Hands up and cover your mouth if you’ve had a virus so far in 2020? Yeah, we have, too.
There is nothing worse than trying to get through the horrendous weather, the dark mornings and evenings and ages to wait until summer. Add a cold or virus on top, and you’re having the “tibe ob your lime” (with a blocked nose, this makes sense!).
No one wants to deal with the lurgies throughout the winter, but no matter where you go, someone is going to sneeze into their hand and touch a doorknob. Then, you’re going to touch the doorknob and then touch your face. You then press the button to the elevator – catch our drift?
Colds and viruses are the worst to fight off and they happen over and over again throughout the autumn and winter seasons. You can get cranberry tablets for UTI and start fighting those off instantly, but a cold has no chill (pardon the pun). They don’t respond to medicines and hot blackcurrant drinks.
You are literally required to wait until your body decides to give up the ghost and feel better again. It’s all about you and your immune system, and it sucks.
So, while you wait for your immune system to get its act together, here are some tips for beating the bugs this winter:
- Firstly, you need to wash your hands and if you don’t have access to a sink, bring hand gel wherever you go. If you know you’re going to be touching doorknobs and elevator buttons, sanitize in between each one. You want to make sure that you don’t transfer any germs.
- You need to, where possible, sleep as much as possible. Our immune systems do their best work at night time, and the common cold is often beaten with rest. Sleeping 7-8 hours per night is the best remedy for a virus. So, get the best pillows onto your bed and fill up your diffuser with some lavender mist.
- Stress can lower your immune system, and if you want to get yours healthy again, you need to consider how your life is right now. Are you feeling stressed out and unable to cope? Then it’s time to start thinking about how you can reduce stress in your life.
- Keep working out – even with a cold. Sweating out the sickness is a thing, and as long as you don’t have a fever, you’re going to be safe to exercise.
- Take your vitamins. Top up your diet with supplemented vitamins if necessary to beat out a cold. You want Vitamin A for your gut lining, Vitamin C for immune cell function and Vitamin D for recognizing pathogens and initiating the right responses.
- Up your zinc in your diet with extra nuts, red meat and – if you can get them – oysters! Zinc works to enhance your immunity to certain pathogens and can really help you to feel great on the inside!
Look to your diet first to beat the bugs this winter, then remember the tissues and hide inside!
