I am doing this post specifically for Bobby, who is a strange, to say the least, when it comes to colds, germs and sickness in general. I for sure don't WANT to get sick, but I don't go around sanitizing all the pens in the vicinity. My thoughts are that I haven't contracted EVERY sickness I have ever come in contact with, so it is OK to get some germs on you. As a matter of fact, I read that 25% of people that are infected with a cold don't even feel the side effects. I think I fall in that 25% MOST of the time.
So, Mr. Bobz was stressing out that he did not get his Vitamin C at the grocery store the other day. It is of his belief that Vitamin C will drastically reduce or even kill off potential illnesses.
You can read this article in Newsweek that addresses the famed myth.
I will put some short excerpts from the article:
"Oranges, grapefruits and other vitamin C-loaded foods have many health benefits. But study after study has shown that the vitamin does little—if anything—to cure, prevent or even shorten the duration of the common cold."
"So where did the vitamin C-cold connection start? It all stems from Linus Pauling, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist who lived from 1901 to 1994. In 1970 he wrote the book "Vitamin C and the Common Cold," which popularized the notion that this particular vitamin could prevent one of the most common ailments on earth. But the book came with little scientific backing and was largely devoid of evidence, says Pauling biographer Thomas Hager. "He published this very influential health book without writing a single scientific paper on the subject," he says. "He seemed to be prescribing a major change in dietary habits without much evidence." Nonetheless, the book's message stuck."
However, as the good professor says at the bottom of the article, "You've got to choose your battles in public health. Having an extra glass of orange juice may do some good, and it certainly isn't going to do a lot of harm."
So there you have it. You will still get sick, but hell, at least you will be the most Vitamin C filled sick person out there!
When You Are Most Likely to Get Sick (Source)
"The cold season in the United States typically begins in late August and early September at a time when temperatures are still moderate and central heating is not being used. September is the time of a major common cold epidemic despite people not being exposed to the drying effects of central heating."
This kinda goes back to the whole myths of "going outside, in the cold, with your hair wet will cause you to get a cold."
You get sick from germs, people, not the elements.
HOWEVER, the cold virus LIVES in the elements. Some cold viruses do better in cold weather, some do better in warmer weather, but we can for SURE count on the fact that central heating and air is OF THE DEVIL. I am going to Lysol mine as soon as I get home.
And lastly on this whole sick business, a question that was brought up during drinky time the other night:
Can You Catch the Same Cold Twice? (Source)
YES! Once again, our parents lied straight to our FACES on this! "The reason is that the cold virus mutates over time, so what you may be contracting from your family is a mutated strain of the same cold virus."
All of this was to say that I was feeling a little under the weather yesterday. Slight headache, a little nausea and an overall BLAH feeling. (Not a hangover, though the same symptoms do apply at times.) Poo on the cold season. POO. ON. YOU. Where is my orange juice?
