Who doesn’t want to bask in the winter sun? But the dip in mercury also signals the arrival of the common cold and flu, which often escalate to pneumonia. Try these tips to stay healthy as the mercury dips.

Do’s

Keep yourself warm: This indirectly helps keep away bacterial and infections. Cold conditions decrease your immune response, increasing chances of colds, flu and pneumonia.

Drink plenty of water: You don’t feel as thirsty as in summer, so the water intake tends to decrease in winter; one tends to consume hot drinks like coffee and tea more often. But, caffeine draws out the water from the system, causing dehydration. Drink at least six to eight glasses of water per day.

Exercise regularly: With shorter day light time, we tend to wake up later in winter and generally slow down. Our fitness routine is usually put on the back burner. Make a conscious effort to follow a daily exercise schedule. An extra 20 minutes of physical activity helps to improve circulation and keep those extra pounds at bay.

Massage your hands and feet: To prevent chilblain (small, itchy, blue swelling) in extreme coldtemperatures, massage your palms, fingers, toes and heels with warm vegetable oil

Get at least eight hours of sleep: Managing the recommended eight hours of sleep is crucial as a lack of it lowers ones immunity and energy levels during winter. Avoid alcohol and nicotine for a good sleep.

Take care of hands and feet: This is a must for everyone. Foot care is important for diabetics to avoid infections that can lead to gangrene.

Keep a regular check on your blood sugar: As exercise tends to decrease in winter and infections are on the rise, this is a potential time for elderly diabetics to fall easy pray to obstinate infections that get exaggerated if one’s blood sugar is uncontrolled. A regular check of blood sugar is good for diabetics.

Get checked for anemia: Low hemoglobin can predispose you to infections and other ailments. Improving hemoglobin adequately keeps you better poised to avoid and confront infections.

Have plenty vegetables and fruits: Winter is the season especially in humid cities for good seasonal vegetables and fruits. Feel free to binge on them as they improve immunity and keep the body in supply of its requirements of anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals.

Don’ts

Don’ forget vitamin D: Those in very cold places are at risk of not getting enough vitamin D during winter, when the UV radiation from the sun’s rays is weak. A vitamin D supplement of 200 IU is good for health.

Don’t forget to moisturize: That winter wind is damaging to our skin, so the best beauty secret is to moisturize as frequently as possible. Everything fro your hair to your skin starts to feel scaly to stock up on thick luxurious moisturizers and use the chap stick!! Moisturized wipes will be useful if you have a cold.

Don’t get into the eating only high cal food loop: When the environs are cold, many of us fall back on carb and fat heavy comfort food like pasta, thick creamy soups, sweets, and ghee-soaked dishes. However, this will not only hinder your weight loss goals but also make you lethargic and sleepy.

Don’t overlook sunscreen: Summer is not the only time to worry about using sunscreen. Surprisingly, skin damage is a great concern even in a snowsuit. Wearing at least an SPF 15 when outdoors in the winter is good. The glare from snow can be so harmful, so it’s a good idea to wear giggles.