“Flu season” can be pretty daunting. Unfortunately, we don’t know when the flu is going to hit hard with severe symptoms or with moderate to low symptoms. To take the guessing game out of it, I put together 10 ways to prep for the flu before “flu season” hits.

First, we will dig into what the flu actually is and if there really is a “flu season.” Then, we will go over 10 ways you can prep for the flu now before it becomes a concern.

10 Ways to Prep for the Flu

What is the Flu?

There are three main types of influenza that affect humans: Influenza A, Influenza B, and Influenza C. Influenza A is the most common and may have more than 144 different strains. The reason why there are so many strains of Influenza A is that it is able to mutate (or change its DNA) just enough that it looks different than the Influenza A parent virus. Even if you had the flu last year, you can still get the flu this year because the new mutated strain may trick the body into thinking it’s a completely new virus from the year before.

Influenza B, on the other hand, is not able to mutate as quickly as Influenza A, so there are currently not as many strains of B present. However, Influenza B can still cause severe symptoms. Influenza C, supposedly, does not cause severe symptoms like A or B. So, there is not much research done on this type because it is not seen as a threat.

Is There Really a “Flu Season”?

Though “flu season” is said to start in October, you can get flu-like symptoms throughout the year. However, if you look at the number of cases of people with flu-like symptoms, or influenza-like-illnesses (ILIs), the winter seems to be the choice of year for ILIs. This must mean that viruses and bacteria in the US that cause ILIs are able to spread more quickly in the winter.

There are a lot of theories behind why bacteria and viruses become so prominent during the winter. My theory is that sunlight is an incredible sterilizer that is able to keep most bacteria and viruses from spreading. Sunlight is also needed for our bodies to produce vitamin D. Vitamin D is a hormone that is used to keep the immune system healthy.

Since we have much less sunlight during the winter, it falls on us to make up for the lack of sunlight.

There are two ways to prep for the flu: limit your exposure to viruses and bacteria, and build up your immune system.

How to Limit Your Exposure to Viruses and Bacteria

Wash Your Hands After Coming Home

So many illnesses could be prevented if we just practiced better hygiene. Bacteria and viruses can latch onto your skin, hair, clothes, and bags. They can and do get on everything.

So, the best thing you can do is to wash your hands immediately when you get home. If you were around a sick person or people, then change clothes and toss the clothes you were wearing in the wash pile. Another good practice is leaving your shoes at the door. Just remember that wherever you go, your shoes go too (including the bathroom).

Try Not to Touch Your Face

If you’re a nail-biter like me, this one may be tough for you. If you take a day to count how many times you touched your face, I think you’d be surprised how often you rub your eyes, scratch your nose, or stroke your chin. Plus, you have to consider how many times you touch your pen and then put it in your mouth. Bottom line: we may touch our faces more than we realize.

During “flu season”, touching our face (directly or indirectly) is not the wisest thing to do. Well, if you’re not trying to get sick, that is. If you want to get sick, your odds will be pretty high if you constantly touch your face around sick people. For those who don’t want to get sick, stop touching your face and don’t put anything in your mouth (unless it’s food).

Wipe Off the Shopping Cart Handle

This recommendation is closely related to the first two. You never know who touched the cart handle before you, and you probably don’t want to know the germs that are on shopping cart handles. So, be smart and wipe those handles down, especially during “flu season”. This also goes for public phones and any other item you touch that many others have touched before you. Better safe than sorry!

Limit Your Buffet Visits

About 5 years ago, I realized how buffets are potential sources of all kinds of nasty germs. If you are a buffet-frequenter, then I recommend you watch the people around you the next time you go. You may not want to go back, especially if you go when coughing and sneezing are in season.

Side-note: Did you know that the clear plastic canopy over the food is called a sneeze guard? When “flu season” hits, these guards are keeping germs from coughs and sneezes from the food. Well, as long as the sneezes and coughs come from adults. Children are often too short for these guards to block their coughs and sneezes.

Wash Your Produce

When you buy produce from the store, you should always wash it before you eat it. Not only are you protecting yourself from the chemicals that are most likely on the produce, but the produce can also have bacteria or viruses on them. Some of the bacteria or viruses are obtained from the soil, but some may be from people in the store touching, coughing, or sneezing on the produce.

Side-note: If you grow your own produce, you may want to consider lightly washing your produce instead. I explain why here.

How to Build Up Your Immune System

Now, let’s talk about five ways you can build up your immune system. I talked more in-depth about this topic in my article How to Not Get Sick (Ever), so I will not talk too much about these.

Eat a Variety of Foods

Your body needs all the nutrients that food provides. So, if you want to eat the foods with the most nutrients (which I highly recommend), those will be foods that have been minimally processed. Also, the food you can obtain from local farmers and ranchers is even better because there is less time between when the food is harvested and when it’s on your plate.

Get Good Sleep

When you are sleeping, your body is able to work on many things that are critical for keeping you healthy. Since you are not eating, being stimulated by electronics, or stressing out when sleeping, your body can fight off any bacteria or viruses that you came into contact with during the day. Therefore, it is critical to get at least 7 hours of good, uninterrupted sleep each night. (Moms of new littles, get sleep where you can!)

I talk more about how to get good sleep in this article.

Exercise Consistently

This is probably a no-brainer, but maintaining your exercise routine throughout the winter helps protect your body from getting sick. Not only are you keeping your heart healthy when you work out, but exercise increases blood flow. When your blood flow is increased, your immune system can work better to kill and remove bacteria and viruses in your body. However, if you do get sick, I do not recommend you exercise. Your body needs all the energy you have to fight the virus or bacterium when you’re sick.

If you’re having trouble sleeping, exercise also helps you sleep more deeply. Because exercise increases endorphins and adrenaline, try to avoid doing intense exercise at least an hour before bed. However, doing light stretches before bed may help relax your body so you can sleep better.

If you’re always on the go and don’t have time for the gym, I have some exercise ideas for you in this article.

Practice Stress-Management

One of the biggest interrupters of your immune system is stress. When you are stressed out, your body goes into fight-or-flight mode. Fight-or-flight shifts the focus towards making cortisol and saving calories, so the immune system is not able to do what it needs to keep you healthy.

It’s important to practice self-management throughout the year for many health reasons. I talk more about the health problems stress can cause in this article. But, during “flu season”, stress does make you more vulnerable to getting sick. I talk more about how to handle stress in this article.

Consume Probiotics

I cannot say enough how effective probiotics are at boosting the immune system. Probiotics are a collection of different bacteria and fungi that are really good for your gut. You can get probiotics from fermented foods, like yogurt and Kombucha, or from supplements.

I talk more about fermented foods in this article. I talk more about probiotics and choosing a probiotic supplement in this article.

Ready to Prep for the Flu?

Here’s an overview of the 10 ways you can prep for the flu now:

All this knowledge you just gained is great, but if you don’t apply any of it then your new knowledge is wasted. So, now that you have 10 ways you can prep for the flu, which ones are you ready to do? Which ones do you know you need to do but can’t bring yourself to do?

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