If you're rarely ill, tell me what you do to stay healthy

[Lottapianos]

I lead a pretty healthy lifestyle, I think. I eat plenty of fruit and veg and cook from scratch virtually every day, drink plenty of water, exercise and generally get enough sleep. I do suffer from depression but not currently. I'm now fighting my third bug in about 6 weeks and I'm sick to death of feeling crappy.

If you're one of those lucky people who are rarely ill, please share your tips and suggestions- I'm so sick of being full of snot!

Me and my two kids are very rarely ill. The little one has been sent home from nursery once since he started at just gone one. The oldest one I think twice and he’s 11.

Little one eats barely anything but does have innocent smoothies and strawberries most days. Older one eats a good varied diet as do I ( we both eat too much chocolate though).
We do long walks two or three times a week and love being outside. We have no pets.
My kids were breastfed for at least a year and I was breastfed to 10 months. No idea if that has any impact on it.
My husband is always ill and his mother fed his a very poor diet of processed food despite being a stay at home Mam and he was fed watered down formula as a baby (then Carnation Milk for some reason).

I’m never ill.
I am surrounded and exposed to some horrendous infectious diseases in my working life.

I am a big believer in prevention and in self care.
I rarely go to the gp, it’s been years and years since I last went.
I know that the majority of illnesses that I can get are self healing, can be easily managed by me at home with simple measures and so for that reason I never take up gp appointments.
Also have only ever had a handful of days of sick from work in 30 years of working.
I don’t class colds, coughs, headaches, gunky eyes as illness, they are minor ailments that will get better on their own in time.

There’s not much that fluids, paracetamol and ibuprofen can’t sort out.

That’s just me though, weirdo I know.

They are just Boots multivitamins.

The way I see it is like those experiments they do on poor little mice. When they deny them vitamins or minerals their coat looks unhealthy and when they reintroduce them their coat becomes healthy again.

I'm rarely sick. And I'm a nurse who works with contagious people and then obvs my kids bring loads of bugs home. Though actually they're rarely sick either. The odd virus, nothing major.

But I have seen enough in work to know 100% that if you smoke or live with a smoker, you will be sick much much more. My patients are mostly smokers or ex long term smokers and get very frequent chest infections. I had a patient who never smoked but who lived with a smoker and got terrible respiratory issues from him. She died of COPD a week before he died of COPD.

So if people want to reduce their incidences of illness, stop smoking.

croser of course colds are illnesses, they can be seriously debilitating.

I used to get ill regularly, but since taking 4,000 IU of vitamin D a day, I don't catch anything! I also take high dose vit B complex, high dose vit C and a Spatone iron supplement most days. Honestly can't remember the last time I actually caught something - it's been years. I also wash my hands a lot, and have antibac gel on my desk at work (which I use throughout the day after washing my hands with soap and water).

I rarely get sick.

I think probably the biggest factor is not being obsessed with hygiene. You need some germs in your life to build your immune system. My parents and grandparents were the same (if not more so) and exposure to germs in early childhood is important www.nytimes.com/2017/04/17/well/family/too-clean-for-our-childrens-good.html

I don't do anything specifically for my health - I don't smoke or eat meat, but that's not for health reasons; I still eat chocolate. I'm slim, but naturally so. I walk the dog daily but that's for the dog's sake not mine. I don't drive, which keeps me active - cycling to the supermarket, for instance, or walking to the train station. I don't obsess over it, at all.

I haven't been off sick from work for over 3 years, and that was for surgery for an unpreventable condition.

For me, they are not “seriously debilitating “ or at least I have never been seriously debilitated. Like I say, in my opinion, in my own experience colds and such like are minor ailments for me.

I'm rarely ill, usually the odd sniffle. I don't drink or smoke. My diet is quite healthy except chip shop chips once a week. My bmi is 26 so in the overweight category. My exercise consists of walking around shops and pottering in the garden. I'm a GP Receptionist so in contact with ill people on a daily basis. I'm not a hugger or a kisser.

I was off sick from work exactly a year ago with vomiting. Before that 12 years ago with a virus a few people went down with.

I have IBS and OCD, but in terms of coughs and colds and sickness bugs I am rarely ill. I haven't had a cold since the start of 2015. I did have a horrible bug a few weeks ago but that's the first time since I was 14. I think my immune system must be pretty good, I'm a healthy BMI but don't do loads of exercise or eat especially well.

Im in the handwashing camp.
Turns my stomach to see people eating without washing their hands

Are you taking medicines at all? I gave up all medicines last year and have not been ill since then.

I'm 70 in great health [apart from insomnia at times]. I buy fresh ingredients, and cook every day. I avoid processed food as much as possible, don't eat much meat but love all fish, cheese, prawns, chicken, [the best] eggs. I use full fat milk and greek yoghurt avoiding manufactured desserts but I eat what I want...cakes, chocolate in moderation etc but no sugar in tea or coffee.

Love nuts, fruit and lots of veg and have never been on a diet in my life. Probably more than half a stone overweight but am ok with that. I don't drink apart from the odd cider or shandy in the summer and Baileys at Christmas.

I walk a lot, do lots of gardening, walk relatives dog and used to cycle and swim until recent years. I avoid situations where there are tummy bugs or bad colds spreading quickly as much as I can, and keep out of severely windy, cold, wet winter weather as much as possible.

I don't use anything with a long list of chemical ingredients whether in food products or cleaning materials or sprays.

