Combat those winter ‘sniffles’
Healthy habits to stay on top of your game
No one wants to muddle through the winter months feeling tired, run-down, and sick all the time. When it comes to keeping your family as healthy as possible, an ounce of prevention is most definitely worth a pound of cure.
Dr Avron Urison - CEO: HealthCare Plan
27 April 2022 | 2 minute readHere are some helpful tips you can follow on a daily basis to lower the risk of transferring viruses to different surfaces that you share with your family regularly:
1. Wash your hands well (and often)
While cold and flu germs can float through the air on the invisible droplets of an uncovered sneeze or cough, you’re more likely to pick them up from an infected surface. Wash your hands well before you eat, after you use the bathroom, and whenever you arrive home from elsewhere.
2. Keep unclean fingers away from your face
Anytime you’ve been to the park, grocery store, or any other germy place, avoid touching your face before you’ve had a chance to wash (or at least sanitise) your hands.
3. Make sure everyone gets a flu shot
Getting a seasonal flu shot is the single best way to protect yourself from influenza, and the same goes for everyone in your family who’s over six months of age.
4. Clean common surfaces often
In addition to disinfecting door knobs, faucet handles, and countertops regularly, you should launder communal hand towels often. It is also good to be wary about your tv remote. Make sure you clean this too, as the whole family is sure to have touched it at least a couple of times each day. It is crucial that your cell phone is also cleaned well, and often. We all know how regularly we touch our screen without thinking about what our fingers have been in contact with before.
5. Get plenty of sleep
Getting enough sleep each night is an easy way to boost immune system function and reinforce your natural defences against infection. You are likely to develop illness when you are tired, drained, or otherwise run down
6. Eat well-balanced meals
Eating wholesome, well-balanced meals can also help fortify your immune system. Aim to fill at least half your plate with a variety of colourful fruits and vegetables.
7. Stay active (and get some fresh air)
Active individuals tend to develop fewer infections during cold and flu season by getting regular exercise. This suppresses inflammatory stress hormones and stimulates the release of infection-fighting white blood cells. Take advantage of your local parks to get the fresh air and exercise you need.
8. Find ways to de-stress and relax
To shore up your natural defences and protect yourself from seasonal viruses, do away with senseless stressors, manage inescapable pressures, and make daily downtime a family priority. A good way to do this is to set a sleeping time notification on your phone to limited your browsing on social media platforms and other digital spaces that can keep your mind running and your stress levels high.
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