Best way to avoid colds

average_runner

Hi All,

So week 3 of training, long run in the rain yesterday, only started to rain half way through but now I have a cold.

So how do you avoid them? currently taking Wellman vitamins but be good to hear from others.

Murph_D

Colds and flu are caused by exposure to a virus, not be getting wet or cold. The best way to prevent is therefore to avoid coming in contact with the virus.

Avoiding coming into contact with others is difficult - public transport, school, work, crowds. Probably the best thing you can do is get a flu shot - got one myself last week. 20 euro, 10 mins, local pharmacy.

average_runner

Murph_D wrote: »

Colds and flu are caused by exposure to a virus, not be getting wet or cold. The best way to prevent is therefore to avoid coming in contact with the virus.

Avoiding coming into contact with others is difficult - public transport, school, work, crowds. Probably the best thing you can do is get a flu shot - got one myself last week. 20 euro, 10 mins, local pharmacy.

Got one of them before and had the worst winter ever.
Flu jab doesn't stop colds.

ariana`

I don't think there is a way to avoid them without hibernating from the world as Murph_D pointed out! But i think by eating well (all the colours of the rainbow and possibly supplementation), getting good quality sleep and minimizing stress you can build your immune system to help keep them at bay and/or recover from them quicker.

Swashbuckler

Don't have kids

ariana`

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Don't have kids

:pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac:

We'll have to get RQ to create a new award next year for the best single bit of advice given :P

average_runner

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Don't have kids

Too late, actually I will probably pass it to the kids:D

sideswipe

When my daughter started school 3 years ago i got hammered with colds as all sorts of bugs that I wouldn't normally be exposed to were brought into the house. Started using THESE 2 years ago combined with a multi vitamin and have had great success avoiding colds. Good hand washing practice and use of anti bac gel is also worthwhile IMO.

mloc123

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Don't have kids

I think if anything kids might help... after the initial 2-3 years of them boosting your immune system

Goose76

A good multivitamin helps me (gender specific ones I think are good)

Also I swear by those Tesco vitamin C effervescent tablets. Really fought off any colds coming on this winter.

Djoucer

There’s little evidence that vitamins prevent colds.

According to NHS; “There’s little evidence that supplements (such as vitamin c, zinc, echinacea or garlic) prevent colds or speed up recovery.”

read a good book about the secrets of people who don't get sick. There's no one panacea but what I did get was the following in terms of trying to stay cold free.
Vitamin c, Vitamin D, Garlic, Zinc are all good.

At the moment I'm taking L glutamine with some echinacea in it as well just in case. Even I f you get one, it may not last as long, get that Vitamin D in though, couple of thousand international units too!!!
we get feck of all of this time of year and it's actually converted into a steroid hormone, take it with something fatty too as it's fat soluble and stored in the liver.
also look after your gut flora, apparently it's like a second brain!!

surmise

Murph_D wrote: »

Colds and flu are caused by exposure to a virus, not be getting wet or cold...

I think lowering core temperature can temporarily compromise immune function (at first). The trick is to HTFU and keep doing it

So how does the cold affect our "stock" of immune cells? It appears to increase them, at least certain types of immune cells. Longterm coldwater immersion (3 times a week for 6 weeks) in healthy males was shown to increase lymphocyte numbers. This is in line with the fact that habitual winter swimmers have higher numbers of white blood cells compared to nonhabitual winter swimmers.
Additionally, another study demonstrated that cold exposure in a climatic chamber at 41°F (5°C) increased white blood cell numbers including cytotoxic T lymphocytes, which are a specialized type of immune cell that kills cancer cells. Males exposed to a cold (4°C) room for 30 minutes decreases their core body temperature by around 0.45°C and increased natural killer T cell number and activity. Natural T killer cells are another a type of
immune cell that kill viruses and tumor cells.

All of this may serve to bolster the anecdote shared often among communities of winter swimmers, which is that they experience fewer everyday cold and flu symptoms. In fact, an association has been demonstrated in epidemiological studies between winter swimming and a 40% decreased incidence of respiratory tract infections . More work needs to be done to better understand what the longterm effects of chronic cold exposure are on immune cell numbers and functions to state definitively what this all means, though.

foundmyfitness.com/reports/cold-stress.pdf

(won't let me hyperlink)

I would say, there's no way to stop getting a cold but as they say it's a virus but anything I personally recommend is only from good books I have ready and concerns strengthening your immune system really.


I would personally take cold showers every day, I never take a hot shower. cold showers are also non existent in Ireland from May to October even but in the colder Dec to March or April even, they're let's say, challenging!! the other half thinks its madness but you get used to it after a while. during storm emma I kept it up as well…:eek tough but I felt amazing after which is generally what I feel every time I have one.

it could even just be a psychological thing but feck it, it's good for you I think.

deisedude

rusty cole wrote: »

I would say, there's no way to stop getting a cold but as they say it's a virus but anything I personally recommend is only from good books I have ready and concerns strengthening your immune system really.


