[Closed] Does being skinny mean you get more colds and bugs?

You probably get colds because you go gung ho cycling and don't look after yourself... like me.

yep i think diet (loads of food , but is it loads of nutritionally balanced food or just quantities of crap*) plays a huge part in illness.

I dont think skinny/fat has much to do with it although being healthy and keeping warm will help keep your immune system in tact.

some people are just more prone to colds than others though.

* says the guy whos been living for 3 weeks on bread , cheese , crisps , chocolate and coke as the local food here consists largely of onions and not much else it seems

how ever ive made sure to get plenty sleep and refrain from doing any physical activity that may lower my immune system even further !

Trail Rat, yep normally fairly healthy stuff, veg, fresh food we dont use any jars or pre prepared sauces etc. Lots of wholemeal bread, eggs, nuts, raisins that kind of whole food stuff.

I think your last point may be most important. Im probably not recovering since the first one I had

The answer to cold-free enlightenment lies here...

[img] [/img]

As you're handed your 4 pack of large sausage rolls, you'll notice how healthy everyone around you looks 😉

Binners ^ Ive been there before - was a regular haunt of mine.

Two years ago today i was 100kg.

binners = Nutrition Consultant

Granny always use to say "Feed a cold, starve a Fever".

No one ever got a Fever 🙂

And my 'porkier' friends always seem to suffer with colds, so no.

I'm a right fat knacker, out on my bike in all weathers and haven't had a cold for ages*

* this may, or may not be a direct result of pasty consumption

I'm older, skinnier, taller and weigh less than you and can't remember when I last had a cold, in fact I haven't had one this year at all, I eat well and not a big drinker, cycle a fair bit but not as much as you.
I guess not working in a stuffy aircon office with pale mouthbreathers and having nothing to do with snotty little kids probably helps. The house is a bit damp and the thermo never goes higher than 17.5, dunno if that has a bearing on not getting colds.
Cycling definitely has something to do with it, I didn't start until I was 30 and the amount of colds went down as I cycled more.

Susceptibility to colds is a complex issue: genetics, lifestyle, diet, environment...

You can't just narrow it down to one thing.

Environment also plays the biggest role in being exposed to cold germs eg having young kids seems to be the biggest risk factor....

I'm very similar to you. 5'9" and 70g. A few weeks before the start of the cross season I increased the intensity of my training to involve more HIIT sessions and from that I caught a chesty cold a week before the start of the season. I ignored it and raced through it only to catch a head cold a week after clearing the previous one.

Thankfully once that went I have managed to stay cold free, but one thing I do do now is take 1000mg of Vit c every morning in the form of an effervescent. Might be coincidence but haven't had any troubles since.

Sounds fairly similar situation :

A few weeks before the start of the cross season I increased the intensity of my training to involve more HIIT sessions and from that I caught a chesty cold a week before the start of the season. I ignored it and raced through it only to catch a head cold a week after clearing the previous one.

Hopefully it goes soon. Got another race on Sunday.

Suppose in the meantime I should get some vitamin stuff. Whats an effervescent?

"The house is a bit damp"

I lived in a damp rental for a year.

That year i had all sorts of respiritory issues.

I moved out into a non damp place and suddenly it was like having new lungs installed !

Whats an effervescent?

[url= http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/index.jsp?bmUID=1352194384270 ]Clicky[/url]

^ ah i see what you did there eh eh ... I like it

"But people exposed to periods of high stress, like marathon runners, could reduce their risk of catching colds by half if they took the vitamin daily."

but one thing I do do now is take 1000mg of Vit c every morning in the form of an effervescent. Might be coincidence but haven't had any troubles since.

It is a coincidence. Mega dose of Vitamin C does nothing to prevent you from getting a cold.

Oh well, taste nice anyway. 😀

32yrs old 70kg at 5'10"

I'm 35yrs old, 66kg and 5'11". Almost never get colds. Only had flu once, 7 years ago.

I'm not skinny and get a cold just by someone saying the word.
My last one was just before the end of September, just before the cross season. That became a cough.
Just had a very wet cold ride Sunday and now I'm using all of Tescos stock of tissues.
I'm sensible enough and this has been a problem for decades. I can only pin it down to two things. I'm a very poor sleeper and, and maybe because I work very long hours. Though I've just done my last Saturday, so no more six day weeks which might help, but my week excluding any breaks was still over 70 hours and random i.e 5am start one day and a 10pm finish the next. I don't think any of my jobs have ever combined well with cycling.

