Strengthen one's immune system?

I'm on/in one river or another nearly every day where I frequently ingest small quantities of the water. Ppl joke that the river guides can eat anything because we consume so much bacteria on a daily basis that our immune systems are strong like bull. In the two years that I've done this I haven't gotten sick once. I know that's some pretty anecdotal evidence but even two week old cole slaw doesn't phase me. message_topic.aspx?topic=474748

Does anyone have any info or comments?


*nom nom nom*

7/12/2007 1:24:33 AM

It doesn't make your immune system stronger, but it does make you dumber, as evidence by this thread.

7/12/2007 1:42:03 AM

7/12/2007 1:54:47 AM

i r not amused.

7/12/2007 1:57:35 AM

haha lowjack made me lol

7/12/2007 2:02:33 AM

It makes you stronger... but maybe not in the way you think.

You are definitely more resistant to bacteria that occurs in a river environment compared to a regular person, but if you were in a restaurant and ate some bad food, you likely wouldn't have any special immunity to the bacteria in the food compared to a regular person, assuming the food bacteria were of a different kind than river bacteria.

7/12/2007 2:27:43 AM

I wouldn't take it as far as ingesting river water, but there was a popular study a few years back that showed those who are 'clean freaks' or OCD germaphobes, since creating an environment thats so clean compared to normal living, whenever they encountered common health issues such as colds or flu, etc it hit them harder and stayed longer since they're immune system was never really as strong and was just piddling its fingers.

[Edited on July 12, 2007 at 3:12 AM. Reason : .]

7/12/2007 3:11:21 AM

I was a sick kid. Had pneumonia twice and now I never get sick. I think its b/c i'm not a picky eater and just eat anything and everything.

7/12/2007 3:26:37 AM

there is evidence that it lowers the incidence of allergies and asthma, particularly amongst children that grow up on farms

7/12/2007 5:10:12 AM

I grew up on a farm

7/12/2007 7:42:19 AM

Quote :

"I was a sick kid. Had pneumonia twice and now I never get sick. I think its b/c i'm not a picky eater and just eat anything and everything."

same here.

the only time ive really gotten sick these past years was when i got the flu. That shit sucked balls, but other than that, i havent gotten sick since i was maybe 15 or 16

7/12/2007 8:26:48 AM

haha yeah, i don't think you'll gain superpowers by rolling around in toxic waste either

7/12/2007 8:32:53 AM

hmmmm... Super power, you say.. hmmmm

7/12/2007 8:37:12 AM

Quote :

"I was a sick kid. Had pneumonia twice and now I never get sick. I think its b/c i'm not a picky eater and just eat anything and everything."

Aye, when I was young I had everything, measles, chicken pox, all types of flus and stuff. Now the only time I have gotten sick in the past few years was back in October during the height of senior design when I was averaging about 2 hrs of sleep a night and didn't have much time to eat (probably played a large part in it). I only got a cold (that's what I get for letting my sick nephew jump all over me), but I forgot how much it sucked to be sick. I used to be a really picky eater when I was young but I too eat just about anything these days.

7/12/2007 9:09:46 AM