Preventing colds: the most simple and effective methods

The World Health Organization claims that more than 49,000 people die every year from colds or flu-like illnesses. In this situation, prevention of colds is very helpful. It will make your life more healthy. Here are some tips that you can use to prevent colds and flu in the most natural way.

Read also: Prevention of colds in children

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Useful tips for preventing colds

Wash your hands thoroughly

Most cold viruses spread by direct contact. He who has a cold, sneezes or coughs, and then touches the phone, the keyboard, the cup, the surface of the furniture. Microbes-carriers of cold can live for several hours, before a healthy person touches the infected surface. Simple hand washing is the single most important means of preventing the spread of viral and bacterial infections. Nevertheless, studies show that many people, using public toilets, do not wash their hands afterwards.

People also forget to wash their hands before preparing food. If you want to prevent a cold, just stop - and wash your hands. If water is not available, alcohol-based wipes will be an excellent disinfectant for hands.

Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze

Since microbes and viruses remain on hand when coughing and sneezing, it often leads to infection of other people through contact with hands. When you feel that you are starting to sneeze or cough, use disposable handkerchiefs, which you then immediately discard.

If you do not have a napkin or a handkerchief, cover your mouth with your hand, and then wash your hands.

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Do not touch your face with dirty hands

Viruses that cause colds and flu get into the body through the eyes, nose or mouth. Touching the face with dirty hands is the main way to prevent colds.

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Do regular breathing exercises

Aerobic (breathing) exercises allow the heart to pump more blood, makes you breathe faster, help transfer oxygen from the lungs to the bloodstream and makes you sweat as your body warms up. These exercises help to increase the immune system to activate and destroy pathogenic viruses and bacteria causing colds.

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Eat foods that contain vitamins

If you do not take vitamins in the form of tablets, eat dark green, red and yellow vegetables and fruits.

They have a lot of natural vitamins. Which strengthen the immune system and help it to fight colds.

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Do not smoke

Medical statistics show that heavy smokers are more likely to suffer a cold and are more often ill with it.

Even if a person does not smoke, but is next to a smoker, he does great damage to his immune system. Smoke dries out your nasal passages and paralyzes cilia - thin hairs that line the mucous in the nose and lungs. Their undulating movements push out cold and flu viruses from the nasal passages. Experts argue that one cigarette can paralyze the cilia quite a long time - from 30 to 40 minutes. Therefore, the likelihood and duration of the incidence of the common cold or flu is increased.

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Stop drinking alcohol

Alcohol abuse suppresses the immune system. People who drink heavily are more prone to penetration into the body of infections, as well as secondary complications after a cold.

Alcohol also dehydrates the body - it causes more fluid loss than is necessary for a person

Have more rest

If you can teach yourself to relax, you can increase the power and speed of the reaction of your immune system. Once you learn to relax and rest more, it is good to get enough sleep, the amount of interleukins in the blood increases (these are the leaders of the immune system in the fight against enemy agents). Accustom yourself to moments of anxiety or anxiety, and also before going to bed imagine pleasant or soothing pictures. Do this 30 minutes a day for several months.

Keep in mind, relaxation can be learned - this is a skill that helps a lot to become healthier and more successful. But you need to relax sincerely - people who are trying to relax, but do not really do it, doctors do not detect any changes in chemicals in the blood.

Alternative drugs in preventing colds

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Echinacea

Echinacea is a dietary herbal supplement that some people use to treat colds and to prevent it. Scientists have conducted studies on how Echinacea works in the treatment and prevention of colds, but the results have been mixed. Some researchers have found that herbs can help treat colds if taken at an early stage of the disease, but other scientists believe that echinacea can help in later periods.

Three large studies funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, as well as the US National Institute of Health, have shown that echinacea does not reduce the severity of symptoms and the duration of the common cold.

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Vitamin C

Many people are convinced that taking large amounts of vitamin C prevents colds or can alleviate its symptoms. To test this theory, the researchers made several large controlled studies involving children and adults. While the data did not convincingly show that large doses of vitamin C are good in the prevention of colds.

Vitamin C can reduce the severity and duration of symptoms, but so far there is no clear evidence of this effect. In addition, taking vitamin C for a long time in large quantities can be dangerous. Too much vitamin C can cause severe diarrhea, which presents a particular danger to the elderly and young children.

Honey

Some people use honey to treat a cough and soothe the sore throat. During a study at the Medical University of Pennsylvania, scientists compared the effectiveness of buckwheat honey before bedtime with cough and non-prescription medications for colds.

The results of this study suggest that honey can be very useful for relieving cough, but for other symptoms of colds, scientists need to do additional research. But scientists have found out that honey is very useful for the prevention of colds - it is able to increase immunity. But know that in no case should you give honey to children under 1 year old because of the risk of child botulism, as well as other serious diseases.

Zinc

Lozenges and lozenges with zinc, which are bought in a pharmacy without a prescription, are also good as prevention of colds. Nevertheless, the evidence of their effectiveness was ambiguous.

A recent review of a number of clinical studies shows that zinc can slightly reduce the symptoms and duration of colds in healthy people, but the use of large amounts of zinc was associated with an increased risk of side effects, such as nausea.

Read also: 11 products with a high content of zinc

Zinc in vitamin complexes is also very good in preventing colds, according to scientists.

Preventing colds is a very good way, which will save your money for treatment and, most importantly, your time and energy.