Welcome to that time of year, where your house becomes a living, moving, breathing Petri dish. Wherever we go, hockey rinks, Christmas concerts, basketball games or going out caroling (Do people still do that?); there are sick people that will make a point to sneeze and cough in your general direction. If they’re miserable, they want to make sure everyone else is miserable as well. Kidding! It just seems like that when we are healthy. 

So how do we stay healthy through the winter? If I had the magic formula, I would likely not be writing this blog, but would rather be making a ton of money as a doctor or naturopath. That being said, those are the people you want to talk to when it comes to preventative medicine or flu shots or things of that nature. However, here is my two cents on some natural methods.

Wash your hands

This may be something so simple that it probably gets forgotten. In case you didn’t notice, we touch everything. Door knobs, cutlery, countertops, bathrooms, our faces, etc. Germs travel around like your gypsy Aunt Catherine – “when will she ever settle down?” So it is important to wash our hands to stop the germs from spreading.

Drinking Water

We live in a society of energy drinks, coffee, beer and booster juice. These things have their place when you need a pick me up. But nothing helps replenish our body than drinking plenty of water. 6-8 glasses is what is recommended. This will help with your digestion and keep up your hydration. After all, our body is made up of 60% water, we should try and keep it up there. For men, the other 40% is hot air & gas, but who’s keeping track.

Vitamin C

This happens to be the most powerful immune boosting vitamin around. It is found in many fruits and vegetables: Oranges, broccoli, Kiwi, Red & Green Peppers, Strawberries, etc. You can also purchase some chewable vitamin c tablets in most health food stores; if you need the extra kick. Taking a good quality multi-vitamin will also contain Vitamin C alongside other supplements.

Activity

It is important to stay active. Continuing with your exercises will help you stay fit, but will help boost your immune system function, decrease your stress level and keep your weight down. It is almost like the doctor recommends it. I wish binge watching netflix with a tub of ice cream was one of the recommendations. Just once!

We take our health for granted when we feel good. So let’s try and take some steps so that we don’t have to catch that dreaded “Men’s Cold” where we are knocked out for a day (woman) or month (man). Be proactive and keep yourself healthy and strong this winter.