I would personally take cold showers every day, I never take a hot shower. cold showers are also non existent in Ireland from May to October even but in the colder Dec to March or April even, they're let's say, challenging!! the other half thinks its madness but you get used to it after a while. during storm emma I kept it up as well…:eek tough but I felt amazing after which is generally what I feel every time I have one.

it could even just be a psychological thing but feck it, it's good for you I think.

Will build your resilience for running too

Stark

average_runner wrote: »

Got one of them before and had the worst winter ever.
Flu jab doesn't stop colds.

Got it every year for the past few years with no issues. Doesn't stop colds but at least the flu is one less thing to worry about.

Best way to avoid cold is carry around hand sanitizer with you and use it regularly. Most infections are picked up after touching surfaces that someone else has sneezed on/touched after sneezing.

ford2600

rusty cole wrote: »

I would say, there's no way to stop getting a cold but as they say it's a virus but anything I personally recommend is only from good books I have ready and concerns strengthening your immune system really.


I would personally take cold showers every day, I never take a hot shower. cold showers are also non existent in Ireland from May to October even but in the colder Dec to March or April even, they're let's say, challenging!! the other half thinks its madness but you get used to it after a while. during storm emma I kept it up as well…:eek tough but I felt amazing after which is generally what I feel every time I have one.

it could even just be a psychological thing but feck it, it's good for you I think.

If you cold shower, you should enjoy this as it explains how your brain deals with thermal threats.

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2013/08/more-thoughts-on-cold-training-biology.html

I used to be part of an all year round sea swimming community and among them keep swimming was their message to keep healthy especially on days you felt run down.


I swam on Saturday(for first time in a month) and the "coldest" I felt was before I went swimming while walking barefoot in water and playing with my toddler son. When I finished my 10-15 min swim I drip dried in a fresh breeze and felt perfectly warm.


Acute exposure to the cold improves how we deal with it, it is probably as much in head as physiological adaptations.

No idea whether it prevents colds though!

IvoryTower

I never get sick, my brother often gets sick. He eats a lot healthier than me but has 3 kids and stressful job. I would exercise a lot more, drink a lot of water,1 kid and my job isn't stressful. I'm guessing stress, lack of sleep are key there. I would have thought diet but mine is pretty bad so im not sure how i get away with it. I was taking multivitamins before christmas and plan to start again but I wasn't getting colds before them anyway.

Lazare

Feck that.

Lazare

Not you Ivory Tower, was talking about the white walkers above you.

it's not too hard to get used to lazare, really. there's a school of though also that says it may be ggod to get out of your comfort zone too and into a cold shower.
It has wider implication into your psyche in general, which I believe actually.

The lad who was swimming the weekend above Ford2600 , how did your feet and hands feel?? that's the tough part I think.

Lazare

Oh I get it may be beneficial. No doubt. But, feck that.

Love me a steaming hot shower. One of my favourite parts of the day. Not turning it into a torture chamber.

what can be beneficial too is going from one to the other!
contrast showers are good too, really hot then really cold at 1minute intervals.

ford2600

rusty cole wrote: »

The lad who was swimming the weekend above Ford2600 , how did your feet and hands feel?? that's the tough part I think.

No problem with hands or feet. I haven't used gloves/overshoes on bike for a few years, even with the coldest weather.

Your brain doesn't really care about your feet or hands in terms of cold. Discomfort there is to motivate you to do something to protect a possible threat to core temperature

Swimming in Ireland in winter isn't that big a deal in terms of dealing with the cold. The premiership would be these hardy lads and lasses

https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2016/jan/07/cryophile-winter-swimmers-club-in-pictures

This guy would at the point end of things
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)67833-6/fulltext

I wonder does he get colds!

6run28

Picked up a few colds during training plans over the years and have found an extra 30 mins sleep at night really helps especially when you get into doing bigger mileage weeks. Not always possible of course!

walshb

Try to take as best care of your immune system as possible.

Regarding athletics. Don't run or train if the body is acting up and giving your clear enough signs that it would like to chill out and relax.

With running it all gets into the lungs and chest....

Although you can't catch a cold from the cold or rain, your body may be more receptive/enticing to catching it if you are in these environments, but it's the virus that gives the cold.

Washing hands is important and resting when you need to...

WayneEnterprise

+1 for echinacea as mentioned by a couple of posters above.

Used to routinely get bad colds and coughs until I started taking echinacea tablets daily.

goat2

average_runner wrote: »

Got one of them before and had the worst winter ever.
Flu jab doesn't stop colds.

there are many strains of flu, and the flu jab only cover some, it is like a lottery

RayCun

There's no real evidence for most of the things mentioned on this thread, eg echinacea.

People take a pill every day, they get sick anyway, and then tell themselves that they would have been sicker without the pill, or sick more often.
People take a pill when they get sick, get better a few days later, and tell themselves that taking the pill sped up their recovery.

People like to feel in control of their health. It's the basis of the placebo effect.

WayneEnterprise

RayCun wrote: »

There's no real evidence for most of the things mentioned on this thread, eg echinacea.

People take a pill every day, they get sick anyway, and then tell themselves that they would have been sicker without the pill, or sick more often.
People take a pill when they get sick, get better a few days later, and tell themselves that taking the pill sped up their recovery.

