit and veg would be a start.
(Sorry haven't logged for a while - current staple carb is butternut squash/carrot mix and I do eat a variety of fruit.)

*As per scientific studies, rather than clickbait websites.

Why:
Every year after Glastonbury festival I ALWAYS end up with a stinking cold.

Not too surprising.
Last year I didn't abuse myself too much, stayed fairly warm, didn't share drinks and weren't in many packed crowds.

Ok, it's still a terrible environment and you're highly likely to catch something - but at least better than when I used to go to Reading festival, get really hot in mosh pits (banging around with other people, often squeezed together in a very hot sweaty environment), then walk back to the tent with my t-shirt off to cool down.
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Replies

  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    Thanks; and yes, I suppose it's more a question of "what can I do to ensure my immune system is working as well as it can reasonably be".

    Last couple of years I've avoided taking offered drinks - when they've been around 10 random people it's asking for trouble. Though was with the GF who did have some - single now, so that might help.

    I thought being overly cold would mean your body didn't do so well at fighting off anything you might have just picked up, but could just be another common myth.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    :huh:
  • ugofatcat
    ugofatcat Posts: 385 Member
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    Get at least 8 hours of sleep at night.

    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/beyond-memory-the-benefits-of-sleep/

    This is a phenomenal article from Scientific American. Unfortunately if you don't have a subscription you won't be able to read it.

    In one study the article talked about, researchers gave a group of young men a vaccine. They let half the group get 8 hours of sleep and deprived the other group got 4-6 hours of sleep over the next few weeks. The fully rested group had 97% more antibodies from the vaccine then the sleep deprived group. In another study they looked at blood sugars of a group, deprived half of them of sleep, then retested them. The sleep deprived groups blood sugar rose to the point were some of them prediabetic. Then they let them get adequate sleep for several months and retested them. Their blood sugars improved to normal.
  • ugofatcat
    ugofatcat Posts: 385 Member
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    Also from my own experience. Where I used to work, every single of my coworkers ended up with a cold and had to miss a few days of work. I get 8 hours of sleep and was the only one who didn't even get the least bit sick. A few months later I started waking up early to study for a class I was taking. Within a few weeks I started getting sick. Stopped waking up early and made myself sleep 10 hours a night. I was able to throw my cold without missing any work, then went back to sleeping 8-7 hours.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    Your immune system is built up within the first 18 months and that's it. You can artificially stimulate this via vaccination, but that is virus specific.

    Increase of antioxidants, tannins, and phytochemicals is a sound medical strategy, but you're not going to find much reproducible clinical data on this as few studies have been proven to be effective. There are simply too many variables.
  • ccsernica
    ccsernica Posts: 1,040 Member
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    geebusuk wrote: »
    I thought being overly cold would mean your body didn't do so well at fighting off anything you might have just picked up, but could just be another common myth.

    It is. The reason we have a flu season in the winter may be from a combination of factors, but it seems to be primarily because the virus does better in a cool, dry environment: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/health/research/05flu.html

    As others have said, getting enough sleep can also help.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    Wear a VO2 mask and pretend you're cool :D
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Get a flu shot ? This year is my 6th year of getting a flu shot, and i haven't had so much as a sniffle in that time.
  • Macy9336
    Macy9336 Posts: 694 Member
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    I'd always take a supply of anti bac wipes, baby wipes and hand sanitiser to festivals. I'd also make sure to shower every day even if I had to build the shower myself and use two gallon jugs ( one for my hair and one for rest of me...I'm a girl with long hair a guy could get away with a single gallon jug I am sure). I never got sick. I'd use anti bac wipes and then hand sanitiser after every visit to porta John and before eating or drinking...heck I'd wipe off the top of a drink. I'd run myself down with baby wipes every night before going to sleep ( hear you on the mosh pits) and shower every morning. It is worthwhile to ensure you get enough vit c every day and stay hydrated. Alcohol will depress immune system so it's best to be sober at least 25% of the time.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    Christine_72 wrote: »
    Get a flu shot ? This year is my 6th year of getting a flu shot, and i haven't had so much as a sniffle in that time.

    Bam! @Christine_72 We are twins! I was going to say that, and I've been getting the flu shot the same amount of time.

    Slight clarification: I've been in contact with people with severe colds/flu and a short while after I've had a short bout of sniffles, but I swear I can feel my body fighting the virus, and I'm totally fine in only a couple of hours.

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,983 Member
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    The flu vaccine will stop or at least minimise influenza - it will not stop you getting common colds or any other viruses.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited June 2017
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    Mom (a doctor) used to tell us that garlic helps you get sick less often, and if you do get sick it could make it feel more tolerable than it would have been without. Not sure if there is any truth to that.

    ETA: you made me curious so I looked into it, and apparently there is something to it, but you need to eat it raw, and wait a bit after crushing/chopping it to activate the active ingredient. Not sure how it would measure up to a supplement, which may contain more active ingredient than is possible to consume in garlic form.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11697022
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    The flu vaccine will stop or at least minimise influenza - it will not stop you getting common colds or any other viruses.

    And just a few strains of influenza at that.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    OP, you and others have already offered some good suggestions. Here's one more - at the first sign of a cold or feeling run down I take Source Naturals, Wellness Formula, Herbal Defense Complex, which is really good at nipping it in the bud. I rarely have colds, and the last one was Nov 2015, after going to my nephews' school play, when I was already run down from a very bad case of poison ivy.

    Here are some dietary factors to consider: http://doctormurray.com/low-immune-function/
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    The flu vaccine will stop or at least minimise influenza - it will not stop you getting common colds or any other viruses.

    and it only protects against the previous years strains of flu so you can still get the flu.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    I used to be sick all the time when I was younger, now that I get more sleep,am more active,wash my hands frequently and take my vitamins(not sure if they help or not). I havent had the flu since 2003(I dont get flu shots either as they make me sick/I have a bad reaction to it). and I have had one cold in that time frame and it was a slight cold nothing that knocked me down to where I had to spend it in bed. I have heard that elderberry syrup can boost immune system and shorten the duration and effects of colds and flu.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,983 Member
    edited June 2017
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    paperpudding wrote: »
    The flu vaccine will stop or at least minimise influenza - it will not stop you getting common colds or any other viruses.

    And just a few strains of influenza at that.

    Yes, the main ones.
    A few strains cause nearly all of the influenza cases so preventing those is what matters, not so much preventing the other strains that are not prevalent.

  • Macy9336
    Macy9336 Posts: 694 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    paperpudding wrote: »
    The flu vaccine will stop or at least minimise influenza - it will not stop you getting common colds or any other viruses.

    And just a few strains of influenza at that.

    Yes, the main ones.
    A few strains cause nearly all of the influenza cases so preventing those is what matters, not so much preventing the other strains that are not prevalent.

    While it's true that most flu cases are caused by a few strains, the vaccine doesn't protect against a few "strains" it only protects against a few "species" of the virus. Unfortunately, they have found in scientific studies that vaccination against a virus actually increases your chance of catching a virus within same strain versus an unvaccinated person. So there is a negative immunity factor from getting vaccinated. You are protected against three or four species of the virus, but you have higher risk of catching other viruses within same strain. There are also close to a half million species of flu viruses that have been identified and isolated ( last i looked).

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