How To Avoid the Flu

Get a flu shot in October, November, or December. Local pharmacies, schools, and hospitals—and maybe even your school or workplace—will announce when they’re offering them each season.

Take a multivitamin daily, especially one high in vitamin C.

Eat a balanced diet with lots of vegetables—getting too few or too many calories can place extra strain on your immune system.

Exercise daily, especially throughout the winter. Raising your body temperature actually helps to clean your blood, killing off nasty stuff lurking there.

Wash your hands often. If there’s a sink nearby, scrubbing with plain old soap and water is just as good or better than antibacterial gels.

Clean counters and surfaces often—especially those that come in contact with hands or faces often, like phones or remote controls.

If someone near you sneezes, turn away to avoid the blast in case they don’t do so into a tissue or the crook or their arm.

Beware of little kids! Schools are breeding grounds for sickness, and kids are unwitting petri dishes.

Avoid shaking hands and other kinds of close contact with those who are—or might be—sick.

Drink lots of water every day.

Eat garlic. Studies show it can actually kill off the flu virus, and suggest it might also help bolster your immune sytem.

Get plenty of rest. Stress increases the amount of the hormone cortisol in your body, which can interfere with the white blood cells that fight off infections.

If you manage to get sick, do yourself and everyone else a favor: stay in bed. There’s no need to cause other people misery.