I have had the exact same experience.

I used to get very very ill at least twice a year - lung congestion, coughing, stuffed head, sore throat, ending up with my losing my voice and, usually, an ear infection. i could be sick as long as two weeks during these bouts.

I also got every sniffle and cough that the kids or my hubs brought home from school (husband teaches public school) and these would last several days and make me miserable.

I can honestly say in the 3 years that I've been Paleo I have not been ill more than a single day at a time. I no longer have the big, nasty illnesses and if I DO get sick it is MILD and I'm fit the very next day. As a person who has been a "sickie" her whole life, this has been awesome and is one of the very very best things about Paleo for me. If the lifestyle did NOTHING else but make me this disease-resistant I'd still do it!

Oh, and I have suffered from bad asthma since I was a tiny child - humidifiers, drugs, had to carry an inhaler with me at all times, a few emergency room visits. Now I don't even know where my inhaler is. I have had only TWO asthma attacks since a few months into Paleo and both were mild.

Frickin' awesome!

This is absolutely true to my experience. I'm particularly interested that you found that high carb but mostly paleo foods made a (negative) difference. The thing that almost guarantees that I'll get ill is increased caffeine.

It's also striking that my immunity improved so much on paleo, whereas before, when I was eating plates of healthy raw cabbage and steamed carrot and lots of legumes daily, I was constantly getting sick to the constant amusement of my health-sceptic friends.

I used to get sick about 2-3 times a year. I haven't been sick in about a year. When I did get sick, it would take about 5-7 days to run it's course. I just got sick for the first time this week. It just so happened to be directly after Thanksgiving, where my diet fell off a bit, and I drank too much whiskey with my brother who was in town. The only difference this time was, I kicked it in 2 days (albeit, harsh ones) by cutting out all carbs, and making bone broth soup and grass-fed liver for dinner both nights. Felt like new this morning.

I heart Paleo.

I love this thread! I've been paleo for about 18 months now, and haven't been sick once - not even a mild cold (and I work in an office where everyone is sick pretty much constantly - they seem to take turns passing colds back and forth to each another). My husband hasn't been sick either - AND his crazy-bad seasonal allergies magically disappeared this year.

Coincidence? I think not!!

Nope, I am sick right now actually. Anyone here Paleo and a teacher and spends time with kids a lot? I'd like to hear you brag about your immune system then! Haha. Man I hate being sick. Is Nyquil paleo?

I haven't been sick since I started paleo. In the last few weeks, everyone at work has one by one gotten sick and taken days off with some kinda nasty throat thing. Three days ago, I felt it starting to tickle at the back of my throat so I went to bed early that night and slept extra. The next day, I still felt slightly tired but no other symptoms so I went to bed early again and that seems to have been the end of it. Take that you germs!

Immunity? No. Increased resistance? Yes.

I actually have gotten sick, but the experience was quick and painless compared to how being ill used to affect me. There have only been two instances of this:

1) Nasty Head Cold - A really nasty cold went around the office. I was tired with a sore throat for a day and bounced back. My other coworkers were sick for over a week and for most of them the cold progressed to lung congestion and a nasty cough!

2) My wife and I were symptomatic this summer for 9 days including stomach aches, diarrhea, cramping, etc. The doctors rules out food poisoning, bacteria, and parasites. The entire time we kept eating right and maintained our energy levels. I only missed a day of work and she only missed two before things cleared up. I think this would have been much worse if we did not eat as well as we do. By the way, we are adventurous eaters so there really is not telling what we had.

I've been a lot more successful fending off illness the last year or so as well - especially impressive to me as I've got a toddler in day care who gets sick and brings illness into the house all the time!

I haven't gotten sick once since I started eating paleo, but then again I almost never got sick back when I was eating crap. I don't know if it should even be considered a good sign.

Here's Art Ayers' take:

http://coolinginflammation.blogspot.com/2009/04/inflammatory-protection-from-swine-flu.html

"One of the symptoms of high chronic inflammation is many years without a day of sick leave. It is hard for a pathogen to get a foothold when the immune system is already provoked by inflammation. Even food and harmless pollen is attacked with vigor and lots of sneezing."

