With it being the middle of the holiday season, it is also high time for many people to get sick.
What are two things you can do to keep healthy and perform at the highest level?
1. Do a combination of colorful fruits & veggies, topped with a general multivitamin.
Colorful fruits and veggies (spinach, kale, berries, red peppers, oranges, etc) are great sources of antioxidants which your immune system needs to have to be in tip-top shape. This is probably the most important tip for boosting your immune system.
Add extra fruits & veggies to salads, hearty soups, or roast them off in the oven as a great side dish (see recipe at the end).
If you’re on the road, access to fresh fruits and veggies might be difficult. This is where multivitamins have their place, to fill in the gaps where you might be lacking due to a busy schedule. One extra benefit from a multivitamin is getting vitamin D which for many people is a deficiency during the winter months, simply because there is less daylight, and that you’re bundled up and covering your skin which prevents your body from making vitamin D via tanning. Vitamin D is one of many vitamins involved in supporting your immune system.
2. Stay hydrated!
Water is very important because your immune system, like the rest of your body, needs water to function at max capacity.
However there are a lot of factors that cause dehydration during the winter:
Dry air: Heating your house generates warmth, but dries out the air. You also have dry air from traveling to high altitude, and the cabin of an airplane when you travel is also very dry. This means your body needs to pull more water from your cells to keep hydrated, which increases your daily needs. You might also be very busy, forgetting to drink throughout the day. Finally, despite common belief, coffee is not much of a diuretic, so feel free to include coffee to help hydrate, just know that it’s harder to drink large amounts of hot beverage vs. cold beverages. What is a strong diuretic is alcohol, so either indulge in moderation, and/or pair your holiday alcohol with a non-alcoholic drink to offset the dehydrating effects of your adult beverage.
Adding a little sodium to your beverages from an electrolyte mix like Skratch or Nuun, or a pinch of salt to your beverages can help with hydration. Think about eating big bowls of soup with meals, where you can have salty liquid with colorful fruits & veggies!
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