10 Tips for Staying Healthy during Cold and Flu Season

Thanks so much to Wash It for sponsoring today’s discussion.

I imagine the whole country breathing a sigh of relief as we cross off another day from the calendar. The heat is leaving and the wondrous season of Fall is settling in. Unfortunately, with the cooler weather comes the obnoxious flu and cold season that sweeps through homes, usually hitting each family member.

Not this year! Don’t be a victim of the seasons, defend your family with these 10 simple tips for staying healthy during cold and flu season.

Staying Healthy During Cold and Flu Season

1. Know your opponent: The flu and cold viruses affect the respiratory system. The flu hits you from the sinuses to lungs, whereas the cold usually stays in the nose and throat. Both are transmitted from droplets from a contagious person’s respiratory system, such as sneeze or cough. If you touch any surface with those droplets, it’s likely you’re infecting yourself. The virus can live up to 8 hrs on most surfaces.

2. Wash hands frequently: Make extra routines for the family to rid the viruses as soon as possible. In addition to before meals and after bathroom breaks consider adding washes:
-When children return from school
-After being outdoors where little noses get runny
-After a play date
-After naps for thumb suckers
And use alcohol based sanitizers when water isn’t available.

3. Elbows please: While using a tissue is best for disposing of viruses. Start teaching children early to cough or sneeze into their elbows so they are less likely to transfer droplets to other surfaces.

4. Avoid touching your face: This tip is easier said than done. If you can master not touching your face throughout the day you can greatly diminish your chance of infecting yourself. Kids, especially, need extra reminders.

5. Get a flu vaccine: While not 100% preventative, getting a vaccine is still one of your greatest defenses.

6. Wash shared sufaces: Similar to tip #2, adding extra cleaning routines will help eliminate the virus. Think keyboards, phones, remotes, kitchen appliances, doorknobs, light switches and many more. If you’re sharing it with someone else it needs to be disinfected. Remember, viruses live for 8 hrs.

7. Stay away from crowds: It’s hard to do when Fall and Winter are the seasons for friends and family parties and many other social gatherings. Enjoy these events safely by limiting handshakes, if provided – use a separate utensil to dish up at potlucks and avoid touching many different surfaces in the room.

8. Support your immune system: There isn’t a magic pill to have super health, but it sure doesn’t hurt to eat your vegetables! The harvest season is a great time to take advantage of dark leafy greens, squashes, peppers and all the apples and oranges.

9. Boost your immune system: As mentioned above, eat well and don’t slack off in the gym! Studies have shown that people who exercise catch less viruses and recover faster than those who don’t. Also, make sure you’re getting the right amount of sleep for your body.

10. Wash laundry with oxidizers: You know washing your hands is important but don’t forget your clothes and household linens. With busy lives, family members are in a lot of different places and bring home a lot of different things on their clothing.

Use a laundry system like Wash IT which disinfects microorganisms such as the Flu virus, Step and Staph, also E.Coli, MRSA and c. difficile in just 3 minutes (no joke! I’ve never seen anything like it)! Wash It uses water straight from your pipes and infuses it with the top 5 effective oxidizers. The Oxidizers in Wash It clean and disinfect so effectively on their own laundry detergents are not needed. By not using detergents or chemicals you’ll save money, extend the life of your clothes, avoid any chemical or detergent sensitivities may arise, and our beautiful Earth will thank you!

Wash It™ is an American made, healthy green innovation .  Wash It™ has an estimated life span of more than a decade, it Installs easily to any washing machine in about 5 – 10 minutes and can save families of four up to $600 a year.  Anything that saves me money and helps with staying healthy during cold and flu season has my attention!

You can learn more about Wash It and the science behind Wash It™ here.