Colds

[Pam]

I'm just asking out of interest, but how many of you still suffer from colds? Since going dairy free two years ago I have probably only had a cold once and I never seem to get ill these days with the many viruses that my children pick up. I have not taken a single day off sick in the 18 months that I've been back at work either. I don't know if the lack of dairy makes me healthier or if it is just a coincidence. Anyone else noticed this?

[Lan]

Hi Pam,

I normally get about 2/3 colds a year, normally between November and February. I seem to be prone to stomach bugs though. Does anyone else find this? I get them quite a lot recently.

Have just started taking the good bacteria you find in Yakult in tablet form. You can buy them from health food shops and seem to be doing the trick. Will definitely let you know how they go.

Kind Regards,


Lan.

:D

[matt]

i'm not a good example except of what happens when you don't eat enough! my immune system shot to hell so i catch anything that i get within 100miles of.


my own fault.

[Pam]

Coming back to the colds thing, I'm normally quite healthy but have noticed that whenever I have a major lapse from my dairy free diet I seem to come down with a cold. After an overindulgent binge on chocolate biscuits and forbidden dips, nibbles and whatever else at work before christmas I came down with the mother of all colds and spent half of christmas day in bed as a result. I didn't really improve until all the chocs were scoffed (mainly by me) at work and I was dairy free again.

My husband now has a killer cold and I'm being very good at sticking to the dairy free stuff in the hope that I don't come down with it, I've still not had any time off work due to sickness so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[emi_150]

I've also noticed a change in my health since iv been diary free. I used to get colds and headaches all the time but i havnt been ill in absolutely ages... in fact i cant even remember the last cold i had!! :D

The only time i feel ill is when i actually eat diary but then again thats probably just the reaction i get. I made the mistake of treating myself to a tiny slice of cheesecake a few nights ago... boy do i regret it now!! I think im going to have to call it quits and stop risking eating anything dairy as i was finding it difficult to breathe and the chest pains and headaches were agony... stupid dairy :angry:

[Copper]

Hmm finding it difficult to breathe after eating dairy makes me think you are allergic to milk protein rather than lactose intolerant. It will be interesting to see if the casein affects you. (Another thread I know but too lazy to post twice).

I am rarely ill and that has always been the case since childhood. The only way that dairy affects me is via my stomach. I am a bit like Matt and hate the thought of being sick, so I am not tempted to overdo the lactose intake.

[lyndamc]

Can't say being dairy free made much of a difference to me this winter, we've had a really bad flu virus and two major sickness bugs, both children have got colds at the moment. Maybe we've been so ill because I've got one at infants school and one attending toddler groups, those years do seem to be the worst for picking everything up. So hopefully as they get older and their immune systems develop we'll get less illness. Keeping my fingers crossed!

[matt]

ah, children otherwise known as germ factories!! doesn't help when the parents don't keep them home when they are ill. always used to annoy the heck out of me. why do people insist on spreading virus' all around?

lactose can cause excess mucus production whether due to allergy or what don't know. i think as we all will suffer slightly diff results it's sometimes impossible to split between allergy and intollerance.

[Bet]

My 5 year old suffers big time with her stomach every time she is ill from anything - sickness bugs obviously, but colds, coughs etc also - as soon as she gets ill she gets dreadful stomache pains - Ive been told by the doctor in the past the mucus affects the stomach badly and also the stomach glands come up and cause more problems in milk intolerant children - whatever the reason we always know when shes sickening for something because her stomach tells us before she does!

Does anyone else have the same experience?

[Pam]

My son's friend has recently had tonsilitis which caused his stomach glands to swell and cause problems, the antibiotics only made him feel worse. I don't know that he is milk intolerant though.

So far so good with regards to hubby's cold but with a bit of persuasion from Jamie Oliver I've been on a high fruit diet so I'm hoping all the extra vit c will work wonders and keep the colds away. (Got mango, sharon fruit, sweet potatoes and lots more today the poor man on the jamaican/west indian stall on the market got bombarded with loads of "what's this" type questions from me - he had hairy yams, breadfruit and avocados the size of which you have never seen before - I love looking on that stall)

[matt]

stomach thing might explain why i was like i was as a child. lots of tummy probs and if i caught a cold then not pleasant......

i wish i knew how i managed to grow out of it. and whether it's back for good!

west indian stall sounds fun though the description of the owner worrying what with his hairy yams and so on. sounds like he's very uncomfortable:lol2:

good idea with the fruit diet. don't forget too much vit c has unpleasant consequences.....:o

[Copper]

I have been told that an excess of Vitamin C is just excreted in your urine - how polite of me :)

[Mac]

I've just had a dairy free "cold" for me that was a sore throat and a bit snotty.......... but nothing like colds of the past, I can still breathe down both nostils though these days, I never get blocked up. Interesting about stomach probs........ you know, I swear being dairy free has given me IBS. Never ever suffered before now.

[matt]

it's meant to be the other way round mac. get rid of ibs!!

what do you have instead? could be your body doesn't much like the soya milk or whatever. try one of the other milks. oat or almond etc or rice.

[Pam]

Maybe I should go away from soya for a while, I suffer a lot of bloating these days and I'm sure my digestive system isn't all it should be.

[Mac]

I have fortified rice milk instead as I think soya taskes like stamp and I hate it. I know... (about the ibs) trust me to be a bit odd!!

[Copper]

I have been advising daughter 1 again about her lactose intolerance. She has now cut out a lot of dairy from her diet. She tried unsweetened soya milk - brave girl - and thought it was yuk. She has now tried Waitrose own sweetened soya milk and says that it is ok.

This post about colds has made me realise that her life has been one long cold for the last few years. It will be interesting to see if that improves along with her stomach. I will keep you posted.

[matt]

i found the waitrose one good aswell. don't bother with any of them at them moment.

got used to black tea and coffee.

i did like the almond milk aswell. ok as long as you like nuts. that's like nuts not act like nuts. though both apply in my case!

[Pam]

Well I think I've got the cold, I've had sinus pain since sunday and started with the raw throat yesterday. It's just that people don't know how rough you're feeling when you don't have the runny nose to go with it. I've got to learn a new procedure at work today too which I could well do without.

[matt]

you have my sympathy. i've been very lucky this year so far. touch wood. i've dreaded catching anything this year and have avoided anyone with anything. dose yourself up and feel better soon.

[lyndamc]

Hope you feel better soon Pam! I caught my kids cold too this week, but at least this one seems to be quite mild!
Hopefully we can break the cycle over the Easter Hols!