Strengthen Your Immunity in Time for Flu Season!

By Donna Stark

Sure, it’s still early in the season, but unless you’re refusing to leave your house and are instead choosing to stay inside with the doors locked and the blinds drawn, it’s extremely likely that you have been around others suffering from the first waves of cold and flu season. Usually, this is the time of year when you take stock of what is in your medicine cabinet and you create your local drugstore shopping list that includes flu and cold medicine, sore throat lozenges, nasal spray, extra vitamins, and boxes of tissues. And although these are great to have on hand, there is certainly more you can do to keep those germs away.

Fighting Those Germs

It’s not really feasible for anyone to stay sheltered in their home for months on end, and while you can’t always limit your exposure, there are some things you can do to strengthen and support your body’s immune system. Let’s take a look.

• Stay hydrated - In addition to keeping your energy levels up, drinking plenty of water will also help your body flush toxins and waste materials out of your system faster, which improves your ability to fight infection. So stay hydrated with water, but also supplement your intake with water-rich foods such as soup and fruit.
• Prioritize sleep - Sleep deprivation can suppress the body’s immune system, increase the risk of getting sick after exposure, and lengthen the recovery time, so go to bed! Take naps if you have to. The optimal amount of sleep for most adults is seven to eight hours while young children and teenagers may need up to 10.
• Wash your hands - Even with all of the hand sanitizers we carry around, there is nothing better than good old-fashioned hand washing to keep germs away. In addition to that, keep your hands away from your face! Germs can be lurking on literally every surface that you may come in contact with such as door handles, elevator buttons, office phones, and tables.
• Exercise - Physical activity plays a key role in the way your immune system fights viruses, so don’t forget to exercise. Even if you are experiencing symptoms of a cold, exercise can help flush the bacteria out of your body and promote good circulation, which allows the immune system to function efficiently. Just be careful you aren’t spreading your germs to anyone else. Keep the workout to yourself if you are feeling under the weather.

Your Happy Immune System

Establishing healthy habits before you are sick is a great way to prepare your immune system and ensure that those behaviors will continue after you have come down with a virus. So go ahead and stock your medicine cabinet, but don’t forget about all of your other healthy strategies as well!

To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Acworth, Ga.