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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Chatham chapter.

AAACHOO! It seems almost everyone on campus is getting sick these days.  What’s the most sustainable way to stay healthy this semester? Check out these tips to keep your body safe and protected for midterms!

1. Avoid caffeine. That cup of coffee looks really tempting, especially after a late night study session.  Caffeine, however, only gives you a false sense of energy or a “caffeine high.”  Your “sugar high” is a result of chemical interactions within your Central Nervous System: the brain, nerves, and spinal cord.  Caffeine, a CNS stimulant, inhibits the calming effects of adenosine and increases production of the addictive hormone, dopamine. Your heart rate, pulse, and breathing therefore rise with an intake of caffeine.

2. LOL. Laughter decreases the production of cortisol and epinephrine, two stress hormones that suppress your immune system.  One hundred laughs are also equal to 15 minutes on an exercise bike!  So take a special break, skip the gym and pop in your favorite movie, but lay off the pocorn. Find an event on campus that will tickle you pink!  Comedian Melissa Villasenor, for example, kept our sides splitting the whole night at Café Rachel!

3. Add some yogurt to your diet. Women are prone to internal problems like vaginal yeast infections. The bacteria present in yogurt combat the icky, harmful bacteria in your gut.  An extra cup of yogurt prevents osteoporosis and high blood pressure, and it aides vaginal yeast infection treatment,  It also can help you feel fuller and cut back on calories!

4. Kiss and be kissed! Studies suggest that the endorphins released in a kiss are two hundred times more powerful than morphine!  The thirty facial muscles used in a kiss can prevent sagging skin and wrinkles! People who kiss are also less likely to suffer from bladder, stomach, and blood infections. So get a little adventurous with your honey!  Valentine’s Day is just around the corner!  Give your sweetie another smooch for your health!

Sources

Best Kisses

DrStandley.com

Over Caffeinated

WebMD

  Mara Flanagan is entering her seventh semester as a Chapter Advisor. After founding the Chatham University Her Campus chapter in November 2011, she served as Campus Correspondent until graduation in 2015. Mara works as a freelance social media consultant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She interned in incident command software publicity at ADASHI Systems, gamification at Evive Station, iQ Kids Radio in WQED’s Education Department, PR at Markowitz Communications, writing at WQED-FM, and marketing and product development at Bossa Nova Robotics. She loves jazz, filmmaking and circus arts.