Diet to improve imune system with a keen eye on weightloss

What I've picked up over the years... but don't always adhere to are the following;

For the best immune system

 - limit alochol consumption - as processing alcohol takes reserves away from maximising your immune efficiency and also compromises the quality of sleep

 - Get adequate, good quality sleep. Fatigue will depress your immune response... being fresh is the biggest single thing you can do to being healthy

- drink plenty of water... again, being well hydrated will help your body work well.

- Limit bad food choices... processed sugars, 'junk' food, over processed / refined foods. These food will again take resources away from maximising your immune response, but more importantly, take the place of more nutritious, beneficial foods in your diet. 

For weight loss

 - limit sugar intake

 - eat natural as much as you can

 - be aware of and limit bad food choices

 - limit alcohol intake

 - drink plenty of water

 - use butter instead of spreads

Other thoughts...

 - Red meat is fine, overly processed meat, potentially less so. 

 - Carbs are not your enemy, sugar is. 

 - No one adapts to processing fat as a fuel source at higher intensity. There is an upper intensity limit that you can burn fat and get the energy you need, above which you need to use glycogen etc. Anyone talking about being fat adapted may well have tapped into that limit (which most people don't), but believe me there is no tapping through it. 

A Keto chap I  know can run at his FTP on no carbs... thats great for him... his FTP is 275watts. Now thats not a bad FTP, but its not exactly good either. As a physiological load its certainly within many well trained cyclists endurance levels... my point being, is that he's not beating biology, he's simply limiting his performance to fat burning intensities. 

Whilst it's always admirable when people take an interest in their nutrition and some of the science behind it, cherry-picking data does not a cogent argument make.

The likeliest explanation for your recurrent illnesses is bad-luck. Infectious illnesses are common. Nursey/school-age kids make terrific vectors and working with lots of other people doesn't help. However, if you've lost weight/been ill continously and not getting better/had 'odd' symptoms out-of-keeping with normal viral stuff etc. then it is worth seeing your GP to exclude anything serious.

Of course, you will now 'regress to the mean' which is to say that you will probably notice fewer illnesses no matter what you do (bad-luck usually goes away). If you happen to adopt a new health regime, you might be inclined to give it the credit so... may as well pick something fun like fat-based, carb-lite diets; superfood-rich diets or regular colonic irrigation. Otherwise, don't smoke (at all)  or drink (too much); eat as well as you can, exercise regularly and enjoy yourself!

I commute 12 miles a day a maximum of four days a week to do farm work. Weekends need to generally be sedentary for me to recuperate.

We all have massively different capacities for excercise and this changes for each of us over our lifetime and obviously our general health at the time is going to affect excercise capacity. I feel we need to listen to what our bodies are telling us. If you physically don't feel up to riding, don't ride!

Here's more proof, if it were needed, that what you eat can improve your health very quickly:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-38485402

I seriously need to go back to work and get some routine back into my diet. Started December at 67kg, now nearly 71kg. The shame, the shame. Too many tins of chocolate in the office and too many drinks of alcohol.

I also been thinking of 'cheating' for a couple of weeks and may bang some clenbuterol down to speed things up.

Ianrobo

Where is the evidence that eating too many carbs damages the immune system? Or damages people, clearly if people eat more calories than they burn off they get store the excess as fat. But I can't see how it could suppress the immune system or even damage it in normal people.
Just interested if you could point me to the study that comes up with this as a result.
In one of your earlier posts you suggest there is no real science to back it up so was just wondering.

Dunnoh
Why not go to your gp and see if they can identity anything that may be affecting your immune system?

That sounds like a fair bit of cycling. Combined with a full-time job it could be taking a cumulative toll.

It may not be practical, but have you thought about having a complete break for a week or two?

this washing of hands ignores the fact the guy has said immune issues and this is well known cause of too much carb eating which damges you. Forget the doctors, they don;t know nor want to understand diet. It sounds like the OP understands this and needs proper dietary advice not a doctor's one based on old dogma

Wash your hands frequently. Most colds are spread by contact, not through air.

Remember that year when everyone thought they were going to die of bird 'flu? There were gel handwashes everywhere and people used them. Far fewer people got influenza that year.

Wash you hands before eating food if you've been near other people, public transport etc. Don't touch your face/mouth/eyes with unclean hands. Keep away from sick people. Clean your phone and keyboard regularly. Get flu shots.

Report to doctor if, despite that, you are still getting ill. 

"Have done for years but recently I keep getting ill.   I need to change my diet."

So you weren't ill and then suddenly you were?   Did you change your diet just before you started becoming ill?   If not, your diet is not to blame.

Go and see your doc.

I agree with madcarew.

Diet is just one piece of the jigsaw, though eating lots of fresh veg and fruit - and correspondingly less sugar and processed foods - will always be a good move. Lots of people who think they eat "reasonably well" still get through a surprising amount of junk.

Look at your sleep patterns and the environment you live and work in.

I've spoken to several people recently who've had a persistent cold since October. If it's nothing more than that then don't fret, otherwise consider seeing your doctor and ask them to run some blood tests.

Myth busting:

Cold air entering the lungs doesn't cause colds, lurgies or anything else. In fact cold air supports fewer viruses and bacteria than warm air.

"Always eat breakfast": There is no evidence at all to support the idea breakfast is the most important meal of the day or is even remotely important at all. 

Some elements of diet *may* be helpful in supporting the immune system in some individuals, but there is no immune supportive dietary items that have been shown to offer real benefit. However, cutting crap processed stuff out of your diet is unlikely to prove a bad idea.

If you work in an office environment and this is a recent onset I would be looking to changes in the office air conditioning system (re-circulating air, too warm, too dry, poorly maintained humidification) which are far more likely to contribute to regular infections.

See a doctor if you keep getting ill!

There's a massively long thread on here about a ketogenic diet that I intend reading one day.

I was on something similar for a while and felt great. Wish I could do it again, but lashings of self control is required and I currently don't have that.

Mix with fewer people. Diet has nothing to do with it.

Since I gave up the office job, I don't get colds and other lurgies. If you really feel the need, go for an out an back 16 miler. In fact, cycle further as you see fit. You won't catch anything.

Eliminate all free sugars from your diet, adopt the principles of the Mediterranean diet.

http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/goodfood/pages/sugars.aspx

http://oldwayspt.org/traditional-diets/mediterranean-diet

Always eat breakfast, I eat porridge and a natural yogurt. The rest of the time eat more fruit and veg and slightly less red meats. Wear a face cover to keep the air warmer entering lungs when cold.