Fending Off the Flu

Fending Off the Flu. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

For some reason I have had an inordinate amount of colds this season. Thankfully I have missed out on the flu. I blame it on my 2 grandkids but really the fault lies with myself and not taking precautions. Dr. Risa Vatanka, a Safeway pharmacist, says we really need to pay attention during this cold and flu season and there are a couple of things we can do to help ward off the cold and flu bugs.

VATANKA: The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months and older get a flu shot. Everyone, every year. It is the best to prevent getting the flu. But of course as you mentioned there are other things we can do to help keep our immune systems strong through the flu season and certainly eating healthy fruits and vegetables, getting good rest, good hydration, thoroughly washing our hands frequently through the day so we stop the spread of germs; all of these things are really important

One study showed some of the dirtiest daily items we come into contact with and the leader of the pack was the gasoline pump handle.

VATANKA: Excellent point. The surfaces that we encounter through the day are just absolutely filled with germs and certainly frequent hand washing will help. But it’s not always practical to get to a point where we can wash our hands so it’s important to know that port of entry. If you touch your eyes, nose or mouth that’s how these germs that are on the surfaces we touch can then enter our body and cause illness.

I did find it interesting that besides getting that annual flu shot the next best thing we can do it to eat good fruits and veggies.

VATANKA: Our survey found that 65% of Americans believe eating fruits and vegetables help prevent getting ill but only about 7% admit that they’re likely to consume these healthy foods through the winter months. And so we would encourage people out there to follow their understanding and their belief about eating healthy foods and do so.

And yes. Chicken soup really has been proven to help relieve symptoms if you do have a cold. Dr. Vatanka describes the differences between a cold and the flu.

VATANKA: When people come by my pharmacy and they’re trying to determine what they have I ask them about their symptoms and how quickly they began. A cold you usually have sniffles, runny nose, cough, all of that but you still seem to be able to go about your day. Whereas with the flu you can be feeling great and then suddenly you’ve got aches and fever and cough and all you want to do is curl up in bed.

So get a flu shot and eat your veggies!

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.