A theory regarding colds

[noggla]

Based on my experience of friends and family, those who are fussy eaters, esp with fruit and veg, seem to get more colds and last longer than the rest.

Makes no difference if life and/or work has young children involved.

Anecdata

I’m the fussiest eater I know, my last cold was well over a year ago.

DD is not a picky eater. She loves fruit and veg. She also has severe asthma, so if she gets a cold, it often makes her quite unwell whilst the rest of the family are fine… so having a less robust immune system can come into it, but disliking fruit and veg is not necessarily the cause of a weak immune system!

More varied diet = more varied microbiome = greater resilience to withstand pathogens.

Weirdly the whole of 2024, I took a good multivitamin daily. I was ill constantly from September till the end of March 25. I stopped taking them and haven't had a cold since.

I eat healthily, lots of fruit and veg, exercise daily and I get colds worse than anyone in my family or friends. It's almost as if having asthma, small sinus spaces and working with young children has more impact on the spread of the cold virus and how susceptible I am than how many apples I eat.