Is it really possible to "build up your immune system"

Supplements don't always work. I take vit B6, 9 (folic acid) and 12, vit c, vit d every day and still had horrendous virus has not completely gone after over 2 weeks.

I swear by Echinacea. I take a high dose pill for at least a week whenever I get first sign of a cold. So far I've been cold-free for 2 years. (bet I go and get one now!!) ?

Interesting thread and I think the majority do seem to think that the immune can be built over a period of time.

nonnie I'm sure your grieving may be part of why your picking things up and not shrugging them off, our bodies and minds are in a different mode I know mine is even 3 n half yrs later. I feel for all those grieving.

Iam64 have heard that zinc can help and Im sure I have taken it before at some time so will look at that again.

Jean thankyou
Grannyknot I think you may have a point about the yogurt/drinks etc the good bacteria etc.My dd matron has an actimel drink every day! and swears by them.

I have in the past take some capsules from H n B that contain 20 million good bacteria.
I'm certainly going to have a look at taking some of what has been mentioned.

Vit D ? Do we buy to from normal shops? supermarket etc presume it needs to be a certain strength,?'

Must admit I normally get one big stinking cold per year. but since starting back to work I seem to get one then another a few weeks later. I put it down to having looked after my husband at home for many yrs I didnt mix with the so called public as much but now working in the supermarket, handling money (that people have had in their mouths) and wet their fingers to count it out! then the coughs/sneezes right in my face!! yuk! blaaaaaaaa....its no wonder Im picking stuff up...I had to come home from work Yesterday as was still feeling nauseated and all I saw was a sea of food coming towards me...(green emoticon)!!

Thanks for replies will certainly act on them

Am in my 80s and for the last 12 years have not had a cold. I believe it's because every day I have a Zinc 15mg tablet to build up my immune system. I also have a 5 fruit smoothie every day.

Most of my best memories are distant ones - I think.

Not the expert OldMeg just a distant memory.

Are you thinking about the fact that you need to have Vit C to help absorb iron perhaps Nonnie? Or Vit D to help absorb calcium.

I take Cod Liver Oil capsules every day, and rarely get a cold - I think it was just a coincidence that Bikergran spent the next day on the loo after taking them. If you try both Garlic Pearls and Cod liver oil you should be fighting fit!!

I swear by echinacea each time I think cold symptoms are starting and haven’t had a full-blown cold for years. I take two to begin and then one for a few days afterwards.

Some have said Vit D and one Vit C, I think you need Vit D to make the C work but can't remember where I read that.

I rarely get coughs or colds but have had a cough for 6 months which faded to not very bad but last week I caught another, different one and have started a cold as well. The difference IMO is that I am grieving for my son and have not got out and about as much as normal. DH does the cooking and for the same reason we have been having some meals which he hasn't cooked from scratch which means they are probably not as healthy. I really think that eating healthily is key as is moderate exercise.

I think a lot of people get ill when they stop. As a teacher for 40 years I fought the holiday illness syndrome by carrying on - e.g. cleaning the house from top to bottom, having a massive shopping expedition or taking the kids out. Worked for me although being coughed on by other peoples kids all day must have helped with building up immunity

It's really easy to make your own kefir Grannyknot, takes just a couple of minutes every morning. I swear by it - message me if you would like me to send you some kefir starter grains and simple instructions. It's not a business by the way - just feel very positive about it and would like to help anyone else who is interested make a start with it!

I swear by Vit C. It's always worked briliently for me, but you have to take 1000mg sustained release ones. I left it off in the run up to last winter and got deluged with cold after cold and coughs. Looking after Grandchildren doesn't help, but this year thankfully remembered to start taking it again and have avoided them all so far! I also found that having the flu jab helps too, not sure why!

Had constant colds and bugs for years until my GP did some blood tests. Turned out I had low vitamin D. That was just over a year ago. Since taking vitamin D tablets I have only had one cold which lasted half the time than usual and the tiredness has reduced dramatically. Certainly helped me.

There are only so many cold viruses and by the time you are in your fifties you have had most of them and have built up immunity towards them which is why older people don't get so many colds.

However, it is still useful to take some vitamin supplements to give you a boost through the winter. I took a daily multivitamin until a nusre friend of mine looked at the bottle and said that they provided only half of the recommended dose of vitamin D which is the one we don't get naturally through sunlight in the winter and also the one that fights colds. So now I take two. I get them from Tesco's under their 'Value' label (now on a 342 offer) so they are as cheap as chips.

I always eat raw onions wrapped in a piece of wafer thin ham several times a day at the first sign of a cold/sore throat. Also read in paper this morning about putting raw onion in a dish to draw in the infections from the air. Apparently a very old remedy for illness’ before antibiotics.

Vit C with Zinc is supposed to help the immune system.

Garlic capsules-have taken one every day for years and they prevent colds,also good for heart and circulation.

Is it always wise to ‘boost your immune system’?

I keep reading we have a "second brain" in our gut and I think the importance of gut health is very much being recognised at last.
A healthy mind and a healthy body used to be a mantra.
I was advised many years ago by our practice nurse to have Actimel every day, it has been poopoohed since but it works for me.

Loopy it never ceases to amaze me now much we seem to have lost touch with the basics.

Biker in answer to your OP - I read an article (I think it is in the latest Waitrose magazine) last night (backed up by scientific references) about gut health and the immune system, how we are only as strong as our microbes are hearlthy - so the advice from Loopy re live yoghurt is good. There's lots been written about this, including on Gransnet in a webchat by Michael Mosley. So every now and again I swig kefir when I can find it (around here I find it occasionally in a supermarket but most Polish shops stock it).

Blueberries, live yogurt, cold showers, plenty of sleep, exercise in the fresh air, laughing at a joke. Surely people have done research on this? Will look it up.

Apart from eating well, lots of fruit and veg, I do nothing extra, but I rarely get a cold. My mother lived a very long and very healthy life, she never spent a night in hospital.
It must be partly in the genes. I now go out seldom so don't mix but I have always been the same.

Poor you Bikergran I’m not going to pretend I know the answer but when I worked in a G.P surgery I was always coming down with somthing or other. The minute we moved things improved. I was still with the public in clinics so although things had improved I would still ‘catch’ more than my fair share. I’ve now retired and only get the occasional bug from grandchildren. So I think that if your immune system is a bit low and your in contact with the germ riddle public you’ll catch everything going. hope you feel better soon. Ps I’m asthmatic so I think that in my case that was why I caught everything I came into contact with

Totally agree BlueBelle. Too many folk live in houses far too warm, go out and jump in the car and use even paracetamol like sweets. If I take even one my family know I must be feeling really ill! I walk to and from work in all winds and weather. I haven't had a cold for a couple of years, this time despite my OH having a continual one since he had the flu jab.