I finally got a cold

Not too long ago I wrote a piece on how not to catch cold where I mentioned that I had not had cold symptoms in many years.  The reason why the number of colds I have plummeted is because, while not always successful, I do manage to eat, sleep, and exercise healthily most of the time.

I got the familiar feeling in the back of the throat on Saturday.  By Monday I had the runny nose and sneezing and felt a little lethargic.  I still managed to get in a training ride on my bike (mounted on my indoor trainer Kurt Kinetic trainer review), but I cut the ride at 90 minutes instead of the 2-2.5 hours I would normally had done.

Side note:  exercising with a cold rule of thumb: symptoms above the neck (head cold), exercise is not a problem but you may have reduced exercise capacity.  If you have a cough or really sore throat exercising intensely with heavy breathing may aggravate an already irritated respiratory tract, possibly inviting a bacterial infection, so don't exercise hard. Nausea or fever? Don't exercise.  You need rest and a visit to the doc might be a good idea if symptoms persist. 

Today I feel pretty good.  Only had to blow my nose twice so far.  I'd say the cold is pretty much over.

So that's Saturday to Wednesday, maybe a little into tomorrow - 5.5 days with three days of a fairly snotty nose.

That's not too bad, and thats what the research suggests you might feel if you live healthy, primarily exercising regularly and getting good sleep.

Healthy living can reduce the frequency, duration, and intensity of cold symptoms by 40%.

I've been lucky and had good multi-year stint of no cold symptoms.  I say no cold symptoms as I would have still had cold viruses enter my body, but my strengthened immune system would have defeated the cold virus before I became symptomatic.

I didn't take a pill that's promised to reduce colds.  I didn't take an alternative medicine concoction that is the suposed secret cure for the common cold that apparently regular doctors don't want you to know about.  I didn't take massive doses of vitamin C.  I didn't whip up an antioxidant detox super juice every morning.

I ate healthy, exercised regularly, and most of the time got good sleep.

I recall a few times though where it felt like a cold might be coming on but then nothing further materialized.  There were several times where I was in the company of people with colds and I thought for sure I would be sniffling a few days later.. nope.

Aside from maintaining if not gaining athletic performance as I approach age 50 I think not getting the two colds per year I used to get a pretty good dividend from healthy habits.  I don't know anyone who likes the misery of a cold.

The benefits of exercise aren't limited to the most commonly referenced weight loss and muscular or lean look.  The main benefits are feeling more energetic, preserving health, having the strength to easily do pretty much any normal task.. shovelling snow is no big deal, neither is lifting heavy things like furniture.

I see many of my mid-late 40's peers gaining weight and getting weaker.  That could have been me and I'm glad it isn't, I'm also glad it doesn't have to be this way for anyone.

I didn't make the change overnight and pretty much everyone who tries to do it fast fails and returns to a state of being less fit and more overweight than when they started.

Ignore all the goofy claims to lose weight fast and get fit fast.  That's for losers, or I guess gainers as the weight comes back later when a return to previous habits occurs.

Make some small changes like eating a little less and learning to feel good about it.  Gradually add small amounts of exercise.  Boot camps are very stupid.  Yes, I said that and mean it.  I'm not some shlep who fell off the bus yesterday, I've been studying this subject and coaching for two and half decades and I live it myself.. quick fix promises are meant to appeal to desperation and gullibility; they don't actually work.

How did I get to "boot camps are very stupid" from exercise prevents colds?  It's not hard to get me going.  I am passionate about the subject.  And why not?  Making these changes turned my life around and the lives of many others.  I really, really want people to feel as good as I have after having made these changes.

Having fewer colds is better.  Colds are miserable.  Less misery from colds, from aches and pains, from lethargy, and from illness.  It's all good.   Best thing?

It's not a miracle product that costs $49.99 per month or more.  It's not a pill.  It's not a secret metabolism energizing exercise routine (those don't exist by the way so don't fall for the con).

There is one catch though. Your benefits will automatically renew without your consent if you keep living the healthy lifestyle.  That's right, even if you find that you don't like not having colds, can't stand being strong, hate your doctor for telling you your cholesterol and blood pressure are normal, and don't want to deal with near boundless energy and clear cognition day after day, the contract can't be broken.  So long as you live healthy you will reap the benefits.

Oh well.  What can you do?

