In their 2023 article, the Atlantic Health System said that the peak time to get sick is between October and March, meaning that “sick season” has officially begun and won’t end anytime soon. No one enjoys being sick, especially students who don’t have the time to be ill, so here are some ways to help yourself recover when you’ve fallen sick, along with how I use them when I find myself ill.
Eat the right food
You need fuel to recover, and the fuel you choose is essential to help you do so. Cleveland Clinic recommends eating the following foods when sick. Juicy fruits like melons, berries, oranges, or grapes give you a boost in hydration and are full of the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that your body requires. If you’re having gut issues, the best solution is to eat plain foods as they help slow digestion. Bland foods like pasta, dry cereals, oatmeal, bread, rice, applesauce, toast, or crackers are great, and any kind of fruit or vegetable can help slow your stomach. These dry foods can also help with nausea as nibbling on a few crackers can help battle the sick feeling. Ginger is also perfect when feeling queasy since it has anti-nausea effects, so consuming ginger tea, ginger ale, or ginger snaps can help with vomiting. Something else that triggers nausea is strong-smelling foods, so eating foods with light smells like Jell-O, ice cream, yogurt, or popsicles can help avoid that yucky sensation.
Take vitamin C
It’s important to take your vitamins when sick to ensure your body receives the nutrients it needs, and a key vitamin to consume is vitamin C. The National Library of Medicine has called vitamin C “an essential micronutrient for humans” due to its ability to defend your immune system. This is important because when you’re sick, your immune system is putting in all the work to fix you, so supporting your immune system is a high priority. Vitamin C also keeps your cells healthy overall, so it’s important to have vitamin C in your daily life—even when not sick. Vitamin C is found in citrus fruits (such as oranges), strawberries, brussels sprouts, broccoli, and potatoes.
Get lots of sleepÂ
In Joni Sweet’s article on sleep.com, she discusses neurobiologist Allison Brager and health psychologist Julie Kogan’s reports on sleep. Brager and Kogan say that sleep is a natural medicine and essential to prioritize when sick. This is because being awake is stressful for the body, so giving it time to rest allows it to focus on keeping your immune system healthy. While sleeping, your body can break a fever and fight pathogens, which in turn helps you recover from a virus. Brager recommends getting as much sleep as possible when sick, but a good number to aim for is at least nine hours of sleep per night. I consider being sick the best excuse to lay down and relax, so I spend plenty of time sleeping or resting to give my body the time it needs to recover.
Gargle with salt water
Among other problems, gargling with salt water helps soothe sore throats and reduce sinus or respiratory issues. Healthline reports that it eases discomfort because the salt water draws water out of your oral tissues, creating a salt barrier that locks out water and other harmful pathogens from sneaking back inside. To gargle with salt water, mix salt with warm water (the warm water also helps ease the pain), gargle so the mixture hits the back of your throat, swish the water so it covers your teeth, then spit. You can do this as often as you’d like, but avoid swallowing the salt water. Ingesting too much can lead to other health risks like dehydration or high blood pressure, and if you’re already ill, you don’t have time to worry about additional health problems. I tend to gargle with salt water a few times a day when I have a sore throat. I notice this soothes the pain and the burn in my throat calms the more often I do it.
Drink fluidsÂ
Drinking liquids helps with your sickness in a variety of ways. Mayo Clinic lists drinking fluids in their “cold remedies that work” section, saying that the liquid helps soothe sore throats, loosens congestions, and helps with dehydration. Their recommended liquids include water, juices (think of orange juice and your vitamin C!), clear broth, tea, or warm lemon water. They also suggest avoiding liquids like coffee, alcohol, sodas, and any drink with caffeine because these can worsen your dehydration, make recovery more difficult, and cause more painful symptoms. My favourite drinks for when I’m sick are warm water (because cold water sometimes feels harsh on the throat), green tea, and ginger tea. In my tea, I tend to add plenty of honey because when I was young, my mom fed me spoonfuls of honey when my throat hurt, and who am I to question my mom’s tactics? I also enjoy drinking Emergen-C as it’s full of vitamin C, so I kill two birds with one stone by consuming a liquid form of vitamin C!
Manage stressors
As students, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with schoolwork and other life issues, but managing stress can help prevent sickness. Healthline found that too much stress can be linked to illnesses because the stress could impact your immune system. Too much stress prevents the body from regulating the inflammatory response, causing you to become vulnerable to colds or sicknesses. Stress can also elevate your body temperature so high that you develop a fever, especially if you are experiencing a highly emotional event. Healthline says that the only way to prevent stress is by learning to manage it. They explain that this can be done by exercising regularly, sleeping plenty, cutting back on obligations, and practicing mindfulness like meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, or listening to music. If you’re having extreme trouble managing stress, Healthline suggests this should prod you to seek professional help.Â
Good luck to everyone fighting through this sick season—especially the overworked students. It’s hard to prioritize self-care when you’re deep in assignments and studying, but it’s important to take care of yourself to avoid falling ill. I hope the next time you fall sick, these tips come in handy and help you make a quick recovery.