Dreaded Man-Flu

abcjonesy

I contracted the dreaded man-flu sore throat, headache, sneezing, runny nose etc....

I'm not looking for any medical advice but just curiuos on peoples opinions on what nutrients the body may or may not scream out for. Would you eat or drink anything differently than your normal diet. I've heard sayings like "starve a fever, feed a cold" or people saying take loads of Vit C and lots of fluids etc.....

Sapsorrow

Sugar is the enemy (even in breads, jams, sauces etc) so cut that out 100% at least until you're completely over it, avoid fruit juices, try a vitamin C supplement till you're well over it, lots of fresh unprocessed fruit and veg, water (again not tea, coffee, pop drinks or fruit juices) and rest.

abcjonesy

thank you....... sugar has been the enemy for a while now on the weight loss quest so have been avoiding that a good bit bar in fresh fruit etc....

I have been drinking loads of tea with milk no sugar the last few days cause someone mentioned loads of hot fluids was good for the flu but i'll stick to water with the odd cup of tea.

Caoimhín

Why is sugar a problem?

Sapsorrow

Caoimhín wrote: »

Why is sugar a problem?

Lol the question should be why isn't sugar a problem theres so many reasons! In this case more than anything because it depresses the immune system.

g'em

khrystyna100 wrote: »

Lol the question should be why isn't sugar a problem theres so many reasons! In this case more than anything because it depresses the immune system.

That's a bit of a nutritional urban myth. There was one study done in the 70s that claimed that the immune system of volunteers in a lab that were fed sugar was weaker than those who had no sugar, but the study was very flawed and has since never been replicated.

A diet high in sugar can be associated with ill-health for a myriad of reasons, but I haven't seen anything about the actual properties of sugar itself that cause direct immuno-suppresive characteristics.

Sapsorrow

There hasn't been a lot of work done on it alright, I sometimes wonder whether this is as a result of conflicting interests regarding funding tbh.

In case you're interested I thought you might like to check these out (I think you referred to one of them already):

Bernstein J et al. Depression of lymphocyte transformation following oral glucose ingestion. Am J Clin Nutr 30:613, 1977

Sanchez A et al. Role of sugars in human neutrophilic phagocytosis. Am J Clin Nutr 26:1180-4, 1973

Nalder BN et al. Sensitivity of the immunological response to the nutritional status of rats. J Nutr 102(4):535-12, 1972

Definately an area I'd like to see more done on (Temple have you heard of anything more recent seeing as carbs are your particular interest?), but I still think sugars evil and best avoided at the best of times and in particular if someones run down.

corkcomp

I REALLY cant believe that a thread posted by a guy asking for advice on recovering from flu / cold is being turned into yet another sugar debate - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

op, lots of hot drinks containing lemon, honey and a little whiskey if your not driving! other than that, just give it a few days to clear ..

Sapsorrow

corkcomp wrote: »

I REALLY cant believe that a thread posted by a guy asking for advice on recovering from flu / cold is being turned into yet another sugar debate - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I'm sorry Corkcomp I won't do it again *smacks own hand*

Corkcomp for mod! we could do with another around here really

g'em

khrystyna100 wrote: »

There hasn't been a lot of work done on it alright, I sometimes wonder whether this is as a result of conflicting interests regarding funding tbh.

In case you're interested I thought you might like to check these out (I think you referred to one of them already):

Bernstein J et al. Depression of lymphocyte transformation following oral glucose ingestion. Am J Clin Nutr 30:613, 1977

Sanchez A et al. Role of sugars in human neutrophilic phagocytosis. Am J Clin Nutr 26:1180-4, 1973

Nalder BN et al. Sensitivity of the immunological response to the nutritional status of rats. J Nutr 102(4):535-12, 1972

Thanks khrystyna, yeah the one I referred to was the 1973 study. My only problem with these studies (the human ones anyway) is that they're lab-based isolation studies - the '73 one just gave a bunch of people in a lab sugar and then looked at how high the neutrophil (a type of white blood cell) count was following it. But that's only one aspect of the immune system and it didn't look at what the effect of that low neutrophil count was. From it though people deduced "OMG!! Sugar is so bad, it reduces your white blood cells OMG OMG!!" (I may be paraphrasing slightly ).

I had a look for something more recent than those studies and I came up completely empty - there doesn't seem to be been a larger-scale study done to either support or refute what those papers say.

