The Flu Shot Won’t Save You If You Won’t Save Yourself
The food you eat matters
As I was driving my carpool route to drop my kids off at school the other day, I saw one of those signs outside the drugstore: “Flu Shots Are Here!” I started to ponder what kind of medical research is available on holistically protecting ourselves from colds and the flu.
When I was in college, there were always signs in the bathrooms about staying healthy: Get eight hours of sleep, drink more water, wash your hands, stay home if you don’t feel well, eat some vegetables. But is there any research that compares the flu shot with these other holistic ways to boost our immune systems?
I haven’t yet found any studies that directly compare the results of getting eight hours of sleep every night (or any other healthy habit) with getting the flu shot. I did, however, find a lot of really interesting research that has some very relevant implications for our health — and most of them had to do with food.
Did you know that multiple studies have confirmed that obesity dramatically reduces the efficacy of the flu shot? That means medical research has shown that the flu shot doesn’t do as much good if you are obese. Some studies have also shown that consuming probiotics can increase your body’s antibody response to the flu shot. In layman’s terms…