I haven't been sick since going paleo more than two years ago. Meanwhile I even dropped my last, "mysterious" allergy that had accompanied me for 20 years. Not even the tiniest of micro-colds. That alone, man, that alone is worth it all.

Theories? I think it was Taubes who explained a few things about Vitamin C uptake versus sugar and I guess by now most of us will be able to guess that a healthy endocrine system has the power to accomplish almost anything in this regard.

Does anyone else get what I now call "micro-colds"? I'll feel like I'm coming down with something and then feel tired for a day or two, and then feel fine. In the past I'd end up with a terrible sore throat/runny nose/etc. but these days it seems to pass me by.

I also used to get pretty ill at least every other month, we mainly attributed to auto-immune disease but since going into a more paleo focused diet I haven't had any rounds with it. Really, I don't care if it's a coincidence or not, I'm just HAPPY! :D

Answer: one year paleo, only one minor case of the sniffles, and I'm pretty sure it was because I was away from work and felt like I had nothing to do. (Apathy --> Illness.)

Comment: This is a great question, I was going to ask it myself, in the tradition of the paleo polls we sometimes conduct here. Can I suggest also, in the tradition of our honest self-criticism, that if there are paleos out there who are just as sick as before or maybe even more sick -- that they let us know? I'd really like to see some data that is (are) as unbiased as possible.

And speaking of bias: I suspect that in many cases there are significant confounders: the improved health might be caused by improved sleep and exercise. But I can say in my case that sleep and exercise didn't change. It was only the diet. For whatever that's worth.

I'm not one who's ever gotten sick a lot - maybe once every two to three years. (Don't tell my bosses, okay?) Ask me again in five to ten years!

I want to add a partially contradictory note. This is one aspect of the Paleo experience that has failed me so far. I've gotten sick three times in 18 months, which is better than average (for me) but hardly bulletproof.

Those illnesses have coincided neatly with periods of sleep deprivation, though, so I think I know where my Achilles heel is.

On the bright side, two of those colds resolved much more quickly than in the past (3-4 days as opposed to 6-7), and the third lingered for about 7 days but was pretty mild throughout.

I've wondered the same thing lately. I've been on mostly paleo (except some raw milk, heavy cream, keifer) since early summer and I haven't been sick since last winter. It's unheard of in my life. By this time of the year, with the weather changes and bouts of heavy winds in Southern California, and exposure to other sick people at work, I should be getting colds, hay fever, and so on. Nada.

Also as I go through various combinations of stress, less than optimal sleep, coffee, some alcohol (wine and tequila mostly) that normally guarantees I'd start feeling weak and down and eventually come down with something. Nothing. I'm the only one I know who isn't wearing a coat yet because the cold and the wind is way more bearable (I'm even just wearing t-shirts outside at night). I did workouts and sprints out on the windiest day lately. No flare ups or congestions. It's a little spooky. But then I remember reading about the Powhatan Indians who would pride themselves on going mostly clothes-free even in the winter months. So it can be done.

The only near-illness event was when I woke up one morning with the signs of needing to vomit. The strong tingly feeling in the back of the mouth, upset stomach feeling, and sudden feeling of heat coming from the head. I wander to the bathroom thinking it must be food poisoning or something. But by the time I'm standing over the toilet, it all goes away as quickly as it came. And that was it. Never had that experience before. When the signs are there, the vomit would always follow. What's up with that?

I never got a cold for the past two years but I catched one recently after starting Paleo. Take that now.

I've noticed that since beginning paleo my immunity is much stronger.. for instance, last week i got run over by a tractor but, although a little sore, i got up and walked away and went to my dance class... and, just before christmas, i accidently fell from a 5 storey building, onto my head, but apart from a slight headache for the rest of the day, i was fine...

