10 tips to prevent a cold or flu

10 tips to prevent a cold or flu

Atleast thats the hope, no promisses.
1) Wash your hands. They say you should wash your hands atleast 10 times a day. Everytime you use the bathroom, blow your nose, change a diaper, before and after cooking, after cleaning, before you eat, before you brush your teeth…You get the idea. Bacteria and viruses make you ill by finding a way into your body through physical contact. Don’t let them get you. Since most of your contact with the world happens through your hands, washing them can stop germs from making the leap from contaminated surfaces to inside your body.
2) Don’t touch your face. Even if your hands are relatively clean, chances are some germs will find a way to survive there. But these parasites will only compromise your health if they can get into your body. The easiest place to transmit illness is through mucous membranes such as your eyes, mouth and nose. Keep your hands away from your face (and food) and make it difficult for germs to find you.
3) Don’t eat group food. In flu season, completely avoid large party dips that involve dipping directly into the bowl rather than scooping with a clean spoon onto individual plates. Why? People may use the hand they just sneezed in to turn a chip around a few times until they find the perfect dipping angle. That means they are adding their nasty germs directly into the salsa. Yuck.
4) Get enough sleep. Your body can become run down without propper sleep, making you feel tired. Your bodys looses the energy to fight off illness without sleep and your immune system can weaken. Take it from a mom who gets no more than 4 hours of sleep interupted per night maximum. Im always sick! When I was able to get adiquate sleep, I was sick less.
5) Don’t drink alcohol. Another way to avoid coming down with something serious if you are starting to get sick is to skip on drinking for a few days. According to a new study drinking large amounts affects your immune system, making it weaker for 24 hours.
6) Hydrate. When your body is fighting an illness your immune system is working overtime. Make sure it has everything it needs to function at its best, including plenty of water.
7) Skip a workout. If you feel like you might be getting sick but aren’t sure, don’t go to the gym. Your body needs all its extra resources to fend off whatever virus or bacteria you’ve been exposed to, so save all the energy you’ve got.
8) Eat well. You may be disinclined to eat if you aren’t feeling well, but be sure that whatever you do manage to get down is nutritious and healthy. It’s not a good idea to eat foods that induce inflammation (simple sugars and starches) when your body is already weakened.
10) Take your vitamins. One of the most consistent things I’ve noticed that correlates with my health is how often I take multivitamins, and especially vitamin D. Most of us are deficient, so taking 2,000-4,000 IU is a good idea for almost everyone.
Refrences: Was taken from Summer Tomato
Its a good idea to keep hand sanitizer around the house, in the car, in your purse and in the diaper bag incase you cant get to soap and water. We buy it in bulk because of Liam’s CDH. We also keep mask in the house incase one of us gets sick so we dont share the germs with Liam since a simple cold usually means a hospital stay for Liam. We also sanitize all the surfaces in the house regularly with sanitizing wipes and sprays. When someone is sick we go into overdrive. We use pinesol for mopping the floors because its a sanitizer as well. We even use Lysol sanitizing spray for the air and the furnature. Of course because of Liam’s Chrinic Lung Disease we dont spray it while he’s in the room. When Liam’s toys fall on the floor we immediately clean them before giving them back. And whenever some starts to feel icky, we load up on B and C vitamins. If been hearing that if you drink a glass of 100% grape juice (the purple) at least once a day it can boost your immune system and keep you from getting sick with tummy bugs. We havent tried this yet but will as soon as we’re all done being sick. We also avoid taking him out in public during flu/RSV season.