The document provides tips for staying healthy during cold and flu season. It recommends keeping your home slightly humid and dressing warmly when going outside. A balanced diet high in vitamins C and D from supplements is suggested, along with frequent hand washing and cleaning surfaces that viruses can survive on like keyboards. Regular chiropractic care is also advised to boost immune function. Following an alkaline diet by reducing acid-forming foods and increasing alkaline foods can help prevent illness by making the body less susceptible to infection.

1. Six steps to ‘cold proof’ your life
Our guide to staying well
Keep warm (…but not too toasty)
Cranking up the central heating might make you feel warm and cosy as it
gets colder, but if your home, or office, is too hot it can lower your
resistance to cold germs. To avoid this happening, keep your home and
office fresh with a little humidity – a damp towel on the radiator, or washing
straight out of the washing machine, will help achieve this. Also, wrap up
warm when you go out because not wearing enough clothes can make you
more susceptible to catching a chill.
Improve your diet
A healthy balanced diet will immediately boost your resistance to colds.
Vitamin D in particular is effective in keeping colds at bay. As we require
sunshine in order for our bodies to convert vitamin D in the winter, we often
lack this essential vitamin. As a result, try boosting your daily vitamin D
intake with a good quality supplement; you can purchase this directly from
us – please ask at reception. Also, you will need to increase your daily
vitamin C intake from 1000 mg to 3000 mg a day. We recommend taking
vitamin C with zinc effervescent tablets, as zinc supports your body in
absorbing doses of vitamin C. These tablets can be found in most
supermarkets and chemists.
Wash your hands
Washing your hands is one of the best ways to reduce the risk of catching
an immediate cold. You cannot catch a cold from simply touching a germ
such as on an infected door handle or surface, but it you then place
unwashed hands near your nose, eyes or mouth, the virus can spread into
your system. Try to get into the habit of washing your hands regularly, and
not just after using the lavatory or before and after preparing food, as
germs can live on a surface for up to two days. Using hot water and soap is
ideal to ensure that your hands remain germ-free. Alternatively, try using a
hand cleansing gel – you can test these at our chiropractic wellness centre
as we advocate for all patients and chiropractic wellness centre members to use it before receiving
chiropractic care in order to eliminate the chances of germs spreading.
313 High Road Chadwell Heath, Romford, Essex RM6 6AX
Tel: 0208 252 1010 or 0208 262 3140
www.chiropracticcare.co.uk

2. 2
Clean your desk
Recent tests how that the flu virus can survive on computer keyboards for up to two days, and that’s
without mentioning the years worth of salvia, mould and other bacteria thriving under they keys you use all
day long. Make sure you clean your computer keyboards, telephone, desk and other such equipment
regularly with anti-bacterial surface wipes to keep them germ-free.
Clean your desk
Recent tests how that the flu virus can survive on computer keyboards for up to two days, and that’s
without mentioning the years worth of salvia, mould and other bacteria thriving under they keys you use all
day long. Make sure you clean your computer keyboards, telephone, desk and other such equipment
regularly with anti-bacterial surface wipes to keep them germ-free.
Maintain regular chiropractic care
It is very important to keep to your chiropractic care plan that your Doctor of Chiropractic has prescribed for
you. It is even more vital for your health when you are feeling under the weather, as receiving regular
chiropractic care will help keep your nervous system strong, which will in turn help boost your immune
system and help keep your hormone immune levels balanced. This will support your body’s ability to fight
off possible infection as your nervous system controls everything in your body. As each chiropractic care
session builds on your body’s ability to heal itself naturally, receiving regular care is likely to accelerate your
body’s ability to reach optimum levels of health, therefore enabling you to stay as cold-free as possible (if
undertaken in conjunction with the points above, having a positive frame of mind and regular exercise of
course). Research shows that receiving regular chiropractic care does decrease the likelihood of suffering
from flu or infection.
Go alkaline
Most of the time, our bodies are very acidic due to all the chocolate, alcohol, biscuits and pizza we often
consume – all of which contain sugar, salt, artificial colourants and chemicals that give rise to a vast range
of unpleasant conditions such as inflammation of the joints, dermatitis and muscle tension. Balancing this
acid and resetting your body to ‘slightly alkaline’, the body’s pH ‘neutral’, is the first step towards improving
these problems and to feeling much healthier. Moreover, if your body is slightly alkaline, it is hard for
infection and disease to exist as it is acidic food and drink that makes people susceptible to illness and
disease in the first place. Following an alkaline diet can therefore help prevent against the flu and even help
the body produce less mucous.
To support you in going alkaline, the following list presents food that are alkaline-forming and those that are
acid-forming when digested in the human body.
Acid-forming foods Alkaline-forming foods
Wheat products – bread, pasta, flour Wholegrains – brown rice
Dairy products - milk, butter, cheese Goats milk
All meat Oily fish
Eggs Dates, raisins, figs, prunes, currants
Sugar and artifical sweetners Honey (pure)