With the temperatures dropping, sickness is tearing through schools. Entering Flu season while there’s still Covid and other common sicknesses, there are so many different germs out in the open that everyone wants to avoid. With breaks, holidays, travel, finals and midterms coming up, being sick would just ruin it all.  Here’s a few ways to help to maintain good health this winter!

This one has been drilled into our brains since we were little kids: wash your hands! While during flu season or not, you should always wash your hands to cleanse yourself of germs. And by washing I don’t just mean a quick rinse with no soap… I mean the whole lather  process in every nook and cranny on your hands. You should wash your hands for a minimal 20 seconds, which is equal to humming happy birthday twice if you need a timer. It might seem like just a small action you can skip but think of how many germs your hands pick up through the day and then you touch your face or food, ew. 

Eating nutritious foods can help your body overall making it better equipped to fight off any illness that comes. Focusing on getting vitamins in your body either with supplements or just in the foods you eat. Some of the best vitamins to make sure to take for sickness are vitamin C, D & E, Zinc and elderberry. Some good foods to eat are lots of fruits and vegetables and try to avoid too much  sugar, even though it’s the holidays.

This goes for not just sickness season, but all year round you should stay hydrated. When you’re sick, people always say drink lots of fluids, so why not just do it all the time? Why wait to be sick? Everyone should drink around 2 liters of water a day (about a half gallon) or more. 

Go outside and get some sun. With the daylight hours limited, it’s EXTRA important to spend some time in the sun and move  around. Sunlight has been proven to improve your mood by boosting your serotonin. This is helpful to everyone, especially people who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (a form of depression). This can also go hand in hand with making sure to move and exercise to stay active & healthy. 

Sleeping at least 8 hours a day! Just like hydration, being well-rested should be an everyday thing, don’t wait till you’re sick. When you’re exhausted, illness has the ability to take advantage of lack of sleep and fester sickness. Getting enough sleep has so many benefits. When you’re sick one of the best things is just to rest, rest, rest. 

Keep clean!! Wipe down surfaces in your home often and don’t leave messes around! Things like door knobs, handles, keyboards, your phone/case, are touched all the time leaving germs to live there so sanitizing and regularly cleansing will get rid of that nastiness. And when touching those common germy things, DON’T touch your face! You’re putting them straight by your nose, mouth and eyes to enter your body.

This one is obvious, but stay away from people you know are sick! It’s just common sense if someone is sick to keep your distance because why would you want to get yourself sick?  It also goes the other way, if you’re sick, don’t be selfish and go hangout with people putting them at risk of sickness if you can avoid it. 

All in all, there’s so much you can do to try and prevent all the horrible illnesses that unfortunately come with the cooler weather every year. Stay healthy!