Stay Healthy with This Winter Wellness Toolkit
Peter Graham, M.D.
| 3 min read
Peter T. Graham, M.D., is a chief medical officer fo...
Key Takeaways
- Wash your hands before and after preparing food, eating food or caring for someone who is sick.
- Getting a flu shot each fall ensures the most up-to-date protection for each year’s flu season.
- Make sure to drink water throughout the day. Fruits, vegetables and soup also help keep the body hydrated.
- Sticking to a consistent sleep routine can help individuals get a good amount of quality of sleep. Avoiding caffeine and alcohol several hours before bedtime also helps.
During the winter season, the shorter days, cold weather and more time indoors can make it easier to slack off on healthy habits. It’s tempting to snuggle up on the couch, eat comforting food and pause regular exercise.
And, as individuals let their healthy habits lapse, another health threat rises during the winter months – viruses and respiratory illnesses. Viruses spread more easily in the dry winter air, and as people spend more time together indoors.
This double whammy contributes to the increased incidence of illness during the winter months. But catching a virus this winter is not necessarily inevitable. There are many things individuals can do to lessen the likelihood that what’s going around will get them.
A winter wellness toolkit
Here are five simple habits to help individuals stay healthy this winter.
- Wash your hands: Germs easily spread from unwashed hands to items or people. For example, someone may unknowingly wipe their nose or touch their mouth, then grab a doorknob. The next person touching that doorknob may then pick up germs transferred from the first person’s hands. Proper hand hygiene can stop those germs from spreading. Remember to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water for 20 seconds. If soap is not available, use hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Wash hands before and after preparing food, eating food or caring for someone who is sick and after using the toilet, coughing, sneezing, handling animals or their food, touching garbage or changing diapers.
- Get a flu shot: Manufacturers update the formulas in flu shots each year to best combat the previous year’s strains and those that are currently circulating. Getting a flu shot each fall ensures the most up-to-date protection for each year’s flu season. Other illnesses such as COVID, pneumonia and RSV tend to be more prevalent in fall and winter. Individuals can talk with their primary care provider about their options for those vaccines as well.
- Hydrate: Winter weather is not just cold, it’s dry. This dries out sinuses and skin, can irritate asthma symptoms, and even lead to minor dehydration. Make sure to drink water throughout the day. Fruits, vegetables and soup also help keep the body hydrated.
- Get enough sleep: Sleep is essential for good health. During sleep, our bodies repair and restore tissue, build bone and muscle, and refresh the brain. Some research suggests that people sleep longer during the winter than at other times of the year. Sticking to a consistent sleep routine can help individuals get a good amount of quality of sleep. Avoiding caffeine and alcohol several hours before bedtime also helps.
- Maintain physical activity: Exercise provides so many physical and mental health benefits, including boosting mood, improving sleep, and strengthening balance and muscles, which reduces fall risk. It can be hard to get the recommended 150 weekly minutes of exercise in the cold, snow and ice. But there are plenty of ways to get physical activity indoors. Try online exercise classes, dancing around the house, walking up and down the stairs, mall walking or even housecleaning.
With these five simple habits, individuals can boost their resilience and help themselves stay healthy throughout the cold winter months.
Peter Graham is the clinical director for the Blue Care Network. For more health tips and information, visit MIBlueDaily.com.
Photo credit: Getty Images
