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How to stay healthy during cold and flu season

S

Scolleen

Member
Messages
19
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Cold and flu season is right around the corner, so what are your favorite things to boost up your immune system?
Always looking for new tips and tricks :)
 
1. Keep the fuel clean - no processed food

2. Vit C daily

3. Good quality Essential Fatty Acids (EPA/dha)

4. Plenty of good Omega 3, 6, 9 in the right balance (tablespoon of chia and 1 of flax) , both milled and pref organic

5. Good quality high concentration Vit D (5000/10,0000 IU)
 
I have not had a cold or the flue in over 15 years... Except for one time when I was in contact with a person that had arrived from another country with a cold... And I have not taken any flue shots...

And the reason for this is because I do not pay particular attention to washing my hands as often as others... If you are not exposed to germs regularly... Your immune System is not Strong enough to keep you free from colds and the flue... And so the pharmacists make money off of people by giving them the flue shot... Which is nothing more than a small dose of the germs that cause the flue...
 
No extra supplements, just plenty of fruit & veg and getting out in the fresh air
 
I agree with @KevinPotts on the whole but check that vitamin d is safe for you I have high serum calcium levels and vitamin d is not safe for me to take
CAROL
 
Continuing to exercise in the cold weather prevents me from getting colds/flu during the autumn/winter months. I cycle to work and back every working day in all weathers/temperatures and the fresh air really helps.

The only time I've had a cold / flu since T1 diagnosis was last Xmas when I was on holiday and not doing much. It was a nightmare to control BS during this illness, a big incentive to continue cold weather exercising.
 
carty said:
I agree with @KevinPotts on the whole but check that vitamin d is safe for you I have high serum calcium levels and vitamin d is not safe for me to take
CAROL
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Good point. There is a superb video about vit D linked via this site, given by the Irish engineer. His name and the link escape me at the moment, but it was outstanding:)
 
I have found that I catch colds/flu less often if I don't have fizzy drinks (Diet or sugary).

I also wash my hands much more than I used to, particularly after going to places like the supermarket and this has helped immensely. I read that this was one of the things the GB cycling team did to improve their performance too. The less colds they caught, the more training they could do as they weren't hampered by frequent illnesses.
 
I hardly get any viruses nowadays. I attribute this to:
- no longer working in a sealed, badly ventilated, over heated office
- no longer working amongst peple who have school age children (they spread germs ;) )
- washing my hands properly after touching public door handles, etc.
- not touching my face after touching public door handles, etc.
- daily dog walks in most weathers.

The worst time for colds, bugs and viruses was when i worked in a university. The students used to arrive from all over the country, infect each other and the staff, further lower their immune systems with booze, drugs, late nights and guilt at not working hard enough, then swap all the viruses back again.

Both of my last viruses were brought into the house by Mr B, who picked them up from his work.
 
I haven't had flu in my whole life, and haven't had a cold for at least 20 years, probably longer. I have never taken any supplements and am not a great fruit or veggie eater. I have always eaten a lot of meat and dairy, and salmon. I never use public transport and I live in a semi rural market town with plenty of countryside around me.

Just over 3 years ago I was going through chemotherapy, which lowered my immune system down to almost nil. I put a hand sanitiser in the front porch for visitors to use, and if anyone was sniffing, coughing, sneezing I immediately used Vicks First Defence. Whether that had any effect or not I have no idea, but I remained healthy throughout. (I did drink a lot of fresh orange juice and cranberry juice, so that may have helped. Of course, as diabetics we shouldn't be doing that. (I wasn't diabetic then)

I think it is much easier for people that don't work to avoid colds and flu. I would imagine teachers, nurses, doctors, office and factory workers are very prone to them. Airplanes aren't a good place to be, either!
 
My wife is a nurse and i see a lot of people in my job so i guess i get in contact with a lot of germs. Whenever someone near me is sick i take loads of zinc, it seems to do the trick. For the rest it's just eating healthy and in the flu period i wash my hands more often especially when i'm about to eat with them.
 
Lots of great advice in this thread - one thing I didn't notice and is very important - good quality sleeps if you're one of the lucky ones.
 
Brunneria said:
I hardly get any viruses nowadays. I attribute this to:
- no longer working in a sealed, badly ventilated, over heated office
- no longer working amongst peple who have school age children (they spread germs ;) )
- washing my hands properly after touching public door handles, etc.
- not touching my face after touching public door handles, etc.
- daily dog walks in most weathers.

The worst time for colds, bugs and viruses was when i worked in a university. The students used to arrive from all over the country, infect each other and the staff, further lower their immune systems with booze, drugs, late nights and guilt at not working hard enough, then swap all the viruses back again.

Both of my last viruses were brought into the house by Mr B, who picked them up from his work.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I work in a doctors office so there is always stuff going around from patients and or staff. But I do practice washing hands thoroughly, no face touching and anti-bacterial gel is my friend. I also take daily vitamins and during the cold season I add an emergency drink (Vitamin C) to boot me up as well.

I am pretty healthy but was just curious what everyone else does. :)
 
Bluetit1802 said:
I haven't had flu in my whole life, and haven't had a cold for at least 20 years, probably longer. I have never taken any supplements and am not a great fruit or veggie eater. I have always eaten a lot of meat and dairy, and salmon. I never use public transport and I live in a semi rural market town with plenty of countryside around me.

Just over 3 years ago I was going through chemotherapy, which lowered my immune system down to almost nil. I put a hand sanitiser in the front porch for visitors to use, and if anyone was sniffing, coughing, sneezing I immediately used Vicks First Defence. Whether that had any effect or not I have no idea, but I remained healthy throughout. (I did drink a lot of fresh orange juice and cranberry juice, so that may have helped. Of course, as diabetics we shouldn't be doing that. (I wasn't diabetic then)

I think it is much easier for people that don't work to avoid colds and flu. I would imagine teachers, nurses, doctors, office and factory workers are very prone to them. Airplanes aren't a good place to be, either!
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@Bluetit1802 Thank you for the advice! I will have to try Vicks First Defence. I work in a doctors office and am actually more healthier than most of my work mates, even with a weakened immune system lol. But I was just curious what others do and I am always looking for new tips and tricks. Thank you again!
 
When I worked in the NHS, seeing people at close range, for a couple of years, post-graduation, I caught a few colds, but thereafter I just got (and still get) very few. I reckoned I'd had them all. OK, that's an over dramatisation of it, but as a child I was quite sickly, and had pneumonia at 4 (everyone say "Aaaaaaaawwwwwww"), so I had clearly built up a lot of antibodies over the years and got efficient at calling up anything useful to help me out.

I still get very few colds (can't actually think of the most recent one I had), but I do spend much of the winter overseas, in the heat, these days.
 
Fresh air. Outdoors, preferably away from crowds. In the house, windows open at least for a few hours each day. Keep exercising, whatever the weather. Hand washing, frequently. Lots of spicy food. Garlic daily. (Enough garlic stops people getting too close with their germs). :D
 
Pipp said:
Fresh air. Outdoors, preferably away from crowds. In the house, windows open at least for a few hours each day. Keep exercising, whatever the weather. Hand washing, frequently. Lots of spicy food. Garlic daily. (Enough garlic stops people getting too close with their germs). :D
Click to expand...

I forgot the open windows in my post above.. My bedroom and office windows are open 24/7 apart from when we are on holiday, and the downstairs windows are open during the day most of the time. Hubby complains we are heating the whole street but I care not. Fresh air is very important, especially in the bedroom overnight.
 
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