When the weather gets cold, a lot of people catch a cold. These are my 5 tips to avoid catching a cold, which help me to protect myself against a cold or flu, or to get over it quicker! No one wants to fall ill, so a good regimen is key to good health especially in cold days. And if you catch a cold, a  healthy lifestyle will help you recover quicker!

1. Live a healthy lifestyle

This is especially important in the cold season. This means eating healthy, warming foods like soups and stews, with lots of energy that your body needs to stay warm. Also you have to move your body enough during the day, even if the weather makes you feel you want to curl up on the couch with a warm cup of tea and a blanket. Go walk your dog a few times, or go work out. Make sure you get a good night sleep. It is dark more hours of the day, and that means you need to get more sleep.

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2. Wash your hands all the time, and go everywhere with a hand sanitizer

This doesn’t need much explanation really. During the day you touch a lot of surfaces that other people have touched as well. Bacteria and viruses are easily spread that way. And if you don’t you are more likely to catch a cold.

READ MORE: How to properly wash your hands to avoid a cold

3. Hydrate yourself

When it is cold people or less likely to drink enough water because it is cold, but when you are inside with the heater on, you are dehydrating rapidly. This means drinking enough water and/or tea, but also making sure your skin from the outside stays hydrated. Especially dry skin on your lips, inside your nose, and dry eyes are excellent places for viruses and bacteria to enter your body. When these are hydrated, you create a barrier between you and the potential viruses and bacteria. I use homeopathic eyedrops, aloe vera for my nose, coconut oil for my skin, and coconut butter or shea butter for my lips. Also hydrate the air you breathe. Humidify the air using a humidifier inside your apartment, and let it run day and night. Also, when you go outside, wrap a scarf around your mouth and breathe through it. When you preheat the air, and moisten the air with your saliva, it will again protect against a dry mouth and bacteria and viruses from easily entering through your mouth and nose.

READ MORE: Water!

4. Take some extra vitamins

Especially Vitamin C which is known to be helping boost your immune system. I also take oregano oil which supposedly has anti-viral properties and garlic because it is supposed to cleanse your blood. Also a complete wellness mix of herbs to boost your immune system is a good option. Go to your local vitamin store for advice and ask your doctor what vitamins work for you.

READ MORE: Vitamins and minerals

5. Drink tea with healing herbs

I like Mu tea which is a combination of 16 herbs including licorice, and the good old herbal teas including chamomile and jasmin tea and ginger tea. Add some honey. Honey is known for the antibacterial qualities so it is said that taking honey will soothe your throat. More hard-core is adding raw ginger to your tea. This really helps me to avoid catching a cold!

READ MORE: Ginger Lemon Tea

Stay warm & healthy!

Love, Lonneke