10 Ways to Stay Healthy During the Winter Season

1. Drink the optimal amount of water. With the winter season here, it’s more important than ever to consume the right amount of water for your health.

2. Minimize stress. Studies have linked high stress levels to making a person more susceptible to catching colds and flu. Minimize your stress by working reasonable hours at your job. Aim for at least one night per week to spend with friends and family.

3. Eat a healthy diet. Maintaining a good healthy diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables and minimal amounts of organic meats is another way to keep your body clean and in good working order. Try eating an extra piece of fruit or veggie every day too!

4. Do your homework to find the best supplement for your health. Even if you eat “perfectly” all the time with loads of fresh fruits and vegetables, you still need to boost your nutrition with a supplement. What supplements you will need will depend significantly on your lifestyle.

5. Exercise regularly. It is important to exercise regularly, even if only for 15 minutes a day! Get out and take a short walk and enjoy the cooler weather.

6. Get the right amount of sleep every night. The average person needs 6-8 hours of sleep per night. If you’re not getting enough sleep, your body is extremely vulnerable to illness. Sleep is very much like fuel that recharges your batteries! You’ve got to do it to keep the machine running.

7. Wash your hands regularly. Keep the bacteria and viruses off your hands and out of your mouth and eyes. Keep a bottle of hand sanitizer close-by for those instances where you can’t get to soap and water.

8. Don’t smoke. Most of you already know this, but it bears repeating because smoking significantly weakens your immune system.

9. Eliminate all forms of sugar. This includes not only the obvious kinds (cake, cookies and sweets, in general), but bread, pasta, rice, yogurt and commercial, store-bought fruit juices. Although all of these things are made with different types of sugars, your body still converts them to sugar, which will compromise your immune system.

10. Despite your best efforts, you still can feel like you’re “coming down with something.” Some things you can do to help your body recover more quickly:

• Eliminate all dairy products.

• Eliminate all alcohol.

• Eliminate all grains (bread, rice, pasta, etc.).

• Boost your Vitamin C (with bioflavanoids) intake when you initially feel something coming on.

• Boost your intake of Zinc.

• Increase water consumption (even more than normal!).

• Eat less food as this will give your body a much needed rest from digestion and give it a chance to concentrate on fighting off potential invaders.