How to avoid getting cold or flu? - Infection prevention

The time between summer and autumn and during winter is the moment when cold or flu occurs the most often. There are two primary reasons why just at the turn of the season, why more often when it is cold outside, and why they are spread around that easily:

- weather changes that make it difficult to dress appropriately. Sudden drops in temperature during late summer evenings and in autumn and winter can cause stress on the body, which can temporarily decrease the effectiveness of the immune system.

- spending a lot of time indoors. This increases the risk of getting infected by someone nearby who might cough or breathe near you, spreading the virus easily due to the limited space in a room

What are the most effective methods of avoiding getting cold or flu?

At first, it is essential to ascertain that the most important is prevention instead of curing. We commonly say untreated flu lasts 7 days while treated flu lasts a week. Although when you begin feeling the first symptoms of cold, you should adequately counteract the expansion of sickness, "the army" (organism) should be well fed before the war, not only during the days of battle. That's called prevention. For that reason, it's crucial to:

- take care of diet and the gut microbiome. Make sure your diet is rich in micronutrients, vitamins and naturally occurring probiotics. Also, bear in mind that prolonged & strict caloric deficit will lead to additional stress and weaken the immune system.

- limit stress exposure, and once it's impossible use adaptogens that will help you adapt to stressful environment, e.g., Rhodiola Rosea (Golden Root) - Stress prevention 

- wash hands regularly and avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth with dirty hands and objects (there's been a nice study made by Navy Seals in 2001. Forcing soldiers to wash their hands 5x a day reduced outpatient visits for respiratory illness by 45%)

- exercise regularly albeit in moderate intensity (people that performs resistance training are getting sick much less frequently)

- take care of proper supplementation (vitamin D 4000ug ed - every day, vitamin C 500mg ed, garlic extract 1g ed, zinc (up to 40mg ed)

- take care of sleep hygiene Proper Sleep Hygiene - One of the strongest "anabolic compounds". How to properly take care of sleep hygiene? Maximize your natural growth potential.

Remember that social isolation due to the lack of exposure to various bacteria and viruses weakens your immune system in the longer term. This is like a lack of regular workout for the immune system. Therefore, if you've been intensely isolating yourself from other people, you'll be more prone to getting infected once you get back to social activities.