Excercise May Boost Immunity After the Flu Shot

Do you want to boost your immunity to the flu? Then exercise. A study conducted in 2009 on 166 adults showed that after a 10 month intervention of cardiovascular exercise they had boosted their immunity to the flu.  The group who was walking had significantly improved their aerobic fitness and, after receiving flu shots, displayed higher average influenza antibody counts 20 weeks after a flu vaccine than the group who had just done stretching .The study concluded that,” regular endurance exercise improves influenza vaccine responses.”[1]

A second study was conducted by Iowa State University in Ames. The study had young, healthy volunteers, most of them college students; head out for a moderately paced 90-minute jog or bike ride 15 minutes after receiving their flu shot. Other volunteers sat quietly for 90 minutes after their shot. Then the researchers checked for blood levels of influenza antibodies a month later. “Those volunteers who had exercised after being inoculated, it turned out, exhibited “nearly double the antibody response” of the sedentary group, said Marian Kohut, a professor of kinesiology at Iowa State who oversaw the study, which is being prepared for publication. They also had higher blood levels of certain immune system cells that help the body fight off infection.[2]

While more studies will be needed to confirm how much exercise should be done after the flu shot evidence is showing that may boost immunity. The most important thing researchers noted was that people get the flu shot.