September 11th, 2018 by Chris Chapman

As the colder weather starts to bite, it’s highly likely you’ll come down with a cold at some point. The common cold is an infection of your mouth, nose, throat, and sinuses that can be caused by many different viruses. There are so many different viruses that cause colds that you might think getting a bit bunged up is unavoidable over winter, but it doesn’t have to be that way! You can take a few steps to greatly reduce your risk of catching a cold over the winter – just read on to find out how!

Eat Lots of Protein

As the common cold can be caused by a countless number of different viruses, it’s impossible to keep every single one away from your body. What you can do, though, is to make sure your body has everything it needs to fight off the cold germs before they cause a nasty infection! People with diets that are low in protein tend to have weaker immune systems, so try to include fish, eggs, or protein shakes into your diet to help stave off colds.

Stay Hydrated

Drinking lots of fluids will help flush any potentially harmful germs out of your system before they can cause a cold. Drink lots of water or, if you’re not a fan of water, you can blend up some fruit and veg into a tasty juice smoothie! This will have the added benefit of helping you get your recommended daily servings of fruit and veg, giving your body all the nutrients it needs to fight off colds.

Wash Your Hands

Wash your hands every time you shake someone’s hands or use someone else’s keyboard at work. Your hands pick up germs from all over the place without you realising; germs that can easily be transferred to your face, where they can enter your body through the eyes or mouth. If you don’t want to be constantly running to the bathroom to wash your hands, you can use some hand sanitiser throughout the day.

Change How You Sneeze

Don’t sneeze into your hands! As we outlined above, your hands carry enough germs without you adding to them and spreading all over everything you touch. You should instead aim your sneeze into the crook of your elbow. It sounds weird and probably looks a bit odd, but the inside of your elbow carries far fewer germs and you won’t end up circulating the germs back into your body by touching your face.

Get Plenty of Sleep

Sleep is very important if you’re trying to prevent a cold. When your body is tired you have much less energy to fight off infections, so you’re much more prone to colds. Consider turning in an hour earlier over the winter time, especially if you’ve been around people with colds during the day.

Keep Warm in Bed

While you’re sleeping, you’re extremely susceptible to sudden drops in temperature. While being chilly doesn’t give you a cold in and of itself, what it does do is make it harder for your body to fight off infections. If you’re awake, you can respond to drops in temperature by wrapping up or putting the heating on, but obviously when you’re asleep that can’t happen, meaning you might well wake up feeling rough. A fitted electric blanket on top of your mattress will help keep your temperature at an even, cosy level through the night for a fraction of the cost of central heating, meaning your body can get the rest it needs to fight off infections.

Don’t Get Too Close

In addition to the cold weather making your immune systems work a lot harder, colds spread much more effectively in winter because we tend to spend more time indoors in close contact with one another. Try and keep away from people who are suffering from a cold if you can – this will help you stay away from infectious germs.

Keep Your Phone Clean

We can’t go anywhere without our phones these days, meaning our phones are likely to pick up all sorts of germs! These germs can spread all over your hands and face if you’re not careful, so regularly wiping your phone with some anti-bacterial wipes is a good way to stave off colds.

Eat More Soup

Warm liquids like soup help your body with digestion, meaning you’ve got more energy to stop colds from taking hold. Soup will also help keep you hydrated, which is another great way of preventing illness. Anything with a lot of hearty greens in it, or something that contains ginger, black pepper, or cumin, is a good choice. These foods are all proven to help make your immune system stronger, meaning those cold germs won’t stand a chance!

Purify the Air

The quality of the air you breathe is important all year round, as getting good clean lungfuls of air will help your body stay alert and energised. In built-up areas – especially in parts of London – the air can be very polluted, which will run your body down without you realising it. Use an air purifier to catch those problematic particles of dirt around your home or in the office, keeping the air around you clean. If your body isn’t struggling against countless pollutants, it’ll have the energy it needs to prevent you from catching colds.