Here comes the snow people! Winter is lurking all around, ready to pounce. Cold and flu symptoms are already on the rise. What can you do to stay out of the Ahh-choo fray?
We’ve got three simple but poignant insights:
1) Hand washing. WAIT! Don’t groan. Nutrition Action Newletter (a great publication from the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest – or CSPI) put the whole idea into new perspective for me recently. “They” (including yours truly) always tell us to soap up and scrub-a-dub-dub as you sign the ABC song (or Happy Birthday twice). CSPI pointed out exactly why:
- Rinsing under the water removes surface dirt you can see. The soap and the scrubbing action loosens up those pesky, sticky germs that can transfer to your nose or eye and turn into cold inflammations. You have to scrub all over and then let the water wash it all down the drain. That takes about 20 seconds. But here’s a bonus researched finding: temperature matters not! Just get it scrubbed and rinsed off.
- Don’t forget, if you can’t get to a sink with soap, hand sanitizer is a great alternative, and sometimes even better if you’re willing to use it more often – scrub the same way as you would with soap until the alcohol substance dries.
2) Nasal Irrigation. AGAIN WAIT! Don’t get grossed out. It’s taken some education and a few caveats but this is really becoming a great accepted preventive measure AND even helps relieve symptoms when they flare. For a good “how-to” and explanation of why nasal irrigation works for most, check out this first-rate slide show from WebMD.
3) Immune Boosting Acts. This also in from WebMD… De-stress with your social connections, your pets, lots of optimism, lots of laughter, and time with your honey (dare I say it, sex is good for the immune system too). Eat plenty of antioxidants from fruits and veggies. Take vitamins where your diet is lacking (especially D in the winter in northern states). Get regular cardio activity, especially getting out for a brain enhancing walk daily. And, of course, sleep well.
Oh, and if you have symptoms, please, please, please cough and sneeze into your elbow or a tissue. And please wash or sanitize your hands before you touch commonly shared surfaces like door knobs, phones, hand rails, pens, papers, etc. Let’s all do our part.
Hand washing’s benefits only last as long as we keep our mitts off germy places or our fingers away from our symptomatic mouths, noses or eyes. So be conscious of what you touch and then act accordingly. I’m not saying be obsessed (Howie Mandel, you know who you are). I’m just punching up the obvious that somehow seems to elude many of us this time of year.
It often takes just the right words at the right time for a concept to sink in. The temperature news on hand washing popped for me this week, and the visual of scrubbing those little, nasty germ creatures to their demise was a new angel.
What immune tips have hit you in a new light this season? Share!