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Why do I get sick less often?
Apr. 6th, 2010 01:13 pmI'm mildly sick today. Not enough to knock me out, but enough that I'm moving more slowly.
This is the first time I've been sick at all since last October. It's also the first time I've become sick after starting to take daily zinc supplements (50mg) at the beginning of November on a friend's advice. Apparently this friend got several of his coworkers to take daily zinc supplements all winter as well, and none of them got sick. It's informal citizen-science, for what it's worth. In any case, zinc supplements are cheap, so I see little reason not to continue, though apparently there is some danger that I may be getting too much zinc and thus I should have my levels checked.
My girlfriend is sick as well, presumably with the same virus. It sounds like she's substantially worse off than I am, though that may be due to differing immune systems.
Last year, when I was running around third world countries, getting exposed to new local bacteria, eating strange food from restaurants with limited kitchen hygiene, sleeping in different beds in proximity to lots of different people, I got sick around once a month.
In previous years, I typically would get sick around three times in the winter months and once in the summer months.
So I'm getting sick less often now. Is it because of the zinc? Or because I'm in daily contact with fewer people? Since sickness only comes along a few times a year, it's hard to gather enough data to know for sure.
This is the first time I've been sick at all since last October. It's also the first time I've become sick after starting to take daily zinc supplements (50mg) at the beginning of November on a friend's advice. Apparently this friend got several of his coworkers to take daily zinc supplements all winter as well, and none of them got sick. It's informal citizen-science, for what it's worth. In any case, zinc supplements are cheap, so I see little reason not to continue, though apparently there is some danger that I may be getting too much zinc and thus I should have my levels checked.
My girlfriend is sick as well, presumably with the same virus. It sounds like she's substantially worse off than I am, though that may be due to differing immune systems.
Last year, when I was running around third world countries, getting exposed to new local bacteria, eating strange food from restaurants with limited kitchen hygiene, sleeping in different beds in proximity to lots of different people, I got sick around once a month.
In previous years, I typically would get sick around three times in the winter months and once in the summer months.
So I'm getting sick less often now. Is it because of the zinc? Or because I'm in daily contact with fewer people? Since sickness only comes along a few times a year, it's hard to gather enough data to know for sure.
