If you manage to avoid most colds/bugs what’s your secret?!

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If you hardly ever catch a cold or bug what’s your secret to having a good immune system and staying healthy?!

I guess genetics, plus maybe a bit of lifestyle. I rarely get colds and if I’m a bit sniffly I shake it off immediately. I might get a heavy cold or flu once every 10 or so years.

DD is the same. She was always the last kid left in class when the flu did the rounds.

We’re both vegetarian with a mainly Mediterranean diet, which in my case includes wine, as well as copious amounts of onion and garlic and chilli peppers, as mentioned by a PP. I never buy cleaning products or anything antibacterial. All my house is cleaned with vinegar and bicarb (when I clean it! I’m fairly slovenly). I have pets, I don’t have a car so walk or use public transport everywhere. I wash my hands fairly frequently but that’s it on the hygiene front.

Oh and I’m rhesus negative, which according to a friend of mine makes it less likely to pick up viruses. No idea how much this might influence but apparently it does help with Covid (which I didn’t catch, or if I did it was asymptomatic)

Mud is your friend.

Food and exercise won't save you. I guess if you are strongly deficient in some vitamins that could reduce your immunity. But I'm borderline anaemic, don't bother taking vitamins, and have a killer immune system.

Your immune system needs practise, so you need a lot of exposure to germs to make it strong. If you were a grubby child who played with mud and didn't wash hands before eating etc, you probably built a strong foundation. If you've then lived as a non-obsessively clean adult, you have probably built on your strong foundation and maintained good immunity.

So avoid anti-bac at all costs, wash with soap and water as little as you can get away with. Eat lunch in the garden with muddy hands from gardening. Embrace social mixing (children are great for this)!

I'm not doing anything in particular to be honest - and I'm hardly ever ill.

I try to exercise regularly, but not religiously so, same goes for my diet.
I eat everything more or less in moderation, without cutting out any food groups. I eat fruit and veg most days, but also small treats.

As for exercise, I walk about an hour most days and try to go out for runs about three to four times a week.

I have kids, they bring home the usual bugs, but it's getting less as they get older.
I also don't use antibacterial cleaning products or hand gel - so who knows, maybe it's the frequent exposure to germs that helps?

Every night before bed, boil -

• 1 thumb size piece of ginger (skin removed, sliced)
• half a lemon
• 5 sprigs dry thyme
• 3 teaspoons turmeric powder
• dash of black pepper
• dollop of honey

Litre of water

Bring to boil, simmer for 10 minutes, put in fridge overnight.

Morning, pour one glass and top up with hot water to make warm. Add 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and 2 table spoons coconut oil (both organic, natural). Drink.

Throughout the day drink the rest of the drink (without apple cider vinegar or coconut oil, just the tea from the night before).

(as well as a LOT of warm water in between - 2 litres minimum per day)

Not being an anti-bac person (never used it, not in covid, not ever!), not excessive cleaning etc & also being really healthy- I’m outside at least an hour every day (more on the days I go running/cycling), bmi is 21, eat well, sleep well. Never wiped a shopping trolly handle & never had covid, despite wearing a mask unless forced to.
I’ve had 2 sick days in the last 16 years, my DC also have only had 2 or maybe 3 days off school (both teenagers now) except when one of them has covid (which I didn’t get)
constent avoidance of dirt & germs is not a good thing!

*not wearing a mask

Oh! Forgot to add. In the morning, before drinking the first drink, put through a sieve. Fish out lemon. Blend turmeric and ginger pieces with water and drink this as a shot before drinking the first drink (the one with ACV and coconut oil).

Strangely, since having problems with my chest in 2013, I've not had as many colds.

But I have been more careful than before because I don't want to make my chest worse. I think I've had 2 colds since then.

I want to add that I am a kindergarten teacher with two young children so should be constantly sick 😂

Thank you for this important tip. I am taking your advice as I type!😀

Not being a clean freak

Healthy diet, good sleep habits, lots of fresh air .