Short answer to the OP is yes. Slightly longer is that it's only if you're proper skinny - like sub 5% IIRC which is getting towards TdF contender territory so that's probably not the issue.

Hard training supresses the immune system so make sure you take care of yourself after training, wash hands regularly and all the other OCD type behaviours 😉

I used to get lots of colds, now I'm with the vitamin programme (berocca but there are many alternatives) and I'm now virtually cold free. I got into it when speaking to semi-pro footballers who used to serve behind the bar and who take various supplements (inc C and zinc). They cannot afford to catch a cold each and everytime they get soaked at training.

I've been regularly swimming in cold water (last week it was 25 minutes in 9 degree water). There has been some research that suggested that extreme cold adaptation might improve your immune system response. I am experimenting with whether this is true.

As I understand it, the thing about cold viruses is that if the germs get into your nose or wherever, you have a 95% chance of catching them, pretty much independent of how strong your immune system is. Hence why us with small kids tend to get quite so many colds no matter what.

So the only measure is how long it takes to get rid of them.

In the last month, I've had three colds, which seem to have lasted less than a week each, with gaps in which I have swum, done a running race, biked to work etc.

So I haven't had the long stretches of no exercise that I had last year, but I have had a bunch of colds. So I'm currently a bit inconclusive on my experiment. It certainly feels jolly good to jump in the river in winter though, so I guess I'll keep doing it whatever.

Cut milk out of your diet.

Post nasal drip is another possible answer; i had a snotty nose for about 20 years.

However I do seem to be onto my 3rd cold since september

I tend to get through winter either cold free or with a string of them. Suspect that after the first you're slightly weakened and more likely to get another.

Joe - Member
Cut milk out of your diet.

Post nasal drip is another possible answer; i had a snotty nose for about 20 years.

Are you saying that cutting out milk stopped the drip ? if not what was the cure?

Well I'm about 6' 2" and weigh only about 10.5 stone, I honestly can't remember when I last had a cold.

This year has been my worst ever for colds and general illness - even got a cold in the summer....

Sensitive skin always affected by cold. So need to protect more from the cold.

A good quality one a day Zinc tablet and Echinacia drops 4 times a day as soon as I start to feel symptoms coming on and stop taking a few days after symptoms persist. Not had a proper cold in 3 years despite having 2 kids at nursery/school.
Saying that I've lost nearly 3 stone this year and I'm bloody freezing since this recent cold snap!

34, 5'9 and 64kg; I also can't remember when I had my last cold. My diet is a little hit and miss meal wise and I do like a drink, but I do tend to be munching some form of fruit every waking hour. I'm out riding and racing 4-6 times a week in all weathers and put in a fair few miles. But I don't ride CX 😀

Young children certainly pushes the odds up for having a cold. I could count on one hand the amount of colds I had during my time as an adult from the age of 18 to fatherhood at 32. Since then I've been plagued by all kinds of miserable illnesses, tonsilitis, sinusitis, chest infections, pneumonia and numerous coughs and colds, even in summer! Can't wait for my youngest to grow out of the perma-snot phase and give me a friggin break!

Increase your personal hygiene by washing your hands more frequently, use anti bacterial hand gel periodically throughout the day and really try to avoid touching your face... especially your eyes, nose and mouth. you pick up most viruses on your hands and rub them into your eyes.

Increase your personal hygiene by washing your hands more frequently, use anti bacterial hand gel periodically throughout the day and really try to avoid touching your face... especially your eyes, nose and mouth. you pick up most viruses on your hands and rub them into your eyes.

At last a sensible answer....

I read somewhere that super skinny people get more colds as being unturaly skinny weakens your imune system. But averagely (well average is now obease, but you know what I mean) are less likely to get ill. But fatties fight off illness quicker. IIRC it was true for everything from the common cold through to the big stuff like cancer and strokes. Healthy people are less likely to get them, but they're more likely to get them worse.

It is a coincidence. Mega dose of Vitamin C does nothing to prevent you from getting a cold.

