Avoid Getting Ill: Will It Weaken Immunity?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the relationship between taking precautions to avoid illness and the potential impact on the immune system. Participants explore concepts related to immunity, hygiene, and the effects of a clean environment on health, including allergies and asthma. The conversation includes personal anecdotes and questions about dietary habits and their implications for immune function.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether avoiding illness for an extended period could weaken the immune system, making it more susceptible to infections when exposed to pathogens.
  • Another participant asks if the immune system strengthens or maintains itself through illness.
  • Some participants suggest that the rise in allergies and asthma may be linked to overly clean environments, proposing that a lack of exposure to germs could lead the immune system to attack the body instead.
  • A participant shares their experience as a bodybuilder, discussing the frequency of food dropping and questioning the implications of eating food that has fallen on the ground.
  • Responses to the bodybuilder's comment include humor and a reference to the "three-second rule," while also cautioning against unsanitary conditions.
  • Further discussion emphasizes that contact with "dirt" may be beneficial for the immune system without necessarily leading to illness, indicating that a well-functioning immune system can handle bacteria without causing sickness.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the effects of cleanliness on the immune system, with some advocating for exposure to germs while others remain uncertain about the implications of avoiding illness. The discussion does not reach a consensus on these points.

Contextual Notes

Some claims about the immune system's response to illness and cleanliness depend on specific definitions and assumptions that are not fully explored in the discussion. The relationship between dietary habits and immune function is also presented without detailed examination of underlying factors.

Fritz
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If I take precautions to prevent myself from getting ill, will my immune system weaken to a point where it is highly likely that I'll get ill when exposed to any bacteria or virus (if I actually manage to avoid getting sick for a period of years)?
 
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I'm feeling slightly nauseous now.
 
Does your immune system strenghthen (or maintain) whenever you get ill?
 
There seems to be a fair bit of evidence monting that the growth in Allergies, ashma and similar diseases are partly due to the clean environment we live in. The Immune system has little to do and attacks the body instead!

Eat dirt, don't wash, live long!
 
I am a bodybuilder and therefore eat eight times per day. Consequently, I frequently drop food on the ground and eat it. Is this okay?
 
Fritz said:
I am a bodybuilder and therefore eat eight times per day. Consequently, I frequently drop food on the ground and eat it. Is this okay?

Consequently? How does being a body builder and eating 8 times a day make you drop food on the ground a lot? Anyway, 3 second rule says if you pick it up before you can count to 3, it's okay :biggrin: I wouldn't recommend it if you're in a scummy locker room, or standing on a public sidewalk, but if you have a reasonably clean kitchen floor and that's what you drop it on, no big deal, unless you own pets...then eeeeewwww, furry food!
 
Moonbear said:
eeeeewwww, furry food!
Ohh... it little castor or cod liver oil will move that hairball right along... :smile: :smile:
 
Adrian Baker said:
There seems to be a fair bit of evidence monting that the growth in Allergies, ashma and similar diseases are partly due to the clean environment we live in. The Immune system has little to do and attacks the body instead!

Eat dirt, don't wash, live long!

Yes, it is probably a good thing to get into contact with some "dirt" and not to live in a "too clean" environment. However it is not necessary to become ill from this, just too have contact with it, if you do not get ill from this that is sign that your imunne system is doing well, that it is dealing with the bacteria without affecting your whole system so much that you get sick.
 
Moonbear said:
Consequently? How does being a body builder and eating 8 times a day make you drop food on the ground a lot?

Because:

a) I eat more than twice as rrequently as other people.

b) Because of a), I have to eat in when I'm doing other things (like walking between classes). This makes it easier to drop food.
 

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