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As the seasons change we are subject to contracting illnesses daily. Constant changes in temperature leave us open to underdressing or even overdressing for the correct weather. It can be hard for our immune systems to fight off common colds in the midst of abnormal weather, but we can strengthen our chances of fighting off colds efficiently by following these few pointers:
Limit your sugar intake. Eating too much-refined sugar (and even natural sugars) can compromise the immune system and force it to have to work harder to fight back. Sugar actually takes away precious nutrients from your body and depletes good healthy bacteria from your digestive tract, leaving you more susceptible to all kinds of bugs and viruses.
Increase your sleep. When you’re sick, your body needs to rest period. The studies show time after time that when we are sick we need more sleep in order for our body to rest and repair. Go for at least a solid 8 hours, if not more. I know as college students, 8 hours can be hard to achieve including long nights of studying and a hectic schedule but, studies show that younger adults (18-25): Sleep range is 7-9 hours (new age category).
Wash your hands — a lot. No matter what line of work you’re in, if you come in contact with people who are contagious, you have to wash your hands over and over, says Alan Pocinki, MD. Pocinki practices internal medicine at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer. If you can’t get to soap and water, sanitizer can kill cold and flu germs. (WebMD: Better information. Better health. Stay Healthy: 6 Tips for Avoiding Cold and Flu).
It is important to maintain great health, especially being that we are interacting with many other individuals during the course of a day. In order to stay as healthy as we can, we must keep up with our health and the weather daily.