Every year it seems that illness strikes at just the wrong time. Even just a common cold can ruin your ability to cook a holiday meal, let alone taste any of it. Instead of taking your chances this year and enduring the weather in hopes of not catching any diseases, take the following precautions to keep you from getting you and the rest of your family sick.

If you are planning on traveling for the holidays, keep in mind that those around you that are sick are in close closed quarters and the air in planes is frequently recycled. Take preventative medicines such as “airborne” to boost your immunity. This also goes for doing holiday shopping in crowded malls where there is little to no fresh air.

In this case too you will need to thoroughly and frequently wash your hands. Keep a little bottle of hand sanitizer in your purse or pocket for convenience. As unappealing as it sounds, getting the flu shot is also a good idea. It is recommended that anyone 6 months and older should get one.

There’s always the excuse that the stress of the holidays makes it inevitable that you will catch something or other. This does not have to be the case. You may not be able to avoid the stress, but you can at least get enough sleep and fluids throughout the day.
Last but not least, if you do happen to get sick, prevent others from catching it by coughing into the crook of your arm rather than spreading your germs all over the place.