The summer is coming to an end and the weather is beginning to change, which means that all of those colds, flu viruses, and various other maladies are going to start swirling around the place. Since the pandemic started, most of us have taken care to be more mindful of how we expose ourselves to the risk of illness but now is not the time to start letting our guards down. As such, here are a few ways to make sure that you take care of yourself.
Get back to the COVID fundamentals
Some people might consider the health advice most of us were following a year or more ago to be a little “overkill” nowadays. However, the fact remains that social distancing, wearing a mask, and washing your hands tends to be good health advice in general, not just for COVID, but for keeping your risk of catching bugs low. If you have started to hear that people have started getting sick in your area, then start carrying hand sanitizer and masks and be mindful of how many people you’re allowing in your personal space. It isn’t overkill if you get through cold and flu season without a hitch.
Make sure that you’re getting enough sleep
While the mechanisms of how sleep affects our body might not be as well known as we would like, we know what happens when you don’t get enough sleep. Aside from feeling pretty awful, in general, it can tank your body’s immune response, making you much more likely to catch whatever bug is going around and to get the worst of the symptoms for longer. As such, make sure that you’re getting enough sleep by setting yourself a proper bedtime, creating a better sleep environment, and avoiding using digital technology for at least 30 minutes before your scheduled bedtime.
Get out into the daylight
As the days get shorter and the weather gets more miserable, then we’re a lot more likely to spend more time indoors. While that might be natural, that doesn’t mean that it’s good for us. Our body’s immune response is activated by things called t-cells, which require vitamin D to function properly. Aside from what we get in food, the greatest source of vitamin D is sunlight. While you can use supplements to tack on what you’re lacking in your diet, the sun provides a whole host of health benefits to try to spend a little more time out there each day if you can.
Stock up on your micronutrients
Your diet is going to play a huge role in keeping your immune system going, just as it plays a big role in pretty much every process within the body. You should be ensuring that you’re getting enough lean protein, healthy sources of fat, not to mention greens in your body, in particular. However, when cold and flu season approaches, it can pay to top things off with the right supplements for Immune boost properties. Vitamin C, E, and B6 can all be hard to get enough of through your diet alone, so consider adding some supplements if it’s safe for you to do so.
Mind your stress while you’re at it
The mind-body connection is real. In fact, more and more healthcare professionals are getting rid of the distinction entirely. Stress is one of those aspects of mental health that can have a profound impact on the body. Stress and anxiety can both increase the inflammatory response in the body while suppressing the immune response, meaning you can get sick more easily and be in more pain as a result. As such, it can be pretty vital to find the right way to ease your stresses, be it through meditation, yoga, or otherwise.
Taking the alternative approach
There are some who attest to alternative medical practices, such as the help of a chiropractor, for helping you with your immune system. In particular, it is through that reducing misalignments through the right treatments can help to improve the function of the nervous system which can, in turn, help to activate the immune response more quickly and more accurately when your body comes into contact with bacteria and viruses.
The tips above are going to help you improve your immune system and be wise in avoiding many of the risk factors and vectors that can lead to sickness. They can’t guarantee that you won’t catch anything, of course, but they can help you decrease your chances and protect your family a little better. Most importantly, they can help you get over any bugs that might come your way.
