N=1 and highly subjective of course, but I don't remember A) our kids falling ill with random fevers so often, pre-pandemic and B) my wife and me being infected by them in turn so easily
“It varies a lot among kids. But most babies, toddlers and preschoolers can have as many as 12 colds a year and still be normal. On average, you’ll probably see between seven and eight infections a year. This number may be higher for children who are in child care or when they start school. It’s also typical for kids to have symptoms lasting up to 14 days. And sometimes a cough can last up to six weeks. That means kids can be sick for a majority of the year and still have a pretty typical immune system.” https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/parenting/the-constant-cold-w...
That being said, I do remember that the first cold season after people started going out again being nastier than normal.
I rather would go with cold water shower/bath after the sauna and healthy food for vitamins in general.
Seems like it’s been more or less confirmed by other studies as well.
Eat some fruit and a carrot!
Here’s some more data[1].
You can quite easily find more research.
It’s clear to me that the science is inconclusive regarding benefits, at best.
We’ve evolved by eating and having complex processes take place inside our bodies to break down the food.
My personal take is that these processes in them selves can be important, and bypassing them doesn’t necessarily have positive outcomes.
[0] https://ki.se/forskning/vallagad-mat-battre-an-vitaminpiller
I was doing before sauna quite often after workouts in the gym (well after weight lifting and not cardio, and not during summer) and it felt great. But it could have been 90% or even 100% the workouts. Its true that I often feel very tired after sauna, like a baby that just wants to sleep. Which may be great sometimes, but otherwise it isn't (ie coming back to work, or driving back for 1h from mountains).
Now during/after covid and after having 2 kids its a distant dream and I feel like shit.