Winter Health and Wellness Tips

Decreasing temperatures, along with the wind, rain, and snow that often accompanies winter time creates a fertile breeding ground for germs to thrive. This, along with lengthy periods spent indoors, contribute to colds, flu, and other sicknesses spreading. You can make it through the winter without getting sick and stay healthy all winter long with these helpful winter health and wellness tips.

Keep Germs from Spreading

Everyone knows most germs spread one of two ways – through contact and through the air. This is made easier by the fact that everyone is indoors more, meaning close contact with others, thus increasing the susceptibility to colds and flu. Being aware of where your hands go is the first step in keeping healthy all winter long.

Think about it – covering your mouth to cough or sneeze, wiping your nose, shaking hands, and handling money that has been touched by thousands of hands – is just the start of germs being transferred from one set of hands to another. As you go about your daily tasks, you should avoid, as much as possible, touching door knobs, handles, and other public elements. Next, washing your hands with soap and water throughout the day is a good preventative as well. Not only should you keep your hands washed and avoid touching publicly shared elements, but you should also try not to touch your face. Touching your face increased your chance of pathogen exposure through your mouth, eyes, and nose. Touching less and washing more is a great way to keep from “catching” a cold, the flu, or the other illness that are rampant in winter.

Activity and Exercise

To improve your wintertime health – stay active and exercise daily. Keeping up with your daily exercise is crucial to your health. The latest research has proven that sedentary individuals who don’t exercise get sick twice as often as those who lead active lifestyles and exercise daily. In addition, research also confirms that physical activity in the winter aids immune cells in the fight against, germs and infection. So, take a walk, hit the gym, ride that bike, or use your treadmill for health and wellness not only in winter but all year long.

Nutrition and Wellness

Good nutrition is vital all year long, but especially in the winter months. Simply changing a few of your eating habits can give you more nutrition to help you stay healthy. Swap your iceberg lettuce for a salad made with dark leafy greens like kale or spinach and get a healthy dose of vitamins A, C, and K, plus calcium, potassium, and folate. Switch out your white potatoes for even more delicious sweet potatoes and gain a whopping dose of Vitamin A, C, and fiber, with lower calories and carbohydrates.

As you make small changes to your eating, consider lowering your sugar intake. Reducing the amount of sugar you eat (and drink) will increase the effectiveness of your immune system and in turn decrease your chances of getting sick during the winter. Of course, decreasing the amount of sugar in your diet will also help your body fight against other illnesses and disease not only during winter days but all 365 days of the year.

Healthy Living All Year Long

These simple tips can help you reach your goal of staying healthy during the winter months and all year long. By continuing to eat healthy, living an active lifestyle, and actively keeping germs away, you will live healthier in the winter months and be well for the year ahead.