Everything you need to know about not getting a cold

[Creative Commons photo by Matt Musselman]

In general living healthy; healthy eating, regular exercise, and good quality sleep, can..

Reduce the number of colds per year by 40%

Reduce the intensity of symptoms by 40%

Reduce the duration of a cold by 40%

The number one transmission of the cold virus into the body is touching your eye with your finger after touching a surface with a cold virus on it.

#2 is touching your nose

#3 is touching your mouth

A cold virus can stay alive on a surface such as a door knob 24 hours.

You can also inhale a cold virus.

When a person with a cold speaks they spray an approximate 1 meter (3 foot) cloud of water vapour that contains aerated cold virus.  You can't see it or feel it, but you can breath it in and introduce the cold virus to your body.

Here's a nice thought, especially for the germaphobes out there..

If a person with a cold coughs or sneezes in a hallway, they'll leave behind a cloud of aerated cold virus that lasts for a minute or so.  You could walk into an otherwise empty hallway, save for the virus cloud, and breath it in.  You now have a cold.

Or do you?

Maybe, your timing has to be right and if you do suck in a bit of rhino-virus (no relation to me), whether you develop symptoms or not depends on how robust your immune system is.

People who "don't get colds" actually do get colds.  Their immune systems are strong enough that the cold virus is defeated before cold symptoms arise.

The healthy living strategy does not prevent cold viruses from entering your body, rather living healthy makes you into a cold virus killer.  A ninja killer, because you make antibodies swiftly and silently in the background without you knowing that you're waging a virucidal war inside your body.

The hygiene strategy does reduce the chance of "catching" a cold. Washing hands, avoiding touching your face, and staying away from others when infected prevent cold virus transmission.

Once you have a cold there is little you can do to change the course of the cold.  Taking vitamin C, or any vitamin, drinking hot lemon juice, changing your diet, doing a magic dance that appeals to the cold gods, or doing nothing, are each likely to yield the same result: your cold will end within 5 to 10 days.

There is conflicting evidence for whether or not the popular supplement echinacea works for cold prevention, but one thing is for sure; those who sell echinacea swear it works.

Of course the longer you wait to implement any folklore cold remedy the greater the chance your cold will end sooner, as by that time your immune system would have defeated the cold anyway.

High stress levels are known to suppress the immune system so working on keeping stress levels low will help protect you from developing colds.  Regular exercise and good sleep are two of the most potent stress reducers.

For the record I haven't had a cold in over 4 years.  Whoops.. I mean I haven't had cold symptoms in over 4 years.. I've most likely had several colds but my antibodies went Chuck Norris on the evil cold virus before symptoms developed.  I used to get two colds a year; one in the early winter and one around spring time.  They lasted a few days to a week.

Four years ago I tuned up my nutrition using eatracker.ca making sure that I met 100% of all my nutrient needs from food every day (no supplements other than vitamin D).  I also put more emphasis on getting to bed at about the same time most nights and getting good quality sleep.  My exercise was already there, although I did reduce the amount of times I did prolonged high intensity training.

Is it a coincidence that I have had no colds since I made these healthy living changes?  I don't think so.  I read the research, implemented the recommendations, and got the result.  Will I be cold-free forever?  I don't have that expectation but I can vouch for what our white-coat researchers keep telling us to do.

Since it's unlikely that we'll be able to completely avoid being exposed to cold viruses the best strategy is bolstering your immune system through healthy living so when you are exposed your inner ninja's can cut down viral invaders before you feel symptoms.  I'm not saying we should give up on the hand washing thing, we shouldn't, but at some point a cold virus is going to get in us unless we live in bubble wrap, so it's best to be ready.

One last thing.. being out in cold weather does not cause colds, only transmission of cold virus into the body causes colds.

A randomized controlled trial of the effect of flui... [Am J Med. 1999] - PubMed - NCBI

Echinacea purpurea for prevention of experim... [Clin Infect Dis. 2004] - PubMed - NCBI

Echinacea in the prevention of induced rhinovirus ... [Clin Ther. 2006] - PubMed - NCBI

Treatment of the common cold with unrefined e... [Ann Intern Med. 2002] - PubMed - NCBI

Ineffectiveness of echinacea for... [Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2000] - PubMed - NCBI

Vitamin C for preventing and trea... [Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004] - PubMed - NCBI

Upper respiratory tract infection is reduced in physically fit and active adults -- Nieman et al. -- British Journal of Sports Medicine