People like to feel in control of their health. It's the basis of the placebo effect.

True but if it works for you, it works for you. Doesn't matter if it's the pill or your mind that is delivering the benefit.

Djoucer

Of course it matters.

The vast amount of vitamin/supplements mentioned in this thread are a waste of money.

Particularly when mentioned in relation to colds.

Lazare

Eat well, sleep well and stay away from toddlers.

Everything else is snake oil.

WayneEnterprise

Djoucer wrote: »

Of course it matters.

The vast amount of vitamin/supplements mentioned in this thread are a waste of money.

Particularly when mentioned in relation to colds.

Don't agree - if the act of taking a multivitamin puts somebody in a mindset whereby it benefits their health, then it doesn't matter if it's placebo or not.

In relation to echinacea, I have definitely found a benefit personally which I don't believe to be placebo.

Stark

WayneEnterprise wrote: »

Don't agree - if the act of taking a multivitamin puts somebody in a mindset whereby it benefits their health, then it doesn't matter if it's placebo or not.

Multivitamin supplements can do as much harm as good (According to studies). And I doubt it puts most people in a mindset where it benefits their health, on the contrary it probably gives most people a false sense that they can eat crap and get away with it because they're supplementing vitamins.

In relation to echinacea, I have definitely found a benefit personally which I don't believe to be placebo.

That's kind of irrelevant. Humans are very bad at determining cause and effect from personal experimentation. The only way to know is with blinded trials and control groups.

Swashbuckler

goat2 wrote:

there are many strains of flu, and the flu jab only cover some, it is like a lottery

Had this debate with a buddy at work. It's effective 67% of the time. Not quite a lottery. I'll take those odds with pretty much no downside.

Murph_D

WayneEnterprise wrote: »

In relation to echinacea, I have definitely found a benefit personally which I don't believe to be placebo.

Yes, but. I suppose one of the goals of evidence-based enquiry is to base knowledge on general experience - the exact opposite of personal experience (sample of 1).

Dakotabigone

Garlic in ones diet is good for the immune system

IvoryTower

Dakotabigone wrote: »

Garlic in ones diet is good for the immune system

That would explain why I'm invincible

average_runner

IvoryTower wrote: »

That would explain why I'm invincible

It didnt save me:mad:

5 days later and I might get out tomorrow for an easy run:D

RebelButtMunch

Plenty of sleep

Candamir

goat2 wrote: »

there are many strains of flu, and the flu jab only cover some, it is like a lottery

A good bit better than a lottery to be fair. Every year 100’s of influenza reference centres send reports from their year round ‘flu surveillance to the WHO, who then collaborate with various world locations to advise on which strains should be included in their annual vaccine program. If I had that much help for the lotto I’d be taking my chances weekly.

Also, the placebo effect is very real - even if the actual drug/supplement is otherwise useless.

Limpy

I had a constant runny nose untill I got the flu jab. Has not been runny since November.

Candamir

Limpy wrote: »

I had a constant runny nose untill I got the flu jab. Has not been runny since November.

Perfect example of the placebo effect!!

mloc123

Candamir wrote: »

Perfect example of the placebo effect!!

The amount of people that confuse a head cold with the flu always amazes me.

average_runner

mloc123 wrote: »

The amount of people that confuse a head cold with the flu always amazes me.

Aye totally. When you have a flu you won't be able to get out of the bed for a starter!!

Lazare

'I have a bit of a flu'

average_runner

Lazare wrote: »

'I have a bit of a flu'

Hot whiskey will sort you out, if the first one doesn't work, then have more till it goes or till you feel happy:D

goat2

Dakotabigone wrote: »

Garlic in ones diet is good for the immune system

It is supposed to be antiviral, I do find it good to have curries during flu season, it clear the lungs, and has a warming effect, but garlic is good to have also

Bananaleaf

washing your hands frequently. Keep hydrated. Read once that we contract most colds/flus via our eyes, which we rub with dirty hands.

When I'm running a lot I take vitamins in the morning, then vitamins in the evening too. Sometimes between exercise and hydrating I felt like maybe I had weed out the morning vitamins by time evening came round. Having discussed this with my doc she said I was at worst having an expensive pee, but that if it worked for me there was no harm in it. Some might think it's all in my head, but I find it works for me.

I was also told once by a pharmacist that if you take anything long enough you will build up immunity to it also, so she recommended varying vitamins every 3months. I think she said a multivitamin for 3 months then switch to a zinc and vit c tablet.

yes Vitamin C and the likes are water soluble so you pee them out, Vitamin D, E and K say for example are oil soluble so you store them in the liver which is why too much can be toxic, though you'd need to be taking a shed load I think.

I've actually been taking L glutamine with some echinacea in the evening, not bad.

Stark

Bananaleaf wrote: »

I was also told once by a pharmacist that if you take anything long enough you will build up immunity to it also, so she recommended varying vitamins every 3months. I think she said a multivitamin for 3 months then switch to a zinc and vit c tablet.

That sounds like very suspect advice (the bit about building up immunity to anything). Are you sure this was a qualified pharmacist and not some "homeopathic" or "holistic" one?