Pure luck + genetics. My diet is varied - it's either "clean eating" or eating all the things - but I'd like to think the days of eating healthily keep my system in check. I'm overweight and I smoked for decades - but when I gave up my CO2 levels dropped to below those of the nurse within weeks... so I must've been a really shite smoker. I also avoided all dairy in my teens to avoid fats... little did I realise the affect it may have on my bones long-term.

I find if I spend a few days being sedentary then the best thing to help me out is a few long walks - just seems to stretch out my bones a little.

I was ill recently with Lyme disease - but I don't count that because it wasn't my bloody illness - some fucker gave it to me.

Nothing really. I used to smoke but gave up 14 years ago. Don't usually drink though I havd been drinking a little wine lately. Have lost 5 stone to be a normal weight, eat normal food, mostly vegetarian apart from fish twice a week. Usually eat my 5 a day, never eat takeaways. Swim for an hour most days, walk loads.
I'm 59 and even when I was a kid I missed out on the children's illnesses which were common then. I can remember having flu a couple of times but not as seriously as some people. I 'm a single parent and a carer so I just drink fluids and take panadol/nurofen so I can carry on. My teeth are really crap as well so I've had treatment for them. I've also had the odd injury (knee, ankle) a few times partly because I'm clumsy and fall over a lot. Thats it though, no other health issues.

I think im just really lucky - ive had 3 (fairly mild) sick bugs in last 15 years and probably 5 colds. Im fairly fit and healthy and during the winter i take a probiotic (tablet not drink) but apart from that don't do anything specific to protect myself. I used to have quite a lot of anxiety over sickness when kids were smaller and i never share food (unless cut first) or finish stuff from their plates and i don't kiss on the lips (apart from DH)....as Well as obbviously handwashing/bleaching etc. DH gets loads more colds than me and rarely covers his mouth when coughing or sneezing. I must have good immunity.

I dont clean that much, I let kids go round in bare feet. I avoid visibly ill people. If i feel the first signs of any throat tickles etc, I eat raw garlic, drink loads of water, and take echinacea. i also eat lots of vegetables
None of us get ill often.

Somebody upthread mentioned Vit D. I don't take supplements but I do go out every single day and rarely wear suncream , unless I'm planning on being out for a couple of hours , so I probably get a fair amount from the sun.

Good diet
Exercise
Good at managing stress

I think luck has a lot to do with it. Despite being very overweight, I'm probably the healthiest people I know. I'm in my late 50s and the last time I had any time off work sick was when I had my wisdom teeth out about 18 years ago.

In over 40 years of work (including part time jobs when I was at school), the only time I have phoned into work sick unexpectedly was 8 weeks into my first pregnancy when I started bleeding. I didn't want to risk anything, so stayed off work for a few days until I had a scan that showed everything was fine. Other than that, my two pregnancies were trouble free (I was never sick).

I do get mild colds from time to time, but nothing serious, and I haven't yet flu since I was 13.

I don't drink, don't smoke, don't drink tea and coffee, and don't eat much processed food or red meat. I do have a sweet tooth though, and eat too many cakes and biscuits (mainly at work) and chocolate. I work long hours in a stressful job, and do no exercise, except 2 brisk walks of 20 minutes a day as part of my (at least) 3 hour commute.

The only problems I have had in the last few years have been plantar fasciitis (treated by wearing FitFlops), carpal tunnel syndrome (I had a splint for a few weeks) and I think I'm starting to get arthritis in my left hand.

I'm retiring soon, and just hope my luck holds out. The only change I'm planning is to do some exercise to try and get some weight off.

I think mine must be genetics....

My diet is appalling...really appalling. I don't ever drink water. I don't exercise at all. My sleep patterns aren't brilliant.

I don't drink much but to be honest I haven't noticed any difference to my health since I cut back a few years ago (other than no hangovers!)

3000IU vitamin d a day and Sambucol. Whenever I feel something coming on I take 1000mg vitamin C and echinacea. I don't smoke and don't drink alcohol very often (1 glass less than once a month).

I also work with children and have children that bring home bugs from school. My immune system is so much better now after several years of working with children, the only time I get unwell is when I haven't been getting enough sleep.

Work in a hospital

I don't do anything. My diet isn't great, I don't get enough sleep, I work crappy shifts which is notoriously bad for all aspects of health, I don't really exercise, didn't take any vitamins or supplements until I recently discovered I am very vitamin D deficient so now take a high dose of that. I am rarely ill though so it must be luck. I do work in a hospital so am exposed to a lot of viruses etc.

I agree with AvocadosBeforeMortgages about being obsessive with the anti bac stuff. I think it's counter productive as the stuff in the products is so toxic.

I try go the non-toxic route..I only use water and vinegar to clean surfaces and never bleach the floor. I use a steam mop. Only use soap to wash hands and bodies, organic non-nasty stuff. No antibac hand-wash/gels here. We have dogs and chickens. We keep the house clean but just not obsessively.

Our youngest as a newborn baby was hospitalised with bronchiolitis.. Consultant said she was highly likely to have breathing issues/asthma long term. She is fine.. She is now nearly 10 and like her siblings spent/spends huge amounts outside mucking about with mud, plants, insects and pets!! They get colds far far less than their friends. They were all breastfed until they were 2.

We all take Cytoplan multi vits (with Vit D3 and K2).

Organic food

Lots of water (filtered to remove chlorine and fluoride)

Neither DH or I have ever smoked

Have as many air purifying house plants as I can!!

Only drink alcohol occasionally

None of us exercise like mad but we're outside with the animals a lot, walking dogs etc and I try to do a bit of yoga daily.

I am a tea and chocoholic so not an angel by any means! 😊