I feed them dead influenza.

Oh wait, that’s called a vaccine.


Well, anyway, it works.

3 kids, (13, 13, 10).
None of them have ever had the flu.
2 of my 3 kids have never had antibiotics. I think this has helped strengthen their immune systems.
At this point it's been 5 years since any of them have been sick at all.

That said, it's probably more luck of the draw and/or genetics than anything.

My child has an autoimmune disease that is basically his immune system in overdrive. He literally never gets sick, but still manages to get the flu.

Honestly, OP, I think it's more a combination of genetics and hygiene than anything else. Make your kids wash their hands a lot. Change their clothes right when they get home from school, or from birthday parties.

I breastfeed both kids for over a year. We never get the flu shot. Before flu season, I increase their multivitamin intake by 1/3. They also take Sambucol tablets daily during flu season. Occasionally, we all drink echinacea tea. Also lots of hand washing especially when they first walk in the house.

I don't have kids, but I've never had the flu and rarely got sick as a kid and almost never as an adult. Get the flu shot sporadically/if I remember.

I have and have always had a normal-to-poor standard American diet. Never taken vitamins or anything. Hand-washing was never emphasized growing up. This is gross to admit, but I don't really wash my hands except after I use a public restroom, while cooking if I'm handling raw meat, or if they feel sticky/grimy or are visibly dirty with something. I could go a whole day without washing my hands and probably frequently do.

I was breastfed for two years, but I'm pretty sure it's gotta just be a genetic luck of the draw. Or maybe it's just because I'm not around kids much? I do work in close quarters with many different people, though.

I’m 31 and have never in my life had the *actual* flu A or flu B. I wonder if when I eventually do catch it someday,
it will hit me harder than if I’d had it a couple times as a young person. I don’t eat that healthily but have always been naturally thin/fit (sports/staying active) and very vigilant about hand washing for as long as I remember.

Elderberry syrup.

Their kids may have had the flu but they don’t know it. My kid once tested positive for the flu with just a slight temp that was gone after 6 hours. Under normal circumstances I would have never taken him to the doctor and never found out he had the flu.

I have no idea if we have ever had the flu. We have had various viruses but I don't know if they were influenza or not.

I have never had flu and rarely have colds. I was a chronic nailbiter from a young age and played outside all the time so my sister theorizes that I was exposed to all sorts of germs from a very young age and this built my robust immune system. Ha ha.

Handwashing doesn't prevent transmission from droplets in the air. It's helpful but not a guarantee.

And a diet of berries isn't either. My kids live off berries and milk and have a healthy diet in general, similar to everything recommended here - and one of the three comes down with the flu every year (we do vaccinate).

This thread gives me a headache. The formula is not hard to crack - flu shots + handwashing. Not berries. Not breastfeeding. *sigh*

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 8 and 9. They are both generally healthy but they have each had the flu (influenza) 3 times in their lives. Several family friends of ours, with similarly aged kids, have never had the flu, despite being exposed repeatedly. I know there is so little we know about this but one thing I noted is that these families eat berries daily. If your kids seem to avoid getting the flu do you think it’s because of any dietary habits?

Fascinating. My almost 6 year old has basically survived on strawberries, raspberries, cups of milk + the occasional cookie or cracker, since like age 3. She's also healthier than anyone else in the family, and has more energy.

Anonymous wrote:

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 with this. I'm the PP with the physician spouse. I will say whenever spouse has a string of shifts and is severely sleep-deprived, they get a cold/flu. I think at least for some people, there is a link between sleep deprivation and immunity.

I'd even say that genetics is the most important because even if you do catch a virus, you might have zero or only mild symptoms. A few years ago me, my kid, and my spouse all came down with the flu (we were all vaccinated) and while my spouse and I suffered for at least a week, my kid pretty much just had a slightly elevated temperature for a day and that was it. And probably 90% of the kid's diet consists of garbage.