Did you ever wonder if certain foods have a direct effect on your health?

Well, I'm here to solve that mystery since you are the foods you eat.

Welcome to the Nutrition Facts Podcast.

I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger.

Today we look at the efficacy of three widely available vaccines, and we start with a close

look at the flu vaccine, which turns out to be an extraordinary life saver.

Every year, Influenza typically kills between 4,000 and 20,000 Americans, though the death toll for the 2017- to 2018 season

was estimated at 80,000, making it one of theliest in the last half century.

Most hospitalizations, 90% of flu-related mortality,

incurred those 65 and older, and most over the age 75.

Mortality rates for the fluid ages 75 and older are 50 times higher than those below age 65.

Nonetheless, the CDC recommends everyone over the age of six months get a routine annual flu shot every year if for no other reason then to help prevent transmission to the more vulnerable.

The cruel irony is that older adults,

the ones who need protection the most,

acquire less robust protection from flu shots

due to waning immunity with age.

Depending on the season, vaccination typically reduces the risk of getting the

flu by about 40 to 50 percent. So in healthy adults we can say with moderate certainty,

we can decrease the risk of getting it from like 2% each year down to just under 1%.

Among older adults, even if you get this similar relative risk reduction from 6% down to 2.4%, since the risk is higher and the consequences greater, the absolute benefits are greater too.

In the northern hemisphere, the flu season can start as early

as September and go as late as March. The problem with getting vaccinated too early

...