OSAMU SAKAMOTO
Columnist
Happy March! A beautiful spring season (and break) is around the corner. I hope you enjoyed and survived a gorgeous yet ice-cold, illness-causing and skin-drying winter. I am a huge fan of winter, yet here I am — I had a great combat against cracked hand skin and flu about a couple of weeks ago (shame on me).
I want to share some little tips on how to survive the rest of winter without getting any cold or flu and have fun as much as possible. Those four tips on how-to-avoid flu are totally worth knowing. You will not miss an important event in the coming spring break due to illness and there will be no need to curse at flu anymore. Remember that you have to be your body’s own CDC.
Rule Number 1: Keep your body warm. Boom! This one is easy as pie. It is an everlasting rule to avoid catching cold/flu. Even though our body can adjust its temperature, it should not be an option to go out wearing shorts with flip-flops. Imaginingg that we are in a tropical island could help refresh our minds, but dressing yourself in summer outfits in days of the freeze definitely does not help us maintain our health. Yet, showing off your shiny tropical outfits is an option if you want to be remembered/known as “that person who always wears shorts in winter.”
Rule Number 2: Wash your hands, especially before meals or snacks and cooking. I can hear someone yelling, “Thank you, Cap’n Obvious.” Well, I am happily ready to counter-argue that. Do you ever wash your hands before helping yourself to food? Most bacteria that we can find on our hands are certainly not to be eaten by us for whatever reasons. Moreover, if you are to cook something for the possibly 24/7 hungry stomach, washing the hands has to be come at the very beginning. It is very important to know that we may reduce the chance of getting food-borne illness by washing the hands.
Rule Number 3: Maintain a healthy body. This is going to be tricky for busy college students. We do have many choices of food. We can go to a fast-food restaurant, grab snacks and choose yummy things over fruits/veggies at the Coronado Cafeteria. Moreover, we as college students are often mentally overwhelmed. To know how to deal with stressors may make a difference in one’s health.
Rule Number 4: Constantly drink water to avoid a dried throat. The key isn’t amount, but the frequency of drinking water. All we need is a fancy sip from a bottle of Great Value Purified Water 500 ml to keep our throat moist. Whenever we have the dried and painful throat, that is when we are more likely to catch cold/flu. Carrying a bottle of water seems to be essential throughout the year.
These rules are just a few parts of getting/keeping a healthy body. It can be useful to add some more rules that you find legitimate and make a list of your own. It is no one but you who can truly take care of the body. Have a good spring break!