I'm not saying that sugar is good either, not by a long shot, but in reference to the OP when you're feeling under the weather the primary concern is to keep your body hydrated and healthy and support your immune system as best you can. Plenty of Vitamin C, fresh fruit and vegetables, soothing hot drinks with a bit of honey (manuka if you can get your hands on it, it's got great antibacterial, antimicrobial, antiseptic, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antifungal properties all wrapped up in sugary heaven!!) and paracetamol to bring down a temperature is the usual advice for tackling bad colds and man-flu and it works.

As for your diet at this time - common sense holds true, eat whole foods and avoid junk to keep your energy levels up and give your body the best shot of recovery.

Sapsorrow

Thanks Gem great post! You've given me food for thought there!

BraziliaNZ

what is man-flu? some stupid name for a normal cold?

abcjonesy

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

what is man-flu? some stupid name for a normal cold?

yeh just a cold. A few people I'm friendly with were saying it to me and I thought it was a common joke-name for it.

BraziliaNZ

abcjonesy wrote: »

yeh just a cold. A few people I'm friendly with were saying it to me and I thought it was a common joke-name for it.

I always thought women were more likely to make a big deal out of an illness, they're out of work a lot more than the men where I work anyway!

Stella777

corkcomp wrote: »

I REALLY cant believe that a thread posted by a guy asking for advice on recovering from flu / cold is being turned into yet another sugar debate - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

op, lots of hot drinks containing lemon, honey and a little whiskey if your not driving! other than that, just give it a few days to clear ..

Seriously (rolling my eyes)
Some of the people on this board remind me of evangelicals!!!

Chicken soup FTW!! With as much cayenne pepper as you can stand.
Another thing that always helps me is gargling with very hot salt water...

lots of steamy showers...

and just normal, balanced meals..maybe cutting out milk because that can make congestion worse.

and, of course, stay very well hydrated!

Sapsorrow

Stella777 wrote: »

Seriously (rolling my eyes)
Some of the people on this board remind me of evangelicals!!!

No need to be so criticial, anyone posting here at the end of the day was only trying to help the OP get better sooner rather than later!
OP let us know when you're feeling better!

El_Dangeroso

Vitamin D, Vitamin D, Vitamin D. I really can't say it enough. Normalise vitamin D serum levels and you get less colds, along with possibly reducing your risk of cancer, heart-disease and diabetes. I've had one brief cold lasting 2 days, in the last 9 months, I normally get 3-4 long annoying colds per winter.

If you do get a cold then take Umckaloabo (no I have no idea how to pronounce it either), it's one of the few things that has been clinically shown to reduce the severity and duration of a cold.

Sapsorrow

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

If you do get a cold then take Umckaloabo (no I have no idea how to pronounce it either), it's one of the few things that has been clinically shown to reduce the severity and duration of a cold.

What on earth is that?
By the vitamin D logic then maybe calcium is important too like we spoke about before!

El_Dangeroso

khrystyna100 wrote: »

What on earth is that?
By the vitamin D logic then maybe calcium is important too like we spoke about before!

Good point! Probably magnesium too, makes sense that chicken soup made with bone broth is Jewish Penicillin.

Umckaloabo is a herb from Africa, this is the study:

http://www.explorejournal.com/article/S1550-8307(07)00333-3/abstract

It is just one study but it's a Double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial with a P value of 0.0001, doesn't get much better than that in terms of evidence.

Sapsorrow

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Good point! Probably magnesium too, makes sense that chicken soup made with bone broth is Jewish Penicillin.

Umckaloabo is a herb from Africa, this is the study:

http://www.explorejournal.com/article/S1550-8307(07)00333-3/abstract

It is just one study but it's a Double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial with a P value of 0.0001, doesn't get much better than that in terms of evidence.

Thought it sounded African, cheers for the link it's exciting stuff for us nutrition nerdlings! I've never heard of this one!
Bone marrow soup is great stuff alright but wouldn't be my cuppa tea now cold or no!

g'em

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Vitamin D, Vitamin D, Vitamin D. I really can't say it enough. Normalise vitamin D serum levels and you get less colds, along with possibly reducing your risk of cancer, heart-disease and diabetes.

That's a new one on me, thanks for that Temple

abcjonesy

khrystyna100 wrote: »

No need to be so criticial, anyone posting here at the end of the day was only trying to help the OP get better sooner rather than later!
OP let us know when you're feeling better!

many thanks for your concern khrystyna. i'm on the mend now bar being a bit bunged up. Just ate as normal and a couple of Lemsips. I know it was only the flu but have realised lately how important diet is on well being and recovering etc....So was interested on all your opions.I fear I could be turning into the nerdling also :D:D

abcjonesy

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Vitamin D, Vitamin D, Vitamin D. I really can't say it enough. Normalise vitamin D serum levels and you get less colds, along with possibly reducing your risk of cancer, heart-disease and diabetes. I've had one brief cold lasting 2 days, in the last 9 months, I normally get 3-4 long annoying colds per winter.

