Staying Healthy Through the Winter #humidifyme

yep, I am dressed as Doc McStuffins because that's how I roll...

Today I'm coming to you wearing my lab coat, because I'm all about staying healthy and fit this winter! I've already been seeing a ton of sick kids in the clinic and it isn't even flu season yet. I don't know about you, but I don't like getting sick, nor do I have time for illness. If I have to miss a day of work, there's no one to see my patients, which means a lot of cancelations. Plus I don't like missing a day of running. A lot of people ask me what I do to stay healthy, and I wanted to share some of my advice with you.

1. Wash your hands. You all know this. Wash your hands as soon as you get home from anywhere. Before you eat. After you use the bathroom. But what is the best way to wash your hands? Warm water, lather with soap and rub all surfaces for at least 20 seconds, rinse, dry your hands, and turn off the faucet using the towel. What about hand sanitizers? Hand sanitizers are a good back up plan but they do not eliminate all germs--particularly norovirus, which causes vomiting and diarrhea. This is the culprit behind those nasty cruise ship illnesses. So all those hand sanitizers on the ship? Not all that helpful. Just wash your hands with soap and water. And keep your hands away from your face.

2. Get a flu shot. Trying to convince patients to get the flu shot makes me feel like a used car salesman. I know that about 50% of you are going to comment on this one. You're going to tell me that you "got sick" the last time you got a flu shot. Or that you "don't believe in the flu shot". Or that you "never get the flu". No matter what you think, you can't dispute the fact that the flu shot decreases your chance of getting the flu. If you do get the flu, most likely you will have a milder course of the illness. And you will be preventing the spread of the flu. Oh, and by the way, you cannot get the flu from the flu shot.

3. Get at least 7-9 hours of sleep every night. As if you have to convince me to get sleep, there are actually people who fight this recommendation. Besides all the other benefits of sleep, lack of sleep actually impairs your immune system and in one study, demonstrated that less than 6 hours of sleep makes more susceptible to illness.

4. Eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Oh, if I had a dollar for every patient who told me they don't like veggies. The ones who don't like fruit I don't even understand. While there's no magic nutritional bullet to keep you healthy, the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of a diet that is heavy in "minimally processed food, close to nature, predominantly plants". There are a lot of you bloggers out there doing it right. Me, I could do better here.

5. Stress reduction. Multiple studies show the deleterious effects that stress has on the immune system. Short term stress can lead to increased susceptibility to illness. Raising teenagers is extremely stressful. Even though, I run to burn off stress, endurance events count as a stressor. About a week after that last marathon I ran, I came down with a nasty bug. Luckily, I bounced back quickly. Yoga, deep breathing, exercise, and relaxation can all help reduce stress. I found this nifty blog post last week--she has a great technique for a 2 minute meditation.

6. Use a humidifier in your home. We have a humidifier on our furnace, but sometimes even that isn't enough. The air in the house can get pretty dry. Dry air can affect the cilia in your nose, which are one of your defenses against the viruses that cause illnesses. Using a humidifier can help keep those cilia moist. Research also shows that the influenza virus survives better in dry conditions.

Recently, I was sent this Honeywell Console Humidifier from Influenster to try out. Even though I received the humidifier free to trial, all opinions here are my own. 

When FedEx brought the box, I felt like Santa came. It was huge. I was pretty excited to open it.

The Honeywell Top Fill Console Humidifier is perfect for this time of year. For most of us, during the winter, the windows are closed and the furnace is running. The air is dry in our homes. This humidifier is designed to provide invisible mist to extra large rooms or multiple rooms. There are three speeds and an automatic shut off once the desired humidity level is reached. The two tank design makes it easy to fill and clean. On low settings, the humidifier can run for 24 hours. And it comes in white and black.

I really liked the ease of setup--once I took the humidifier out of the box, it was easy to fill the tanks and turn it on. Within 5 minutes, the moisture was misting out of the device, although the mist isn't easy to see, you can feel it. Even though the humidifier is rather large, it's quiet, and you kind of forget about it once it's going. Actually, it makes the home environment so comfortable that you don't even realize it's working. 

Besides the health benefits, my skin gets really dry (can you say wrinkles?) in the winter, and the extra moisture is really beneficial. 

I don't see any downsides to this humidifier. You can purchase it on Amazon or Walmart.com.

What do you do to stay healthy in the winter? 

I'm linking up with the DC Trifecta for their Friday Five link up! Courtney, Cynthia, and Mar host this awesome link up. Be sure to check it out! 

I'm also linking up with Jill Conyers for Fitness Fridays! She's talking about Making Time for Fitness, which fits in nicely with my staying healthy theme. Check it out!