November has now rolled around and that means it is officially that time of year! If you think I’m referring to the holiday season, you are terribly mistaken. The “time of year” that I’m referring to is that joyful season where your classmates, one by one, fall victim to the newest mystery illness that’s being passed around campus. Even within this past week, so many people have either skipped lectures because they were sick, or have come to school looking absolutely drained. Obviously I want to avoid getting sick so I do everything in my power to prevent that tickle in my throat from forming. I’m sure that I’m not the only person trying their hardest to stay healthy this time of year, so I’m going to share my favourite tricks with you.
For starters, we have to clarify the obvious. The second your friend approaches you and they have that nasally sound to their voice – run, run far away. Obviously I don’t mean literally shun your friend, but keep some distance when possible. Essentially, cutting contact at the source is best. This also goes for sharing anything. Yes, I know it’s all very exciting that Starbucks has their new Holiday drinks, but don’t go around trying little sips of your friend’s sugar cookie oat lattes. Although it may be hard not to give into temptation, I promise it’s not worth getting sick over.
Now let’s talk about immune systems. I’m no scientist, but all you need to know is the second your immune system gets weak, you’ll get sick. This is why doing what you can to strengthen your immune system will benefit you substantially in the long run. The most important thing to remember is that sleep is your best friend. Although a simple concept, it’s quite a hard one for us university students to adhere to. My dad always says “you can’t store/bank sleep, but you can catch up on it”. Essentially, you can’t plan for lack of sleep, but you’ll have to make up for the hours you lost later on down the line. So yes, you can still go out on weekends, and pull all nighters for last minute studying, but just make sure you’re prepared to set aside time for a good nap.
Eating is also a huge part of strengthening your immune system. We all know buying good and healthy foods can be expensive, and sometimes not feasible for university students. This is why so many of us opt for fast food chains on a daily basis. Although this works great at the moment, missing out on certain food groups is eventually going to weaken your immune system. It’s sometimes not affordable to completely change your diet, so an easy opt out is to buy things filled with vitamin C. This could either be fruit, fruit juices or what I’ve done in the past is bought vitamin C gummies and taken those to boost my immune system.
Lastly, with this cold weather coming in it’s important to dress for the occasion. You would think that as young adults, we wouldn’t still think wearing a coat “isn’t cool” but rarely do I see any real winter coats, boots or even gloves. Yes it may be embarrassing to be hiking your way to class dressed like you’re about to build a snowman, but keeping your body temperature warm will help prevent catching some viruses like the common cold.
It’s important that I preface that I’m not claiming to be a miracle worker. Nor am I saying that if you live by my words of wisdom, you’ll never be sick again. I’m simply here for slight guidance in sharing what I have found to work best for myself. All that’s to say that I hope these tricks work for you as well, and that we all make it through this time of year sickness free!