Good Health Means More Productive Business

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9 Tips to Staying Healthy this Season

We all have days when we’re not feeling on top of our game or a little under the weather.  With the surge of media exposure around this year’s flu and thousands of students out of school ill, it’s already started to affect the business world.

More sick days means less productivity.  On top of that, when you’re feeling sick, your decision-making abilities are skewed.  As business owners, there is no calling in sick for the person that calls the shots.  Hopefully you’ve got your business in a position where you can easily delegate tasks for a day or two.

What can you do to make this season a healthy one?

Here are some tips from our local health department that you can share with your employees, colleagues and friends to stay on your A game and be more productive this winter.

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications and the #1 preventative of spreading germs).

2. “Hands-off-the-face” approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat or bathe).

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don’t trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation.  Don’t underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Do a sinus cleanse daily.  Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. We’ve found the best nasal cleanse to be the SinuCleanse (which you can get at your Walgreen or CVS).  You can even get one for your kids!

*Blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*

5.  Vitamin C – Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits) by supplementing every day.  Pick up a box of Emergen-C at your local pharmacy.  (It’s a life saver and tastes great in cranberry juice!)

6. Warm Liquids – Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm. Our fav is Refresh Tea from Starbucks.

7.  Sleep is critical not only for your immune system, but also for mental clarity.  Be sure you’re getting enough sleep and not allowing yourself to run ragged.

8.  Food – What are you eating?  Are you eating for fuel and proper nourishment for your body or are you eating processed foods with zero nutritional value? (Stock up on organic produce – kale, spinach, sweet potatoes, blueberries and wheat grass).  EatingWell.com has great recipes that are super tasty and easy to make.

9.  Water – at this point in our history, drinking enough water and keeping your system clean and hydrated should go without saying…drop the soda pop and pick up a bottle of water!

Pass along to family and friends and let’s bring top health in to your business!