I just got a virus that has felled all of my co-workers with severe symptoms for a week+. In my case, I felt "kinda sick" for 2 days and then fine. No symptoms beyond that. It was that feeling in the beginning of getting sick where you know you're battling a virus, except in this case I routed the opposing army and slaughtered them as they fled. This was the first such problem in almost exactly 6 months, where I used to get fully sick every 2 months.

I suspect that vitamin D has a lot to do with it, but less inflammation and less available glucose for various pathogens to consume also helps.

I've noticed much the same thing. I've been on a mostly-paleo diet for the past 9 months, and have had no real illness to speak of, nothing past a minor sniffle. Not sure if it's just a coincidence or not, but certainly seems compelling.

Since February, when I went Paleo, I have not been sick; I thought that I might be getting an earache a few days ago but the symptoms disappeared overnight.

I am not sure it's been enough to say for sure, but I think it's much less. I have asthma and since I was a kid I had monthly strip throat and often bronchitis. I haven't had bronchitis in a while, and I hope it will stay that way. I still get stuffed nose sometimes or headache, or general feeling of being "under the weather", which might also be connected to my fibromyalgia.

I've been paleo for only a bit longer than half a year, and completely gluten free only two months, so I think my system needs more time to heal.

Since going paleo a year and a half ago, I can count the number of colds I've had on one hand (before paleo this happened several times per year). Every single one occurred following a weekend of both traveling and breaking my otherwise strict diet.

In each case, I lost my appetite and inadvertently fasted for two days, and felt noticeable continuous improvement in my symptoms over the period, until my cold was essentially gone. My belief is that this is caused by the fasting (and studies do show increased immune function during fasting), but I don't get sick often enough any more to do a rigorous test of the theory!

I haven't missed a day of work due to illness in over 10 years. I just don't get sick anymore (knock on wood). There's a nasty bug going around now in the office, and my wife has a sore throat and headache. I've not caught it. Paleo and proper excersize does wonders!

I really don't get sick anymore at all with 2 exceptions-

1. If I let stress rule my life and I don't get enough sleep- no amount of healthy eating can save my rear.
2. If I drink too much red wine (and I don't mean drunk). Turns out that red wine can cause allergy restricted breathing.

I used to get sick every month.

I haven't been "sick" since around 2006. I didn't really go paleo til this year so I'm unsure why. No colds, flu, etc. I don't count hangovers though ;)

Seasonal allergies are another story. This past spring was the worst.

I haven't been sick since going paleo, maybe about 8 months ago. SIckness has traveled through the work place several times but I have not gotten it. I have not deliberately attempted to improve sleep. I had for a long time been making sure to get good levels of sleep because it is so important. HOwever, in recent months, I just sleep less and need less sleep, so in reality, I am getting less sleep than in the past. Exercise levels are similar but maybe I do a bit more hiking and a bit less gym. I just like hiking more than the gym and have found a really cool place to hike nearby.

Why do I think this is? I remember reading in a couple of places about how sugar levels in the blood profoundly influence white blood cell efficiency. I think it was a 12 times improvement when no sugar had been consumed for a long time than right after sugar intake. It was an amazing difference. THis alone could account for massively increased effectiveness of the immune system when sugar intake is low. Not to mention probably tons of other benefits to overall improved health.

Paleo eating as well as supplementation with Vit D3 has kept me free of illness for over two years. I suspect for me it is my Vit D3 level of 72 ng/ml more than it is paleo eating.

I've just about kicked the back to school bug. This is the first time I've gotten sick since I started paleo in January. I had cheated and eaten a sandwich a day or two before I started feeling ill. This cold has been making it's way through my workplace. I did notice that most of the people who got it have had chest congestion and coughing for a little over a week. My symptoms are almost gone and I'm only on day 3. I didn't miss any work.
Since I've gotten used to listening to my body, I ended up fasting for the first 24 hours. When my appetite returned had a very hardy and spicy chowder, which helped flush my sinuses out.
I did use the old TB cure. I spent my day sitting in the sun, breathing fresh air, bundled up to stay warm. It was about 50F.