It also gives you bladder stones as all that Vit-C you're pissing out isn't so soluable in urine.

According to the[url= http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/Underweightadults.aspx ]NHS Live Well website [/url] it can increase your risk: 😯

If you’re underweight, you could be damaging your health. Weighing too little can contribute to a weakened immune system, fragile bones and a lack of energy.

Why it matters

Being underweight is bad news for your health now and in the future:

• Lack of energy. Being underweight can leave you feeling drained and tired. You may have anaemia (a lack of red blood cells) because you’re not consuming enough iron.
• Nutritional deficiencies. If you’re underweight, you may be lacking vital nutrients that your body needs to grow and work properly. Calcium, for example, is important for the maintenance of strong and healthy bones. Being underweight increases the risk of osteoporosis (fragile bone disease) later in life.
• [b]Weakened immune system.[/b] Your immune system is not 100% when you’re underweight, [b]making you more likely to catch a cold, the flu or other infections[/b].

That'll refer to people that are underweight because they don't eat (probably)

I read somewhere that

Right... 🙄

Good thread.

Me, 5.10, in me 40's and 74kgs at the mo. Fit as though not as fit as you Mr Carbon, lack of training at present.. Blah, blah blah.
Back int he day I too was like you and would train all hours that God sent down to me. Never had colds nor flu. Soon as I stopped training I'd catch them all.

I think fatigue play a huge part, over work your body and it'll respond by slowing you down, catching colds slows you down.

Take a rest.

I read somewhere that

Right...

Cycling weekly IIRC had the abridge version, haven't got my athens password anymore to find the original.

The conlcusion was that fatties have more energy reserves so when they get ill (whther mild or seriously) they recover quicker. But they're still more likely to be ill in the first palce.

oldgit - Member
That'll refer to people that are underweight because they don't eat (probably)

I agree it is a bit un-clear and as with most medical things it is probably very complex; but my simple take is either;

Your underweight because you don’t eat enough (eating disorders, stress, trying to lose weight).

Or

Your underweight because you don’t eat enough to replenish your energy stores (active lifestyle, CX racer who has just finished a season of 3rd and 2nd cat road racing)

But either way the NHS site leads you to believe that being underweight weakens your immune system making you more likely to catch a cold, the flu or other infections.

Dara chats to leading biologist professor Steve Jones and finds out how the bicycle did more to improve the human immune system than any other invention,..

?
sounds interesting. Dara's science club - 9pm tonight on bbc2

Surely both things are symptoms of the same thing, rather than one leading to the other ? (there really is some poor understanding of cause and effect and causal links in here)

Perhaps you are both skinny and get colds because you over-train and don't recover properly ??

Eat more vegetables, eat less rubbish, recover properly after rides. Vitamins and That Sort Of Thing are hokum, witchcraft and superstition for the modern world.

And drink more water, and always make your bed in the morning, and put on an extra jersey.

And wash your hands lots.

🙄

Once again with the throwing witches at turnips thing.

You can [b]only[/b] get a disease caused by a virus by coming into contact with that virus. The virus is strangely uninterested by your current BMI. People who come into contact with viruses like the cold virus will get infected and some of them will display the symptoms of a cold.

As noted above, the commonest form of transmission is by hand to mouth or nose or eyes, so wash your hands often.

I deal with folk on a daily basis who have actual documented, reproducible, well researched problems with their immune systems, and who have any number of rather grim infections.

I wash my hands a very lot.

You don't sound that skinny!

I'm 5'9" and been down to 54kgs when fit and strong and didn't get many colds. I felt the cold a lot and always hate winter, but I rarely got ill.

Over training and being run down and not getting decent sleep is more likely to get you ill than being slim. I got a lot of colds last year but that was more because I didn't sleep due to a baby waking me every 2 hours :'(

If you feel the sniffles coming on, take a bit extra vit C and Zinc to give yourself a boost in fighting it off. And go to bed early, if you do this just before it properly takes hold you can often shake it off in a day or two. Drinking green tea and eating brocoli also helps.

It's hard work not getting ill when riding Cyclocross because it's such a full-on effort in horrible conditions. If you are getting ill lots, perhaps ease up on the mid week training. Remember that racing is the hardest form of training.