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Dieting increases chance of catching flu

By Suzannah Ramsdale on Tuesday 6 January 2009

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Marie Claire health news: flu

Are you dieting this New Year after all the usual Christmas over-indulging? Thought so, so are we - but be warned, all that calorie-counting could impair your body's ability to fight off the flu, a study has found.

US researchers found that mice that were put on a calorie-controlled diet found it harder to stave off the infection than mice who were on a normal diet.

The team at Michigan State University found that not only were the dieting mice more likely to die, they took longer to recover, lost more weight and displayed other symptoms of poor health.

'Our research shows that having a body ready to fight a virus will lead to a faster recovery and less-severe effects than if it is calorically restricted,' said Professor Elizabeth Gardner, who conducted the research.

The latest flu statistics from England and Wales show that cases are up 73% on last year and experts are blaming the unusually cold weather for the increase.

Professor John Oxford, an influenza expert at Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, advised, 'common sense should prevail at this time of year.'

'There are a lot of viruses and while it might have been better to avoid those extra helpings of Christmas pudding in the first place, now is not the time to be thinking about diets.'

It sounds like a good enough excuse for us….pass the chocolates!

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Tuesday 6 January 2009

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Makes perfect sense to me. I suffer ear infections, sore throats and sometimes flu a good 60% of the time all year round, even when eating normally, let alone eating less. I suspect chronic fatigue triggered by a virus some years ago. I NEVER suffer virus like symptoms when I overeat, however. It is very unfortunate, and hacks me off as I am not as slim as I would like to be (a size 8-10 rather than a 4 or a 6) but when I overeat it is the only time I actually feel physically well again.
Comment by Cate G on January 07 12:23