Vaccine Surprise!

Well, it was a surprise to me when I found out. I remember being advised many, many years ago that if I was having a tendency to constipation, then the breakfast cereal All-Bran might be of help as it was high in fibre. But there is a new benefit to be had by eating it. The Malaghan Institute of Medical Research in Wellington has found that a high fibre diet (they don’t in fact mention All-Bran) can improve an individual’s immune response to the first dose of a vaccine. Now, you have probably all had your first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but the research does not particularly refer to that vaccine, but comes about through research into the influenza vaccine. And we are only three or four months away from our next ‘flu jab.

So if you are not partial to All-Bran, keep up your intake of such things as fruits, vegetables and grains. These help to promote specific colonies of bacteria in your gut. We may tend to think of bacteria as bad for you, but there are good bacteria as well, which can be very beneficial.

(Coincidentally, I recently purchased the first packet of All-Bran for many years as I have been taking codeine and you know what that can do to you!)

(Thanks to the New Zealand Herald for drawing my attention to this research.)