Building an immunity

[Kit R.]

I know a lot of us suffer from colds, flus and other potentially threatening Illnesses during the year. So how can you fix this? well I used to be susceptible to all sorts of dodgy strains of this and that until I did the following.

1. Take vitamin C (I take one major tablet a day): Vitamin C boosts your metabolism

2. Drink atleast 1 gallon of water a day (trust me, it seems hard, at first it will be but you can do it) This will flush out toxins in your system. (NOTE: You will pee... A LOT)

3. Volunteer at a children's museum. If you don't have one near by then any sort of Museum or aquarium, but it has to be a place with a lot of foot traffic and people of all ages. This insures that YOU get contact with kids and adults who are ill, recovering from something or may be catching, this will allow your body to create anti-bodies and slowly defeat that illness. Trust me this is a MAJOR one. This is the one thing I attribute to my super Immune system

4. Get 8 - 10 hours of sleep.

5. Start exercising. Nothing major, just pick up a step counter and maybe start with 5000 steps a day.

6. If you can, find a Hot tub or a sauna, this causes you to sweat, opening up your pours and allowing you to cleanse yourself of toxins.

These are just a few things. that may help you on your way!

Please comment! and submit any other Idea's you may have!

-Josh

[Lynne]

Garlic will also boost your metabolism. Oh, and it's spelled "pores" (that's one that spellchecks won't pick up).

[Guest Twye]

Vitamin E (found in seeds and vegetable oils) also helps, as well as zinc (found in various meats and fish).

[krazykat]

Take euthenasia... i mean echinacea pills (sorry, bad joke i heard once). At the end of the day if you eat healthily and take care of yourself then you should avoid picking up too many bugs, but don't forget that the reason that the common cold exists is actually to boost your immune system. If you were never ill then your immune system would start attacking more innocuous things, and although for some people that might mean that they develop hayfever, there are other more serious autoimmune problems, so don't go overboard with the germ prevention.

[The Sneezster]

What about those of us who wish we caught more colds?

[Trillium]

What about those of us who wish we caught more colds?

Then do the exact opposite of what he's proposing! Or, you could simply fly -- there are germs galore on airplanes and (especially) in airports. Every time I fly, every single stinkin' time, I get sick (which for me is a pain in the @$.

I think he makes good points. Other than after flights, the times when I've caught colds were times when I was stressed, sleeping and eating poorly (not eating garlic, which I LOVE), not exercising, not taking my vitamins, etc.

[Jemmabean]

Yeah... if you'd like to catch MORE colds, then I would recommend* the following:

1) Visit public places a lot. Touch door handles, tables, chairs, books in the library, newspaper stands... anything that gets touched a lot.

2) If you see someone cover a sneeze, run over and introduce yourself (naturally shaking their hand in the process).

3) Drink alcohol. Lots of it. Oh, and smoking doesn't hurt, either.

4) Don't sleep. Sleep boosts your immune system, and actually, not sleeping for a full 48 hours can often spur on an illness if you've got the germs but not the symptoms yet.

5) Don't take vitamin supplements, or eat vegetables. Make sure most of your calorie intake is made up of useless carbs - the key is to take in as little nutritution as possible without starving yourself.

6) Stress out. If you've got something that you can worry about, then do it. If you don't, then make some drama for yourself. Break up with your SO, start a fight with your closest friend, kill the family dog - anything that'll cause some major, serious worry and stress. It's WAY easier to get sick if you're stressed out.

7) Go for long walks in the rain without an umbrella. Ensure you stay damp and cold as often as possible.

That's about all I can think of.

* Please, please, please, PLEASE, for the love of freaking GOD do NOT DO THESE THINGS. YES they actually are likely to help you catch a cold, but even doing a couple of those things could be SERIOUSLY detrimental to your health, and doing all of them in concert might land you in the hospital. So. Tongue firmly implanted in cheek? Good! :D

[Guest Twye]

If you want to catch a cold, just go on a time machine and turn into an eleven year old. For some reason, everyone gets sick 5+ times during the year they're eleven.

But anyway, if you want to boost your immune system, just take a flu shot. If you can get a lollipop from it, even better!

[Trillium]

Yeah... if you'd like to catch MORE colds, then I would recommend* the following:

1) Visit public places a lot. Touch door handles, tables, chairs, books in the library, newspaper stands... anything that gets touched a lot.

2) If you see someone cover a sneeze, run over and introduce yourself (naturally shaking their hand in the process).

Add to (1) -- grocery cart handles are also great carriers of cold viruses.

And after you do either (1) or (2) above, touch your eyes and/or nose to ensure that the cold virus quickly gets to the right place to infect you.

(As TYS said, tongue in cheek!)

[KawaiiKitty]

6) Stress out. If you've got something that you can worry about, then do it. If you don't, then make some drama for yourself. Break up with your SO, start a fight with your closest friend, kill the family dog - anything that'll cause some major, serious worry and stress. It's WAY easier to get sick if you're stressed out.

"Sorry Fido, but I have to sacrifice you for the good of my fetish. I need to stress so I can sneeze. You understand, right?"

Man, that just about KILLED me!

But anyway, to the OP...you have some very good points there. Your number three is a very good one...there seems to be a huge emphasis on "Aaah, disinfect everything, germs are everywhere and they're bad, avoid them at all costs!" these days, but I've always maintained that SOME exposure to the nasties helps us get sick LESS because we strengthen our immune system that way.

And the sleep tip is great, all the times I ever get sick is when I've been slacking on sleep.

[krazykat]

3. Volunteer at a children's museum. If you don't have one near by then any sort of Museum or aquarium, but it has to be a place with a lot of foot traffic and people of all ages. This insures that YOU get contact with kids and adults who are ill, recovering from something or may be catching, this will allow your body to create anti-bodies and slowly defeat that illness. Trust me this is a MAJOR one. This is the one thing I attribute to my super Immune system

For those of you who want to catch colds the opposite of this is true. Every med student that i have know has always come down with a series of colds when they start to do their pediatrics rotations, and i have a job that puts me into contact with school pupils during the cold and flu season and without fail as soon as i go into schools for the first week i end up infected... so yes in the long term volunteering to work with kids will increase your immunity, but in the short term it will always make you ill. Oh, and the other place i am guaranteed to catch a cold... freshers week at university, lots of stressed out people from different countries and environments sharing their germs, is always bound to happen.

[bballgirl86]

thanks for the tid-bits.... i m looking to catch a cold for my SO for the 1st time sometime soon...

although i just started working at a hospital, and NOTHING! so not fair!

my only worry is my SO thinks i have a super powered immune system cuz i havent gotten sick in over

a year! well i guess i m due for a doosie then huh? he will not know wwhat to do with himself!

I CAN'T WAIT!

[doggo]

Oh dear, poor Fido!!! :blushing:

Ok. Now we have the basics down -

so how to catch NICE colds? And how to make others catch them???