No matter what’s ahead on your calendar, one thing is clear: You can’t afford to let a cold or the flu slow you down. Cold and flu can make you sick and restless with constant uncomfortable feeling and sneezing! The sheer number of different cold viruses is the reason we keep catching colds, season after season. Here are ways you could prevent colds and flu:
DO NOT COVER YOUR SNEEZES WITH HAND
Do your part to keep germs away from your family and friends. Viruses cling to your bare hands, so don’t use them to muffle your coughs and sneezes. When you feel one coming, use a tissue, then throw it away. If you don’t have one with you, cough or sneeze into the inside of your elbow.
WASH YOU HANDS
We all know how cold and flu spreads and that is no mystery! Someone who’s sick sneezes in his hand and then touches the telephone, the keyboard, or a kitchen glass. You can pick up the germ when you touch that object, even hours later. So wash your hands often. If you can’t get to a sink, rub them with a hand sanitizer that’s got alcohol in it.
DRINK LESS OR DON’T DRINK AT ALL
Drinking interferes with sleep quality, and people are much more likely to get sick when they are sleep-deprived. Nightcaps disrupt REM sleep, which is the most restorative part of sleep.
SIP TEA IF YOU FEEL YOU MIGHT GET A COLD OR FLU
Drink hot black or green tea with lemon and honey. Drinking the tea and breathing in steam stimulates the cilia- the hair follicles in the nose to move out germs more efficiently. Lemon thins mucus, and honey is antibacterial. Healing herbal teas >>
GET VACCINATED
The surest way to avoid influenza is to get vaccinated. Flu shots are designed to match each year’s specific circulating strains. While a flu shot doesn’t work 100% of the time, it’s still your best bet for avoiding the flu and possibly preventing complications, like pneumonia.
EAT PROTEIN-RICH FOODS
Research shows that diets that are too low in protein can deplete the immune system. So make sure to get protein-rich foods throughout the day, especially fish, eggs and yogurt.
DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE
Cold and flu viruses enter your body through your eyes, nose, and mouth. Teach your kids not to touch their faces and follow your own advice.
DON’T SMOKE
Heavy smokers get more severe and frequent colds. Even being around smoke hurts the immune system, your body’s defence against germs. Smoke dries out the passages in your nose. It affects your cilia the delicate hairs that line your nose and lungs and help sweep away cold and flu viruses.
GET ENOUGH SLEEP
As if getting enough sleep on a normal basis isn’t hard enough, you need more when you’re feeling under the weather. When you’re tired, your body isn’t fighting as hard, so make sure you get 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night.
SANITIZE
Clean everything that gets touched by lots of people- microwaves, fax-machine keys, doorknobs, elevator buttons, the armrests on chair etc. with a good disinfectant at least once a week, even if it looks clean. It’s just basic hygiene. Rhinoviruses can live on surfaces for up to 48 hours!