November 30th, 2017

Did You Know: Obese adults are at higher risk for coming down with the flu.

As if you needed more reason to slim down this Winter…

Research suggests when it comes to catching the flu, extra weight means extra riskeven if you’ve had a flu shot!

Obesity has long been known to be an independent factor that puts people at risk of catching the flu. However, new research published in the International Journal of Obesity has now found that even those WITH vaccinations are more vulnerable than their vaccinated peers of healthy weight. Yes, you read that correctly: if you are obese, the flu vaccine is likely to provide you with significantly less protection against illness.

The 2017 study, which included over one thousand adults over the age of eighteen, found that nearly ten percent of the obese participants came down with the flu. As for those participants of a healthy weight? A five percent chance. Age, sex, and smoking status were all taken into consideration, and vaccinated obese adults were still twice as likely to develop the flu as were vaccinated adults of a healthy weight. 

Researchers believe the phenomenon may be due to poor T-cell function found within obese people. What, you may ask, are T-cells? They’re the cells of our immune system and are critical for flu protection and recovery. When compared with T-cells from vaccinated healthy weight adults, those of obese adults are less activated when stimulated with vaccine strains of influenza, which may render them more susceptible to infection.

It doesn’t take a research team to know that a fight with the flu is far from fun for anyone—whether they’re overweight or not. So with the knowledge of increased risk of flu-catching tacked onto the many other negatives of obesity, there’s even more of a reason to stick with F-Factor and slim down this winter.

Of course, body weight isn’t the only thing that determines whether or not one gets a flu, so if you do get sick this season, chicken soup to the rescueand this recipe should do the trick! Stay healthy, friends.