9 Cold And Flu Myths To Stop Believing This Winter
You won’t get the flu from a flu shot, and other real talk about winter sickness.
1. You can get the flu from a flu shot.
The CDC says this is false — the flu viruses in the shot are dead and can’t make you sick. The most common side effects of the vaccine are soreness and redness around the shot site.
2. The flu vaccine will definitely keep you from getting the flu.
False, sadly. There are many different flu viruses and the vaccine can’t protect people against all of them. Also, the vaccine may work less well in older people or those with depressed immune systems.
3. Being cold causes a cold.
This is probably mostly not true. Some researchers say being cold (as long as you don’t get hypothermia) can actually boost the immune system. But all the changes in temperature people experience in the winter (going from cold outdoors to heated houses, for instance) can clog up their noses, making them more likely to get colds. Also, one study showed that people forced to keep their bare feet in ice-cold water were more likely to get colds. They were also more likely to be mad at the study authors.
4. Feed a cold, starve a fever.
Yeah, not really. Nutrition scientist Denise Snyder says this adage “was always pretty much dismissed as folklore.” It’s possible that eating less when you have a fever could boost your immune response, but it’s not worth starving yourself. And while eating during a cold could keep your nutrient levels up, it’s not like you’ll really be able to avoid it, since colds last a while anyway. Snyder says people should focus less on food and more on what’s proven to make illness shorter, like rest and fluids.
5. Pregnant women shouldn’t get the flu shot.
Actually, pregnant women are especially prone to getting sick from the flu, because of immune system changes during pregnancy. And if a pregnant woman gets a flu shot, the vaccine will offer some protection to her newborn too. However, pregnant women shouldn’t get the flu vaccine in nasal spray form.
6. Healthy young people shouldn’t get the flu shot.
In the past when vaccine became scarce, flu shots have been restricted to at-risk groups like the elderly. But as long as there’s no vaccine shortage, anyone older than 6 months can benefit from a flu shot.
7. Vitamin C prevents colds.
Sorry, taking vitamin C regularly doesn’t make you less likely to get a cold — unless you’re a marathon runner, in which case it might have some effect. For normal people, taking the vitamin daily might make colds you do get slightly shorter.
8. Zinc cures colds.
According to the Mayo Clinic, most reliable research shows that zinc has no effect on colds. A study earlier this year found that zinc might make colds shorter, but the lead author still said there was “only a weak rationale for its use in adults.”
9. Dairy will make your cold worse.
Not true — studies have found no connection between drinking milk and cold symptoms.
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8 Responses So Far
- llemmingtron thinks 9 Cold And Flu Myths To Stop Believin... is Fail
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- Neptune's Rings thinks 9 Cold And Flu Myths To Stop Believin... is Win
- jessicaeamiem thinks 9 Cold And Flu Myths To Stop Believin... is WTF
- J Pack thinks 9 Cold And Flu Myths To Stop Believin... is Win
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- kaitlinh3 thinks 9 Cold And Flu Myths To Stop Believin... is Win
- brittahope thinks 9 Cold And Flu Myths To Stop Believin... is Win
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BlondeAmbition 5 months agoI just simply shut myself off completely from the outside world for the winter months. Definitely don’t shake anyone’s hand. Keeps me from getting the flu or a cold from others passing their germs around.
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- rachelb39 9 Cold And Flu Myths To Stop Believin...
- Oscar T. thinks 9 Cold And Flu Myths To Stop Believin... is Win
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michaelm60 5 months agoOf course a flu vaccine can’t “cause” the flu… but while your immune system is merrily fighting the weakened (or dead) flu bugs in the vaccine, it can be more prone to other illnesses (including other strains of the flu that are not in the vaccine)
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melissam17 5 months agoI love how many doctors and scientists are commenters on here. Wow. You guys sure do know more than the average doctors and scientists. Where did you study your doctoring and sciencing? The university of I watch too much teevee? I hear it’s a great school.
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- Matt Saccaro 9 Cold And Flu Myths To Stop Believin... and thinks it’s Win
- janice! 9 Cold And Flu Myths To Stop Believin... and thinks it’s Win, OMG & Geeky
- Ali Wherewithall 9 Cold And Flu Myths To Stop Believin... and thinks it’s Fail
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Ali Wherewithall 5 months ago
I cycle and swim everyday, eat healthy and keep active. My smoker friends get the flu shot, but still get respiratory infections and flu symptoms year afer year. The ‘author’ of this article sounds like she’s on Big Pharma’s payroll
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ImALoserBaby 5 months agorespiratory problems are problems are due to smoking, and flu like symptoms, well that you’re friend’s immune system’s fault. Flu shots contain flu viruses in an inactive form. The purpose is to expose your body (when you’re body is at normal temperatures) to the virus. Your immune system will work trying to destroy that virus in it’s inactive form. The idea is essentially for the white blood cells that are able to denature it will divide thus increasing the white blood cells that can neutralize viruses with those DNA/RNA sequences when it comes into contact with them. So it’s not the vaccine, it’s the immune system of your friend’s who’s at fault.
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michaelm60 5 months ago
Sure… because Big Pharma is making so much money of commoditized generic vaccines like the flu shot.
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Ali Wherewithall 5 months ago
Whether it’s based on anecdotal or empirical evidence, conclusions are unanimous that the flu shot is ineffective due to the crapshoot process that Phamaceutical utilize to select their annual strains.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8985189
Source
Division of Virology, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom. Abstract:
Vaccination of frail elderly long-term-care patients may not give clinically worthwhile benefits. -
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