Colds can strike at any time of year. But they seem to become more prevalent during the fall and winter seasons, when many people spend more time indoors rubbing elbows with infected persons. In addition, miserable weather or temperature shifts can play havoc with your body's immune system.
To protect your family against infectious viruses, here are few easy tips that can help to promote and safeguard good health.
1. Eat nutritiously. Aim for a minimum of two fruits and three vegetables per day. Some experts recommend up to nine servings daily. Plant foods are loaded with antioxidants that hunt down and destroy free radicals and germs in your body. In addition, they offer valuable nutrients (vitamins and minerals) that can strengthen overall performance and enhance your immunity against getting sick. Eating more fruits and veggies instead of less healthy foods will help you look and feel better.
2. Drink lots of water. Try to get at least eight glasses a day (64 ounces). Start when you get up, with more at breakfast and mid-morning. Drink up at lunch and dinner, and down a cup in the afternoon and evening, with a final drink at bedtime. Water helps to clean out your system, keeps tissues moist and supple, and enables body organs to work effectively in preventing illness.
3. Sleep tight. Getting eight hours of sleep each night is a great way to improve immune function. Try not to get less than five hours' sleep, and that infrequently. Rest in a quiet, dark room, preferably at night, when biorhythms allow your body to drift into peaceful unconsciousness.
4. Ask your doctor about a vitamin supplement. Find out whether you should take one with minerals and iron or extra nutrients, like a higher dose of Vitamin C, which may have some impact on preventing colds or speeding your recovery time.
5. Avoid crowds. A sneeze or cough forces millions of contagious viral droplets into the surrounding area, contaminating others. Stay away from those you know to have colds or large groups of people in close contact, like a mall during peak holiday shopping hours. If you must interact with someone who has a cold, like a co-worker, avoid touching that person or anything he or she has touched, like a pen, telephone, or desk.
6. Wash frequently. When you come home from work or school, or after shopping, rinse your hands and if possible, use an antibacterial soap, to eliminate any germs you may have picked up in public. After visiting someone in the hospital, it is probably a good idea to take a shower and wash your hair, along with putting clothes in the laundry hamper. Hospital nurses often make it a point to follow these practices after work, especially when they have had a full patient list or difficult cases of contagious illness.
7. Encourage exercise. Recent studies show that exercise can boost immune function, so urge the kids outside to play before or after dinner and on weekends. Take a walk with your spouse or hop on the treadmill or stationary bike. Thirty minutes several days each week can spark better health.
Taking a few precautionary steps like these can make a difference in your family's health and well-being, as well as cut medical treatment costs and reduce absenteeism due to illness. Start now to head off the next bout of germ warfare.