If you do get a cold then take Umckaloabo (no I have no idea how to pronounce it either), it's one of the few things that has been clinically shown to reduce the severity and duration of a cold.

thanks temple been reading up on supplements/vits for a while now after cleaning up the diet and I was thinking Vit D could be a good introduction along with fish oil and a multi vit? I will be searching this thread for Umckaloabo spelling if I get another cold.

abcjonesy

g'em wrote: »

Thanks khrystyna, yeah the one I referred to was the 1973 study. My only problem with these studies (the human ones anyway) is that they're lab-based isolation studies - the '73 one just gave a bunch of people in a lab sugar and then looked at how high the neutrophil (a type of white blood cell) count was following it. But that's only one aspect of the immune system and it didn't look at what the effect of that low neutrophil count was. From it though people deduced "OMG!! Sugar is so bad, it reduces your white blood cells OMG OMG!!" (I may be paraphrasing slightly ).

I had a look for something more recent than those studies and I came up completely empty - there doesn't seem to be been a larger-scale study done to either support or refute what those papers say.

I'm not saying that sugar is good either, not by a long shot, but in reference to the OP when you're feeling under the weather the primary concern is to keep your body hydrated and healthy and support your immune system as best you can. Plenty of Vitamin C, fresh fruit and vegetables, soothing hot drinks with a bit of honey (manuka if you can get your hands on it, it's got great antibacterial, antimicrobial, antiseptic, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antifungal properties all wrapped up in sugary heaven!!) and paracetamol to bring down a temperature is the usual advice for tackling bad colds and man-flu and it works.

As for your diet at this time - common sense holds true, eat whole foods and avoid junk to keep your energy levels up and give your body the best shot of recovery.

thanks g'em would you take this manuka for anything else?

on another note, BIG HUGE thanks for all the info in the stickies. Plenty of fresh friut, veg etc is the norm now. I've been eating like you and others have (manily you;) )advised in the stickies here and fitness forum and have shed about 3 stone, dropped from bout 17%-10% BF

Tried to do a workout last night thinking I was feeling grand-ish again but couldn't do a tap. Got half way into the deadlifts at start of my routine and felt like crap so just stretched and hit the shower. No energy at all.

g'em

abcjonesy wrote: »

thanks g'em would you take this manuka for anything else?

I'd use it in lieu of sugar sometimes - in porridge, or to sweeten up peppermint tea. I don't use it very regularly, but when I have a sweet craving a teaspoon hits the spot nicely

Manuka honey is quite expensive though, so if possible holdout until there's a special on it in any decent health food shop.

abcjonesy wrote:

on another note, BIG HUGE thanks for all the info in the stickies plenty of fresh friut, veg etc is the norm now I've been eating like you and others have (manily you;) )advised in the stickies here and fitness forum and have shed about 3 stone, dropped from bout 17%-10% BF

I'm delighted to hear it!! That's a huge, huge achievement, well done, and keep up the brilliant progress!

abcjonesy wrote:

Tried to do a workout last night thinking I was feeling grand-ish again but couldn't do a tap. Got half way into the deadlifts at start of my routine and felt like crap so just stretched and hit the shower. No energy at all.

Take it easy on yourself for a couple of days. We tend to underestimate the physical demands of being sick, and it's easy to overdo it (and push back your recovery another few days) so rest up, stay hydrated, and rest for teh next 48 hours. Get back into the gym with a vengeance on Monday with a 75% effort session.

Sapsorrow

abcjonesy wrote: »

I fear I could be turning into the nerdling also :D:D

join us.... join us.... *said in creepy vampirey voice*

El_Dangeroso

abcjonesy wrote: »

thanks temple been reading up on supplements/vits for a while now after cleaning up the diet and I was thinking Vit D could be a good introduction along with fish oil and a multi vit? I will be searching this thread for Umckaloabo spelling if I get another cold.

Just remember the supplements you get in health food shops in Ireland are less than useless. We need at least 5,000IU D3 at this latitude year round, no danger of overdosing under 10,000IU. 'Now' brand vitamin D sells at iherb.com for around 5 euro for four months supply, you'll never make a cheaper improvement to your health