Tips to Prevent Cold and Flu

• Most cold and flu viruses are spread by direct contact. Someone who has the flu sneezes onto their hand, and then touches the telephone, the keyboard, a kitchen glass. The germs can live for hours -- in some cases weeks -- only to be picked up by the next person who touches the same object. So wash your hands often. If no sink is available, rub your hands together very hard for a minute or so. That also helps break up most of the cold germs. Be sure to wash with soapy water for at least 20 seconds.
  
  
• Do the Elbow Cough.  Because germs and viruses cling to your bare hands, muffling coughs and sneezes with your hands results in passing along your germs to others. When you feel a sneeze or cough coming, use a tissue, then throw it away immediately. If you don't have a tissue, turn your head away from people near you and cough into the air. 
  
  
• Don’t touch your face.  Cold and flu viruses enter your body through the eyes, nose, or mouth. Touching their faces is the major way children catch colds, and a key way they pass colds on to their parents.
  
  
• Drink Plenty of Fluids.  Water flushes your system, washing out the poisons as it rehydrates you. A typical, healthy adult needs eight 8-ounce glasses of fluids each day. How can you tell if you're getting enough liquid? If the color of your urine runs close to clear, you're getting enough. If it's deep yellow, you need more fluids.
  
  
•  Exercise Regularly.  Aerobic exercise speeds up the heart to pump larger quantities of blood; makes you breathe faster to help transfer oxygen from your lungs to your blood; and makes you sweat once your body heats up. These exercises help increase the body's natural virus-killing cells.
  
  
• Get Fresh air.  A regular dose of fresh air is important, especially in cold weather when central heating dries you out and makes your body more vulnerable to cold and flu viruses. Also, during cold weather more people stay indoors, which means more germs are circulating in crowded, dry rooms.
  
  
• Healthy Eating.  Eat foods containing phytochemicals.  "Phyto" means plants, and the natural chemicals in plants give the vitamins in food a supercharged boost. Eating dark green, red, and yellow vegtables and fruits will build your immune system.
  
  
• Eat yogurt.  Some studies have shown that eating a daily cup of low-fat yogurt can reduce your susceptibility to colds by 25 percent. Researchers think the beneficial bacteria in yogurt may stimulate production of immune system substances that fight disease.
  
  
• Clean the Hot Spots!  These are the high-touch surfaces in ;your home where germs live and can spread easily, such as, phones, light switches, door knobs, remote control…
  
  
• Relax!  If you can teach yourself to relax, you can acivate your immune system.  There’s evidence that when you put your relaxation skills into action, your interleukens—leaders in the immune system response against cold and flu viruses—increase in the bloodstream. 

 

Loving your kids always,
Mrs. Cathy, Mrs. Corrie, Mrs. Crystle & The Sonshine Teaching Staff