(Even indoors. I open windows in every room every day). We sleep in a warm bed in an unheated room with the bedroom window open all year (secured) and regard a really comfortable bed and bedding as essential. No TV or phones in bedroom.

Good hand hygeine; wash hands with soap after every toilet use and have clean hands before starting food prep.

Normal domestic hygeine to me, means the bathrooms and kitchen food prep areas are kept clean (soap and water) but I never use bleach or disinfectant sprays.

We average one cold every two years , no flu, zero stomach aches or D and V.

I rarely get colds and have never had a sickness bug in my life.

I eat plenty fruit and veg. And chocolate and cake.
I sleep well 7-9 hours. I don't drink alcohol. I gym exercise 2-3 times a week plus walk 12k steps a day.
I take vitamins sporadically.
I'm approx 1 stone overweight.
I have good skin and robust mental health. I have a busy life with work kids etc. I joke that I don't have time to be ill which is true but I am grateful not to be.

Another grubby person signing in.

Strong constitution, no small children, I've had everything already, no small children, rarely had antibiotics in my life, no small children.

Got a dog. Dd2 was a right snot machine before. Kids are well used to dog walks in all weathers. Dd1 never gets colds. Dd2 and I once in a blue moon.
The kids health improved significantly after the 1st 6 months..

It's interesting how half claim its exposure to germs and ther half claim its hand washing

I'm definitely in the exposure camp!

I've always worked in secondary schools and while I do catch mild colds here and there, I can't remember the last time I was properly take-to-my-bed ill.

Having said that, we are in the age of sanitiser and I do find myself using the one on my desk as a sort of habit, so that will be helping a lot too.

I very rarely get ill.
I eat lots of fruit and veg, get enough (but not loads of) sleep, spend a lot of time outdoors, don't obsess over hygiene in any setting, and since I was a teenager I've slept with the bedroom window wide open each night - even in minus degrees.

....oh and I don't have kids!

Vaccination!
Plus I have rheumatoid arthritis which usually means my immune system is super charged

Working as a primary teacher has massively built up my immunity. I eat normally, regular amount of exercise etc…no magic tricks there. Just seen all the germs there are!

3 kids, not obsessive about handwashing lazy lazy, do take vitamins, get plenty of sun when it's out but with Care rmostly . Do Try and sleep well, diet not great but never had the stomach flu and barely get colds. Late 40's. Maybe genetic but I noticed during covid those most obessive or following rules religiously got badly sick and one pased away even after get vaccines. Its a stranger world then we think.

I think that not being too obsessed with hygiene helps. I wipe countertops with just soap and water, ditto the bathroom. I only bleach the loo twice a week and don't own antibac spray / wipes. Obviously if someone has a tummy bug (rare), I'll clean more thoroughly with disinfectant.
My house is clean but not sterile. We need exposure to bacteria to prime our immune system.
It obviously works. Myself and DH rarely catch colds, although the kids do still get minor colds regularly. None of us have caught Covid.
I also eat a fairly healthy diet and exercise regularly but not obsessively.

I'm a nurse and spent my first few years after qualifying working on a medical ward, we had patients admitted with numerous contagious illnesses, flu (I qualified just around the time swine flu was around), TB, C.Diff, norovirus, meningitis and more. I've never caught anything from work and I've never been off work ill. I've always had animals and spend a lot of time in the garden. I spent a lot of time on farms as a kid. As a teen, I had mucky hobbies and spent a lot of time outside.

I wash my hands at work way more than I would at home (eg I only really wash my hands at home after using the loo, doing something dirty (eg cat litter), handling raw meat/eggs or cooking for others but I always wash my hands before eating at work but not routinely at home). I never use alcohol gels outside of work.

I think in the nature v nurture debate, I'd have to come down on the side of nurture. My sister didn't and still doesnt really enjoy getting dirty. She often gets ill and has had so many courses of antibiotics. I think I've had 2 or 3 courses of antibiotics on my life, and none in the last 30 years. Been years since I had a cold and I've managed to avoid covid so far.