How to Stay Healthy During the Winter Months

The winter months include at least a couple of holidays where you indulge in foods that are delicious, yet perhaps not so good for your health. Furthermore, wintertime is known to make a lot of people slow down their exercise routines and opt for cuddling up in a blanket on the couch. Find here – How to Stay Healthy During the Winter Months.

While we all want to stay healthy, prevent heart attacks, and hopefully live long, productive lives, a lot of us are a little more lenient on ourselves in the colder months. Staying healthy during this time doesn’t mean that you have to forego pecan pie or give away your advent calendar treats. With the right knowledge and a little bit of effort, you can stay healthier through the winter months than you likely have in a while. Using a Healthy meal delivery service can save your time and improve your health.

Get Your Shot

The flu is responsible for tens of thousands of hospitalizations and deaths, and sickens millions more every winter. Even if you got a flu shot last season, you need to get one this year, as the vaccines are updated to protect you against new strains of the virus. The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older receive a yearly flu vaccine.

Fortify Your Immune System

You definitely need to eat plenty of fruit and add more vegetables to your nightly meals this time of year. However, you also need to supplement your diet to help ensure that you are getting the nutrition your body needs in order to stay healthy. Top vitamin sellers in winter include vitamin D due to less time outside, but you should seriously consider a broad spectrum multivitamin. There are also fruit or vegetable juice alternatives that you may enjoy, as many store brands have added sugar. Furthermore, eat leaner protein and whole grains while cutting back on ultra-processed foods and opt for snacks that have less sugar and fat as well.

Lastly for this section, your body is extremely vulnerable to illness if you’re not getting enough sleep. You need an average of 6 – 8 hours of sleep per night. If something is keeping you awake, talk with your doctor about treatment options that can help you sleep better.

Practice Good Hygiene

Most of you have a morning routine that consists of taking a shower and brushing your teeth and hair before work. Additionally, many of you increased your personal hygiene diligence when it came to reducing the spread of Covid in the early stages of the pandemic.

However, the winter months mean that more people are inside, breathing recycled air, touching common surfaces, and just spending more time in closer proximity to each other. With that in mind, you should ensure that you:

• Frequently wash your hands.
• Use a sanitizing cleaner to wipe down hard surfaces.
• Avoid touching your mouth, eyes, and nose as much as possible.
• Keep your distance from anyone showing signs of being sick.
• Stay hydrated to flush toxins out of your system.

Avoid Stress as Much as Possible

High stress levels have been linked to more susceptibility to catching a cold, the flu, and other illnesses. If you’re noticing that you seem to be stressed a lot more lately, you should make some changes. Cut back on overtime hours and spend more time with friends, family, or relaxing alone. Soak in a hot bath after work and consider aromatherapy or even CBD treatments for stress. Develop healthy habits and try to avoid stress whenever possible.

The winter months can be stressful enough on their own, but when you calculate in the holidays and flu season, it can quickly get overwhelming. This is one of the main reasons that you should eat right, drink plenty of water, take supplements to bump up your immune response, and practice good personal hygiene in order to keep yourself as healthy as possible.

See also – Hacks to Add to Your Morning Routine