Best way to avoid colds

average_runner · 14-01-2019 10:15am #1

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 · 14-01-2019 10:41am

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 · 14-01-2019 10:51am

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` · 14-01-2019 10:55am

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 · 14-01-2019 12:40pm

Don't have kids

ariana` · 14-01-2019 12:47pm

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 · 14-01-2019 1:08pm

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Don't have kids

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

sideswipe · 14-01-2019 2:05pm

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 · 14-01-2019 2:10pm

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 · 14-01-2019 2:18pm

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 · 14-01-2019 2:21pm

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.”

[Deleted User] · 14-01-2019 2:35pm

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 · 14-01-2019 4:44pm

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)

[Deleted User] · 14-01-2019 5:53pm

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 · 15-01-2019 1:05pm

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 · 15-01-2019 1:08pm

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 · 15-01-2019 1:40pm

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 · 15-01-2019 1:48pm

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 · 15-01-2019 1:49pm

Feck that.

Lazare · 15-01-2019 1:54pm

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

[Deleted User] · 15-01-2019 3:11pm

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 · 15-01-2019 3:16pm

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.

[Deleted User] · 15-01-2019 4:04pm

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 · 15-01-2019 4:50pm

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 · 15-01-2019 6:42pm

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 · 16-01-2019 3:59pm

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 · 17-01-2019 11:13am

+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 · 17-01-2019 11:17am

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 · 17-01-2019 11:50am

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 · 17-01-2019 12:07pm

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 · 17-01-2019 12:19pm

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.

Best way to avoid colds

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