Falling ill with the flu can put a dampener on your winter spirits and any festive plans. This guide explores some simple tricks to protect you and your family from the worst of the bugs. 

According to reports between 5 and 10% of the population will get the flu each year. While the flu won’t be life threatening unless your immune system is significantly weakened, it can leave you stuck in bed for a good number of days. It can ruin your plans and cause you to experience some terrible symptoms including:

  • High fever
  • Nausea
  • Headaches 
  • Muscle ahces 

That’s why it’s important to make sure that you take steps to avoid coming down with the flu.There are a few simple options you can consider here. 

Eating The Right Foods

First, you should think about taking steps to strengthen your immune system so that it can fight back against the flu. One of the best ways to do this is to add the right foods to your diet. There are lots of foods that have been shown to strengthen your immune system including citrus fruits. Fruits such as grapefruit, oranges and lemons are packed full with vitamin C so are the perfect way to provide your immune system with a big boost. 

The recommended daily dosages of vitamin C are 75 mg and and 90 mg for women and men respectively. You can use supplements but you need to make sure that you do need to avoid taking more than 2,000 miligrams per day. 

Citrus fruits aren’t the only type of food that is high in vitamin C. You can also add red bell peppers to your diet to gain similar benefits too. 

Broccoli is also filled with the right minerals and vitamins that you need to keep your body healthy. It contains vitamins A,C and E. To gain the greatest benefits from broccoli, you do need to make sure that you cook it as little as possible. Raw broccoli is fantastic for your body. If you must cook it, steam it. You’ll lose less nutrients by heating it up this way.

It can be difficult to get all the minerals and vitamins in your diet that your body needs. If you use an online pharmacy and doctor, you can access the best mineral supplements that experts do recommend. 

Fresh Air 

Getting out in the fresh air even when it’s cold outside is going to benefit your health and help you avoid getting sick. One of the reasons for this is that outdoor air contains higher levels of oxygen compared to the air inside your home. As you breathe in more oxygen, the oxygen levels in your blood increase. 


Research suggests that this can help your body heal more rapidly. Oxygen therapy is used to help athletes recover but simply breathing in fresh air could do wonders for your healing process too. It will help your body replace damaged cells.

Research highlights that fresh air can also provide benefits for young children and will help ensure that kids are less likely to get the flu. If you wrap your children up warm, there’s every reason to encourage them to still play outside during the winter months. This is due to the leve of bacteria and germs that circulate through indoor environments. Outside children can play in close proximity and are still unlikely to pass germs between one another. 

Washing Hands And Good Hygiene 

It’s important to maintain good hygiene through the winter months. The germs and bacteria are more prevalent during this time of year. Washing your hands on a regular basis will help stop you from catching these germs or spreading them to other members of your family.

Of course, it’s children that often have difficulty washing their hands. It’s common for kids to forget to take this basic step. You need to ensure that you practice how to wash your hands with your kids the right way. Time is important here. If you don’t spend enough time washing your hands, you won’t see any benefits. 

Stop Touching Your Face, Ears, Nose And Mouth 

You can’t always avoid touching surfaces that are contaminated with germs and bacteria. If you use public transport, it’s likely that you are coming in contact with different types of germs more than once a day. 

That’s why you should be using hand sanitizer. This will reduce the chances of these germs impacting you, causing you to develop the fllu. You should also try and avoid touching areas around your face as much as possible. This will help you avoid these germs entering your body. 

Get In The Right Routine 


Finally, you should make sure that you are keeping up with the right routine this winter. This should include a healthy dose of exercise. Forty-five minutes each week is all you need to keep your body fit and healthy. If you are struggling to reach this goal, try incorporating exercise into your daily life such as cycling rather than driving to work. 


Sleep is also important. The right level of sleep is another way that you can boost your immune system. It gives your body the recharge it needs. Ideally, you should aim to get about 8 hours of sleep each night. 


If you are struggling to get the right amount of sleep, try altering your sleep environment. Research shows electric items such as TVs and phones can be enough to disturb your sleep pattern and stop you getting to the deepest level of sleep. This will leave you feeling drained and exhausted when you wake up in the morning. Light pollution can have a similar impact. 

We hope this helps you understand some of the key steps you should take to keep yourself and your family safe from the flu this year. Keeping healthy this winter will help you avoid some miserable days and ensure that you enjoy the coldest season of the year.