Although Flu vaccinations are a highly effective way to avoid catching the virus, if you’re not protected and do end up catching the Flu or a heavy cold this winter there are no instant cures, so treating these is all about prevention and symptom relief. Setting habits in place and using simple regular preventative measures is the best way to a healthier you this winter!

Top Ten Ways to Avoid a Cold

1. Wash Your Hands
   Colds and the flu are spread from both airborne droplets as well as direct contact. Telephones, keyboards and drinking glasses all serve as vehicles for transmission for germs from an infected person. The germs can live for hours or even weeks on an object. So, washing your hands often will diminish the possibility of the germs making their way into your system. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if no sink is available.
2. Don’t Cover Your Sneezes and Coughs With Your Hands
   It goes against everything most of us were taught as children but its true! Germs and viruses love our hands and of course, we can imagine how easy it is to pass the germs on directly from our hands. When you feel a sneeze or cough coming, use a tissue or some other disposable germ catching object. At the very least, turn your head away from the people near you and cough into the open air.
3. Don’t Touch Your Face
   Cold and Flu viruses enter your body through the eyes, nose or mouth. Touching their faces is the major way children catch colds, and a key way they pass colds on to their parents.
4. Drink Plenty of Fluids
   Water cleanses and flushes toxins out of your system. Typically an adult needs 9 ounces of fluids each day. Make sure your drinking enough liquid that your urine is almost clear. Deep yellow is a sign of dehydration and a guarantee that toxins are gaining a foothold in your system.
5. Sweat it Out
   While not confirmed that steam treatment can prevent the onset of a cold, in 1989 a study found that people who steamed twice a week got half as many colds as the control group who did not. The theory is that when you are in a sauna, you breathe air which is hotter than 80 degrees; too hot for viruses to survive.
6. Exercise Regularly
   Aerobic exercise speeds up the metabolism and pulmonary system (heart) making you breathe faster and sweat. This exercise helps increase the body’s natural virus-killing immune system.
7. Eat Foods Containing Phytochemicals
   ‘Phyto’ means plants, and the natural chemicals in plants give the vitamins in food a supercharged boost. So try to eat as many dark green, red and yellow vegetables and fruits as you can. Yoghurt – Some studies have shown that eating a cup of low-fat yoghurt each day can reduce your chances of getting a cold or flu by 25%. It is believed that the bacteria in yoghurt may give a boost to the immune system.
8. Stop Smoking!
   Statistics show that heavy smokers get more severe colds and more frequent ones. Smoke from cigarettes numbs and dries out hair in the nose and ears that are there to protect us from viruses that cause cold and flu.
9. Don’t Drink Alcohol
   Alcohol suppresses the immune system in a variety of ways. Heavier drinkers are more prone to initial infections as well as secondary complications. Alcohol also dehydrates the body – it actually takes more fluids from your system than it puts in.