Half joking in the title, but honestly. Does vit C actually do jack shit for your immune system? I eat my fruits and veggies, I take an airborne tablet here and there, and still I get hit with the boogers of death. Not only that, but I’m a big nerd who cooks healthy meals at home half the time, works out 2-3 times a week, I wash my hands often and clean/sanitize things regularly…and yet I get sick at least 3-4 times a year. It just doesn’t make any damn sense.
Is my immune system just garbage? Or does anxiety really suppress it and make you more susceptible to illness? Maybe that has something to do with it…
Vitamin C is good for you, definitely helps your immune system. But the idea that something good must be better if you take more is false here. You just piss it out and vitamin C is pretty abundant is and easily attainable through food.
I sleep ok. I average about 7 hours. I go to the gym twice a week and do small body weight things at home one or two times each week, plus all the walking that’s customary to the Taipei lifestyle.
I follow all the rules, I really do. I just don’t get it. Should I do more cardio? I hate cardio so very much…
Don’t use hand sanitizer so much. Soap and water is better. Some hand sanitizers will make the bacteria more resistant.
Another one is to give blood regularly, I don’t have any research to back it up but I believe it helps. Your body replacing blood surely is a good thing. Lots of general health benefits of giving blood.
How much meat do you eat? I notice people who don’t eat much meat or vegetarians get sick more often. I’m guessing from iron deficiency, which is important for blood and immunity. Lots of non meat eaters are basically close to or are anemic and don’t even know it thinking they’re healthy.
To process vitamin C you need selenium and other stuff which work together. How together is still debatable. But in general terms to prevent colds/boost the inmune system you need a complete set of supplements in terms of vitamin C plus selenium and k2 and …
Moreover, you may need over a certain amount, which you may not be actually getting. This may be problematic if your body is not absorbing nutrients properly. Or if you are not having enough.
For example, I need extra supplements as my heart medication affects absorption. Digestive complications also hinder proper processing.
BTW constant stress modifies your brain and DNA structures.
Without Vitamin C, you’ll end up with scurvy. So yes, you need it. The whole “mega-doses of Vitamin C” thing is unfounded, but at least too much Vitamin C won’t harm you.
Yes and it was Nobel Prize Winner Linus Pauling ,. ne of the best scientists ever to have existed, who was responsible in helping spread the falsehood that Vit C was a wonder cure.
What Andrew said. You’ll get enough from your diet and any excess from pills just goes down the toilet. I agree with the suggestion to not use sanitizer and just get in the habit of washing your hands often - not sure if it’ll help with the colds, but we use way too much stuff like that.
Colds are just a fact of life - however strong your immune system is, it’ll get knocked down now and then because there are so many viruses that cause colds, and they’re endlessly mutating. I have a strong suspicion the gym is the culprit: the equipment is covered in … secretions, and people do tend to turn up even if they’re ill. So it’s an ideal breeding ground for the lurgy.
Not going to drop names but 99% of gyms should be shut down for sanitation reasons. When I worked at the gym I was super crazy about this, the mats especially. It’s a breeding ground for disease if the gym does not care and most of them don’t.
Always ask about what sanitation SOP a gym has before you join. If they give a bad answer and don’t know. Do not join.
I used to get sick a lot when I first got here. Since I switched from drinking mainly beer to whisky, I rarely get sick at all. I guess the high % of alcohol acts as an internal disinfectant.
I worry about this. I feel like I shouldn’t have kids because I’d doom them to so many mental health issues and inherited trauma and all that noise…
I go to a really nice little gym that is cleaned regularly and doesn’t get more than maybe 20-40 visitors a day. I am also super careful about my cleanliness there anyway, and all public spaces. Meanwhile my friend wallows in filth, works with children every day, and almost NEVER gets sick. Maybe I’m actually being too germaphobic and it’s making me weaker?? Sigh.
I used to get sick every single time I visited Taiwan when I was a little kid. When I worked with children I got sick almost every month. I really would’ve thought I’d have built up an immunity by now…
On the bright side, I just slept for about 10 hours and feel a lot less clogged up today. The mouthbreathing I’ve been doing for the past two days has torn up my larynx, though. It feels like it’s covered in a thousand papercuts and I have death metal growl instead of my normal voice. Which is already pretty alto as it is.
Since we’re on the subject, how soon is too soon to return to your normal workout routine after a head cold? I didn’t have a fever, just the stuffy head and a general feeling of crapness. I hate going too many days without moving around a little bit. Makes me feel like a slug. But I worry I’ll set myself back another day if I’m too hasty.
