On cold symptoms, immune system, and other thoughts...

I was reading the article in New York Times about how studies confirm the sometimes counter-intuitive perception that cold symptoms don't make us sick. Somehow, I don't find it that hard to believe. While cold symptoms are unpleasant, what with all the running nose and sore throat, but your body almost always wins in the end. And you won't get sick for quite some time, since your body has produced antibody to last you for quite some time.

But there's more. The finding indicates that, since it's good to let your body fight the good fight (and win in the end), it's a bad thing to take all those herbal supplements and vitamins to try to protect your body from coming down with colds. This one might be harder to believe, but somehow, I buy that too.

I remember when I was going up, my mother used to tell us this: If you have a temperature (low grade fever), that's ok; because you're going to grow an inch or two after that. Her saying has stuck with me for a very long time, and I truly believed it. My secret wish to get sick (and have a fever) is solely cosmetic. I was rather skinny and slim-built when I was growing up, and I've always, always wished that I could grow taller. The myth that my mother told me somehow gave me this hope that I could perhaps get another inch or two, should I get sick more often. I know it sounds rather perverse, and the logic is all backwards; but don't argue that with a 7-year-old.

And there's more: If I get sick, mom would let me stay home, in bed all day, and do nothing but drink soup, or have congee, or rice noodle in soup. I'm born a soup/congee/noodle person, and that means heaven to me, no matter that I might be suffering from unpleasant symptoms. I didn't consider those things, because in my mind, the goods outweigh the bads. So, that's that.

But I never really get my wish fulfilled. You'd think it's relatively easy to come true, coming down with colds every darn winter. That might well be true in these days. But back then, this was not so for me. From when I was born, until I'm well into my early adulthood, I hardly get sick. For as far as my memory can serve me, I can only remember myself coming down with slight temperature twice. Both times, I got my wish and my fill of soup/congee/noodle; although the grow-a-few-inch part never materialized. (I would have to wait until puberty before I get my growth spurt.)

Resources were very limited back then, and we never have all the seemingly modern-day luxury like annual checkup, or going to see the doctor when you're sick, which has now become national obsession in this country, given all the debates for healthcare reform. Being old-fashioned mother as she is, mom somehow did all the right things. Let your body fight the fight. Eat well, sleep well. Balance diet. Exercise, and playing. Back then, if someone is reeeally sick (diarrhea was probably the worse that I can recall) , you get over-the-counter medicine. Believe it or not, they still work their wonders for me these days.

But you know, I know deep down there's something more than just doing the right things by my mom that kept us healthy. I know it has to be something more. Even these days, when my kids might come down sick, contagious with all the cold or flu symptoms or all sorts of virus, I somehow almost always am the last one standing (since my husband almost always gets infected too). In the household, we do all the routines together. In fact, my kids are much more active in outdoor activities than I am now. My husband does his exercise frequently too. So, I know it has to be something else.

And then, I remember the food that my mom made.

We didn't have alot of money back then. Mom is a stay-home mother, and dad is forever working long hours to get enough money to feed the family. So, mom watches the household finance extremely carefully, and we're reeeeeally frugal. (Oh, you'd think getting food stamps, or soup kitchen, or not having Christmas presents is frugal? Those are luxuries, because there's still someone lending a helping hand - be it the government, or charitable organizations.) When we were young, there was no such thing as eating-out. You watch every penny. You don't have any - and I mean, any - money to buy anything extra, other than food or pay the rent. We didn't have a TV until I was 12.

You might think, gosh, I feel bad for you. Or, I'm really sorry to hear the tight situation in the household. But don't be. That's because we never felt poor. Mom did a tremendously marvelous job in keeping the household going. With the very little money, she would get sometimes cast-out food from the fresh food market, like tomatoes or oranges or fruits that people throw out by the hawkers because they are 1/3 or half rotten. She's an expert in cutting out the rotten parts, and we eat only the good parts. For that, we have fresh food in every meal, and fruits everyday. She would cook our meals fresh, everyday. She would walk us to school. She would make sure everything in the household is clean. In our spare times, we would make up our own games and play. Or, I would draw pictures. I like drawing pictures.

I'm not an anomaly in my family, because my parents and my siblings rarely get sick either. As I get older, I'm beginning to attribute the good health that my mom imbues in us, through those rotten food that she bought. I would get much stronger stomach than my husband or kids because I can take almost any kind of food, even those not in the best condition. In the back of my mind, I've also believed that, being exposed in a controlled dose of bad stuffs (eg. virus) can somehow make you stronger. This was way before I come to realize how alot of vaccines are made, which are essentially dead or even live virus in low dosage. Somehow, we have to learn let your body how to fight a fight. To a certain extent, the study in this article confirms that belief of mine.

But I know, if I am to tell people, try to get rotten food, trim the bad parts, and eat them, it's going to major heresy. No one in the modern days is going to take me seriously on that. Afterall, there's always modern medicine to help you when you get sick. And good food is aplenty. No one is going to go out and seek out rotten food in supermarkets, not even those on food stamps who complain that they don't have money to buy food. In a rich, developed country like this, no one would accept that as modus operandi. I guess, if I were to have the seriously limited resources like my parents have had back then, I would have adopted those practices without second thoughts. But if one has money in the pocket, it's hard to suggest them (me included) to go get rotten food.