‘Tis the season! The season of family, finals and of course the flu! With flu season approaching, instead of being worried about catching it this year be locked and loaded with these helpful hints on how to stay healthy during this (sometimes) overwhelming time of the year.
Some say getting sick is inevitable, but science likes to prove otherwise. During the year there are always those type of people that like to fill their schedules so much that they have no “me time.” This term refers to where you make a day—or even a few hours in the day to relax and recharge for the next day. Setting time for yourself to relax is important for the immune system because it allows rest and gives you the ability to recharge after a busy day of running around, using your brain to its fullest and interacting with many people (even if it is just walking through GC traffic). An important factor some like to brush off is the amount of sleep one receives, which according to the “Sleepless at Stanford” article by William Dement, the average student should be getting a minimum of 8 hours of sleep per night.
Another obvious factor that should be taken into consideration is how we fuel our bodies, what is going into our system and when. Our bodies need not only rest, but water and food (duh). Well, with the busy lives some people maintain, they forget breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner! So, if one is maintaining their average body weight by eating a regular 2,000 calorie diet, here are a few things to consider before skipping the most important meal of the day. When eating breakfast, make sure it is eaten within 2 hours of waking up, for the best effect. From the average 2,000 calorie intake, breakfast would allow an average of 20-35% of your daily calorie intake, which would end up being 400-700 calories total. And of course for the brain, it restores glucose levels—which are essential for that of a successful and fully functional brain everyone needs in college.
Now that the basics have been established, it is important to mention the most important and “secret ingredients”, if you will, to staying healthy during a stressful time of exams. Food, water and sleep are all very important, yes, but something that flies over most people’s heads are vitamins. If your course intake does not allow you to get that 8 hours of sleep as often as you want or quite frankly- ever, vitamins may be your knight in shining armor. Our bodies need nutrients so it can function without the 3 essentials: sleep, food, and water. If one slips, these will come to your rescue. The following vitamins and minerals should be included in your daily diet according to “Vitamins and Minerals you Need” by Family Doctor: Calcium, Potassium, Fiber, Magnesium, Vitamins A, C, D, E, and b12.
Some of these vitamins may seem more familiar than others, but the list below includes a few different and simple ways of making sure you’re getting all these vitamins to stay, happy, healthy and stress-free.
1. Calcium: ½ cup of spinach, 8 oz. non-fat yogurt, 2 oz, or cheese.
2. Potassium: 1 sweet or white potato, ½ cup of beans (white, soy, lima, kidney), 1 cup of Milk (low-fat, Almond, etc), bananas, ¼ medium cantaloupe or honeydew melon.
3. Magnesium: ½ cup of beans (like listed above), ½ cup of spinach, ½ cup of artichoke, ½ cup of tofu, 1 oz of nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts), or 1 pill of fish oil.
4. Vitamin A: 1 sweet potato, carrots, spinach, turnips, and cantaloupe.
5. Vitamin C: Emergen-C packet, orange, kiwi, strawberries, guava, papaya, raw red sweet peppers, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli.
6. Vitamin D: salmon (3 oz), swordfish (3 oz), fortified milk (8 oz), fortified orange juice (8 oz), and swiss cheese (1 oz).
7. Vitamin E: nuts and seeds 1oz (sunflower seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts), ½ avocado, or ½ cup spinach.
8. All around immune boost: 1 Echinacea supplement daily, or a multivitamin.
Flu season is coming fast, just like the holidays and finals. In order to power through it, the proper precautions have to be taken, so that like the Grinch, Mr. Flu doesn’t catch you off guard and ruin Christmas! As it is advised, make sure you consume eight glasses of water per day, eight hours of sleep per night, and the proper recipe of vitamins and minerals to cushion the blow if you do skip a meal or lose some sleep. With this list it is certain one will stay 110% ready for the frivolous back-and-fourths to the mall, family time and most importantly finals week.
Sources: https://web.stanford.edu/~dement/sleepless.html
http://www.shakeupyourwakeup.com/why-is-breakfast-important
https://familydoctor.org/vitamins-and-minerals-how-to-get-what-you-need/