The FINANCIAL — Flu season just started.
The FINANCIAL — Flu season just started. Infections typically begin with a sore or scratchy throat, fatigue and muscle aches, and develop to such symptoms as coughing and tightness. These symptoms can last for several weeks and seriously damage your health and lifestyle.
According to Elene Gabunia, Doctor of Medicine, the common cold can be caused by a wide variety of viruses. Most people catch a cold once or twice a year. This means that the immune system has been weakened which resulted in the catching of the common cold.
Healthy nutrition, exercising, washing hands often, getting enough sleep and not smoking are named as the top tips for maintaining a healthy immune system.
“The most important tip for fighting against a cold is maintaining a healthy immune system. It is a major way to protect against getting an excessive number of colds. Good and healthy nutrition is a prime way to maintain strong immunity. People should eat food which include beta-carotenes that are mostly found in vegetables and fruits. Vitamin C is also greatly important. Healthy nutrition improves a variety of immune functions,” Gabunia said.
The Babraham Institute in Cambridge found that eating plenty of leafy green veg can boost your immune system.
“It turns out that cruciferous vegetables from pak choi to broccoli contain food chemicals that help ensure white blood cells function at peak performance to fight off infections. Try Stir-frying broccoli with a little soy sauce and ginger for a fabulous flu-fighting side dish,” Mirror News notes.
“One of the vastly important factors for avoiding viruses is washing your hands frequently, especially after travel by public transport during the day. Washing hands with soap and water regularly is one of the best defences against viruses. Use hand sanitizer gels therefore. Shaking hands is also an easy way to catch a virus. Every time you shake someone’s hand, wash yours,” said Doctor Demetre Khvedelidze.
“It’s also important to maintain some fresh air in the room or at the office while working. In the event of sharing the same office with plenty of people one should try to keep their distance from them. Sooner or later everybody catches a cold. But people can strengthen their immune system’s infection-fighting ability by exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet, and getting enough rest,” Khvedelidze said.
According to Gabunia we should avoid touching the nose and eyes as much as possible. Those are the most common places on our face for microbes to get in. Enough sleep is also advised by Doctors in order to have a strong immune system.
“When you’re tired, your body isn’t fighting as hard, so try to get enough sleep at night. The importance of enough sleep and rest cannot be exaggerated. Studies have shown that powerful immune activators are released and many immune functions are greatly increased during deep sleep. Eight to ten hours a night are recommended,” Khvedelidze stated.
“Drinking liquids is also very important for our bodies. Drinking plenty of liquids helps prevent a lack of fluids and also improves white blood cell function. But we should watch carefully what type of liquid we drink. Soft drinks or fruit juices greatly reduce the ability of the white blood cells to kill bacteria and viruses,” said Doctor Manana Lagvilava.
“Use of tobacco or too much alcohol, high cholesterol or glucose levels in the blood, too much sugar and allergies significantly weaken the immune system. Surveys have proved that smokers catch more colds and recover from them more slowly. Cigarette smoke can irritate the airways and increase vulnerability to colds and other infections. Even exposure to passive smoke can make people catch colds more easily,” Lagvilava said.
As Doctor Khvedelidze said, maintenance of a healthy lifestyle, adequate sleep, good nutrition and physical exercise can help ensure that your immune system is in good condition and ready to fight against infection if it occurs. He adds that people who experience emotional stress have weakened immune systems and are more likely to catch a cold than others.
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