Anonymous wrote:Anecdata aside, diet is not going to make more than a small difference at the margins.

The most salient factors are probably, in this order:

1) Pure luck in terms of encountering carriers
2) Genetic/in utero/birth circumstance influence on the immune system that you have almost no control over
3) Flu shot
4) Hygiene (Maybe tied for #3)
5) Pretty much everything else that has any influence at all (sleep, diet, etc.)

Agree. I don’t think diet plays any role. I feed my kid a very healthy diet. He catches every single bug going around. I had a very difficult pregnancy with him and had surgery and a serious infection during the second trimester. I think this is what caused his weak immune system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mostly cheese and carbs. He's shockingly healthy.

This my daughter, too! 11 years old, never had the flu and rarely ever gets sick. Cheese and carbs. (and occasionally takes tiny nibbles off the tops of broccoli.)

Mine is shockingly the tallest kid in the class and considered the most athletic despite a diet of cheese (mozzarella, to be specific), carbs, and steamed broccoli.

I feed them fruit snacks as a bribe to get them to go for their flu shots every year.

Anonymous wrote:Mostly cheese and carbs. He's shockingly healthy.

This my daughter, too! 11 years old, never had the flu and rarely ever gets sick. Cheese and carbs. (and occasionally takes tiny nibbles off the tops of broccoli.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We get flu shots every year and the kids have never had the flu that I know of. I can’t think of the last time I had to flu, though I’m sure it must’ve happened some time in my 36 years of life, so there might be a genetic component to getting severe flu as well.

+1 I don't think I've ever had the flu in my life. 50 years old. My kids are rarely sick and have never gotten the flu either. We are a bit hit or miss with flu shots; in recent years I've gotten them at work when they hold the flu clinic. I get the kids the shots when I can get into the flu clinic but that doesn't happen every year.

As far as eating, we eat pretty normally, mostly home-cooked meals with lots of fruits and vegetables, but nothing extraordinary. They eat sugar cereal for breakfast.

PP again. Just re-read your OP. We do actually eat berries several times a week and pomegranate seeds when in season.

Anonymous wrote:We get flu shots every year and the kids have never had the flu that I know of. I can’t think of the last time I had to flu, though I’m sure it must’ve happened some time in my 36 years of life, so there might be a genetic component to getting severe flu as well.

+1 I don't think I've ever had the flu in my life. 50 years old. My kids are rarely sick and have never gotten the flu either. We are a bit hit or miss with flu shots; in recent years I've gotten them at work when they hold the flu clinic. I get the kids the shots when I can get into the flu clinic but that doesn't happen every year.

As far as eating, we eat pretty normally, mostly home-cooked meals with lots of fruits and vegetables, but nothing extraordinary. They eat sugar cereal for breakfast.

There's got to be a genetic component to this. No one in my family gets the flu. I remember my mom had it once, in the 80s. My grandmother survived the Spanish Flu in 1918 in Germany as a teenager.

My siblings, my kids, my nieces/nephews we've never gotten it. Even when my DD's best friend got it last year, I was sure it was our time. Nope.

I have no idea why, but I'm sure it's not because of diet. We all still get our flu shots, and have every year since they've been offered. But that doesn't give 100% protection. Maybe we've just been lucky.

We do throw up from stomach viruses at least once a year though.

Annual flu shots

A reasonably healthy diet, but we don't forbid processed food or anything. We just make sure she has several servings of a variety of fruits and vegetables every day.

Daily probiotic

A generally healthy constitution

Anecdata aside, diet is not going to make more than a small difference at the margins.

The most salient factors are probably, in this order:

1) Pure luck in terms of encountering carriers
2) Genetic/in utero/birth circumstance influence on the immune system that you have almost no control over
3) Flu shot
4) Hygiene (Maybe tied for #3)
5) Pretty much everything else that has any influence at all (sleep, diet, etc.)

^^^ Meant to say kids are 12 and 8 and go to public school and attend after school activities. I work at a hospital and my husband at visit several places a day so our potential for contamination is very high.

Anonymous wrote:my kids have a diet 90% of DCUM would find horrific yet they have never had the flu, never get strep, get a short virus that lasts 24-48 hours once per school year each. There’s no correlation.

Same here. Plus my oldest got a pretty bad case of a stomach bug (she and I did) when she was 3 or so because it was going around her daycare. But neither of my kids have ever had the flu, strep, or ear infections, actually (!!) and they eat all the things people here would cringe and judge me for.

my kids have a diet 90% of DCUM would find horrific yet they have never had the flu, never get strep, get a short virus that lasts 24-48 hours once per school year each. There’s no correlation.

My kids both eat the same things. One is almost 9 and I can count the number of times he’s gotten sick on one hand. My daughter just turned seven. She gets everything that comes into the classroom. My husband and I are more like my son.

Agree its genetics. I get sick from anyone or anything. Mine don't do the flu shot, never had the flu and usually get over colds very quickly. We push hand washing as much as we can, daily showers and wash clothing after wearing it, especially to school.

Anonymous wrote:It’s genes. Some people are always sick.

Just wondering-were they IVF?

What is your theory regarding IVF and influenza?

I have 12 year old fraternal twins via IVF. Neither has ever had the flu. We get the flu shot every year, eat a far from perfect diet (plenty of junk food), take vitamins, and wash hands frequently. DH and I both got the flu the same year at least 20 years ago (before we started getting the flu shot every year), and haven’t had it since.