How to Stay Healthy during Flu Season?

 

One of the most overlooked keys to knowing how to stay healthy during the flu season? Staying healthy in general. Many of us struggle to maintain best practices concerning healthy habits when it isn't cold and flu season. But since the cold and flu season coincides with the holiday season — a time of both immense joy and immense stress — it's that much more important (and difficult) to practice healthy habits during those months.

So, how do I prepare my body for the flu, you ask? Here's a quick-hit list of what steps you can take to keep your immune system up and running effectively.

Get adequate sleep: Studies have shown that the activity of T-cells, which also play an important immunological role in fighting illnesses, is severely disturbed by sleep deprivation. It's recommended that adults get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep each night, while children and teens typically need a minimum of 8 hours.

Hydrate: Proper hydration helps boost your immune system's ability to function properly, helps remove toxins from the blood, and increases the production of lymph (which aids in the circulation of white blood cells). That's one reason why, when you go to the ER with an emergency, and you're dehydrated, your nurses will be quick to hook you up to ER emergency fluids.

Eat well: Eating healthy foods helps boost the presence of important vitamins such as vitamin C and vitamin A, which in turn support a robust immune system.

Exercise: Need another reason to exercise? It has been shown that regular exercise helps enhance your immune system's ability to fight illness. Just make sure you don't jump too quickly into an overly intense exercise regime right off the bat, as doing so may have the opposite effect temporarily.

Stress management: Stress is a normal part of life, and sometimes you can't avoid it. However, managing your stress during the cold and flu season can lower your chances of getting sick. Stress also releases the hormone corticosteroid, which suppresses the number of your body's lymphocytes (your body's B- and T-cells). If you are chronically stressed, that can result in the chronic suppression of these important cells and make your immune system much less effective when you need it most.

Usually hitting people during the colder months of the year, the flu is easily spread by several influenza virus strains. Its symptoms are body aches, headaches, a high fever, fatigue, a sore throat and sometimes a runny nose. Cold and flu symptoms can often be confused with each other, but the most common difference is that the flu and its symptoms come suddenly, while a cold comes more gradually.

Also, keep in mind that flu symptoms vary from age group to age group. You may not experience some of the flu symptoms that your kids experience, like vomiting or diarrhoea. Younger children, infants and adults over 65 years old are particularly prone to getting the flu, but that doesn't mean that anyone not in those age groups is immune to it.

The flu can affect anyone and leaves those infected feeling drained of energy. What can you do to help reduce your chances of getting the flu? Start with these 7 ways for staying healthy during flu season.

When a person falls sick, a few remedies can help, but people need to keep in mind that not every remedy they read or hear about can help them get better. Some are simply old wives' tales passed on from generation to generation, but not all of these tales or myths are inaccurate. The first half of the phrase "feed a cold, starve a fever" is accurate, for example, as one should eat to build up their energy. However, the second half is not accurate, as sick people need their strength no matter what their symptoms are, so they should not avoid eating. Chicken soup is an example of a food that helps fight the common cold, as it helps reduce inflammation and increase fluid intake. Other remedies include staying hydrated by drinking plenty of water or broth. To soothe a sore throat or ease congestion, one can sip warm liquids. A humidifier can also help with congestion, while ice chips or warm salt water can help with scratchy throats.

 That's why it's important to practice a healthy lifestyle year-round, particularly during cold and flu season, which can last from November to April. Keeping your immune system healthy is a powerful defence to prevent and fight off sickness. Following these simple tips can help:

Get plenty of sleep.

Eat a healthy diet with lots of vegetables and fruits. Probiotics found in such foods as yoghurt, aged cheeses, sauerkraut and miso have also been found to boost the immune system.

·         Drink lots of fluids.

·         Exercise regularly.

·         Manage your stress.

Influenza is spread from person to person by germs that flow out when a sick person sneezes, coughs or talks. Flu germs can be transmitted from up to six feet away.

The flu can also be spread if a person touches a surface with a flu virus and then touches their mouth or nose.

Flu is contagious for a relatively long period. In some cases, someone who has the flu can spread the flu one day before symptoms appear and can remain contagious for up to seven days after becoming sick.

If you're trying to avoid the flu, it's important to keep your distance from people who are sick.