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How To Avoid Winter Colds At The Office

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This time of year, it can be hard to avoid colds — especially at the office. (Pixabay)
This time of year, it can be hard to avoid colds — especially at the office. (Pixabay)

This time of year, it can be hard to avoid colds — especially at the office when the people next to you in the conference room or cubicle are sneezing and coughing away.

Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson talks with Dr. David Katz (@DrDavidKatz), a preventative medicine specialist at Yale University, about the best ways to prevent a cold, and the fastest ways to recover from one, this winter season.

5 Cold-Prevention Strategies From Dr. David Katz

  • Wash your hands: "The viruses that tend to go around this time of year are transmitted that way, and it definitely helps."
  • Get enough sleep and manage your stress: "I think we all know we tend to get sick when we are stressed out or sleep deprived, and most of us are both most of the time, so that makes us very vulnerable."
  • If you're already sick, consider a mask: "It does make more sense to wear the mask if you are the one with the cold, and there are filtration masks that do a pretty good job of trapping the germs, and certainly limiting the spread of particles... Not unreasonable, but on the other hand, not all that well studied in terms of how effective that is as a public health strategy."
  • Maintain a healthy diet: "Eat a diet of minimally processed foods — mostly plants, lots of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, and drink water, plain water preferentially, for thirst. If you get that right year-round, you simply can't go too far wrong, and it will take care of all the nutrients you need as well."

This article was originally published on January 11, 2017.

This segment aired on January 11, 2017.

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