Improving immune response after vaccine

[Chillihat]

I've read that in order to get a better immune response from the vaccine you should avoid alcohol for 2 days before and 2 weeks after the vaccine e.g. www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2020/jan/people-who-receive-covid-19-vaccine-should-avoid-alcohol-before-and-after.html

It's also important to get lots of sleep and try to improve your microbiome by eating foods naturally high in prebiotics and probiotic foods such as kefir, live yoghurt, kitchen etc. This is a DM link but written by Dr Michael Mosley www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-9177439/DR-MICHAEL-MOSLEY-reveals-simple-steps-make-effective.html

Just thought this was important enough to share. And also wondering if there is anything else advised to help the immune response?

Thank you for this, I had my vaccine early this morning after a sleepless night. After reading I purposely went back to bed to get some sleep, I also had probiotics for lunch. It makes sense.

I wish the NHS would promote ways to help get a good immune response, maybe in a text with suggestions alongside the appointment invitation would be an easy way.

All good advice, but it's good for your immune system to always get as much sleep as possible and to take probiotics as a matter of course. Yoghurt, kefir, unpasteurised sauerkraut and kimchi are all good.

I think the alcohol thing is just a sensible precaution - I'm sure it won't make too much difference if you have a glass or two of wine in those two weeks.

Good idea OP.

Massage therapy is also good for boosting the immune system. There was a recent programme on the BBC that highlighted this

Oooh I have a foot massager thing. Will get that put tonight while watching TV 😊

You cannot boost your immune system ( except by vaccinating against particular diseases). That is why the NHS don't tell you how to do it. Eat as well as you can in the right portions, don't smoke, get exercise and fresh air, easy on the booze. Basic common bloody sense.

Most edible probiotics get destroyed by your stomach acid. Some people do find unpasteurised sauerkraut helps digestion - buy a cabbage and make your own.

There is a vv interesting programme on BBC about immunity. Drinking alcohol does reduce the number of immune cells (can't remember specific type). Eating fibre increased the number of immune cells. They did a test with salmonella, it was very interesting.

Well that’s me screwed with a baby.. I can’t remember what sleep is 😂

@MistakenAgain I saw a clip on the BBC website, but given the sample size of the study was 1, I wasn’t really convinced! I’m sure there are larger more academic studies showing the same thing though.

I think its a really interesting area and more research should be done on it.

And the NHS don't tell you this because it's a secret? They don't tell you this in the leaflet they hand out with the vaccine? I don't think that's how your immune system works.

Well New Scientist told their readers the same and they don't tend to make up the science www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933213-500-the-5-best-things-you-can-do-to-boost-the-chance-of-a-vaccine-working/

Thanks @Chimoia. I don't subscribe, could you say what the 5 things are?

In terms of people asking why the NHS isn't advising this, I think there are a few reasons. The NHS is about providing adequate health care to the population at large. It does not exist to optimise an individual's health and well-being. It looks at things at a population level, so if it were to start advising people not to drink after the vaccine that could put off loads of people from having the vaccine, so at a public health level it would do more harm than good. It also complicates things and at the moment the most important thing is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.

I don't think that drinking alcohol or taking paracetamol or eating a bad diet etc. will stop the vaccine working. But if, as an individual, you want to optimise your immune system response to the vaccine there are things you can do that could help. They may only help in a small way but, for me, having lived under the threat of a potentially deadly virus for a year (I'm vulnerable) I will do everything in my power to help my body react the best way it can to the vaccine.

Doctors practising today do not condone Mosley or any of his ideas.

As for the idea, you don’t need to do that. Just like you don’t need to “detox” with a diet. Your body does it for you.

It's not just Dr Mosley saying it. As posted above the New Scientist have said the same.

Nothing to do with so-called "detox" diets, and I agree with you on that - they're not needed.

Avoiding painkillers after injection, unless absolutely necessary is meant to help the immune response.

New scientist: Stress, sleep, social support, alcohol, exercise.

So don't argue about the housework too much with your partner prior to the jab as I feel like I have all weekend....

Based on available data, he suggests that moderate alcohol consumption is unlikely to have much of an effect, so if you are an occasional drinker, you probably don’t have to change your lifestyle.
However, binge drinking will almost certainly decrease the vaccine’s efficacy and should be avoided for four weeks after each injection, says Thompson. As it takes about two weeks for an immune response to develop after vaccination, four weeks “gives a bit of a buffer zone”, he says.

Lots about how Russians were told not to drink for quite some time before and after and then the above.

I read that about the Russian doctor's advice a while back.

It's not generally known and binge drinking is not unusual in the UK.