Remember when Grandma used to say, “An apple a day will keep the doctor away”? Well, I think we’ve come to accept this as an old wive’s tale. But if an apple won’t keep the doctor away does drinking water prevent you from catching a cold?
With cold and flu season right around the corner, you want to be prepared. So, an apple a day won’t keep you from catching a cold or the flu but drinking 8 glasses of water will help.
We know what you’re about to say. And you’re correct: the 8 glasses a water per day is not an exact science. But that’s why we created a daily water intake calculator.
In addition to getting the right amount of sleep, avoiding stress, and eating right, hydration helps prevent sickness. And when you do get sick, drinking adequate amounts of water has been shown to shorten the duration of a cold.
6 ways water helps you fight sickness
Unfortunately, we haven’t discovered the cure for the common cold, but maybe hydration can be the next best thing. Drinking water and staying hydrated this cold and flu season will help you out in 6 different ways:
- If you get sick, water will help your sinuses drain better by thinning your mucus.
- Water oxygenates your blood and flushes out harmful toxins from your immune system.
- Prevention of common chronic ailments is another benefit of using water to fight off cold, flu and other illnesses.
- Drinking adequate amounts of water will help you digest food better.
- Drinking water will help your eyes and mouth to remain moist and repel germs that can cause infections.
- Drinking water helps your body produce lymph. Your immune system uses this to circulate white blood cells and nutrients to all your body's tissues.
How to stay hydrated this winter
Commit to staying hydrated this winter now that you know drinking water can help you prevent illness. There’s no magic formula – it’s just a matter of drinking the right amount of water. You don’t want to become dehydrated. But you also don’t need to carry around a gallon of water.
The simplest way to drink more water this winter is to grab an Elemental Stainless Steel Bottle and bring it with you.
And in addition to keeping yourself hydrated, make sure to help your kids stay hydrated as well. Send them to school with a reusable bottle filled with water. Depending on the age of your child, you may have to encourage them to drink throughout the day.
Want an easy way to get your kids to consume more water throughout the day? Make a challenge out of it. For every bottle they empty (by drinking – not dumping into the sink) they get a tally on the chart. You can decide what happens when they reach a certain number of tallies.
Conclusion
Eating an apple each day probably won’t keep you out of the doctor’s office this winter. But drinking water and working towards healthy hydration will help you fight off the cold and flu this season.
To answer your question, “Does drinking water prevent you from catching a cold?” – Yes! Yes, it does.
