Photo by mick62

I bet when you were younger your mother always told you not to go outside without a coat during winter because “you will catch a cold”.

Luckily, you can not catch a virus from simply having a low body temperature. You are far more likely to get hypothermia then a cold or the flu.

That does not mean that I recommend running around in the nude when it’s 5 degrees C outside because this will cause quite a shock to your body, which in turn can lower your immune system as it tries to recover, which may make you more susceptible to getting sick. It is not however the chief reason you become sick.

Below are 4 easy ways to avoid feeling getting sick and feeling like crap this winter:

1. Avoid crowded spaces.
   This is where the cold viruses come from: each other. As it gets colder people stop riding and walking to work and take the train instead. Rather then eating lunch in the park, they sit at their desk and sniffle away as they eat their soup. This inclination to stay inside means crowds of people in close proximity. It only takes one person to be sick to then take out an entire workplace. In Japan it is not uncommon to see people wearing face masks during flu season because it is so crowded over there, all of the time (see the photo above).

   You can’t avoid work altogether, but you can avoid trains (keep riding and walking, just dress appropriately), you can avoid sick people at work and you can avoid places like shopping centres at busy times . If you are a manager, don’t make your stuff come in when they are sick! That is just plain stupid. [Read more...]