1. Maintain good hygiene.
Limit your exposure to illness by avoiding germs. Shower daily, wash your hands often for 20 seconds and scrub under your fingernails, cover your coughs and sneezes, and disinfect shared surfaces.

2. Stay active by following a regular exercise routine.>
Aerobic exercise such as walking three times a week accelerates the circulation of the body’s natural disease-fighting white blood cells and releases stress-related hormones.

3. Get enough sleep.
Adequate sleep (at least 7 hours a day) makes the body release cytokines, a type of protein that helps the body fight infection by regulating the immune system.

4. De-stress and calm down.
When you are anxious and strained, your body releases cortisol, a hormone which helps the body fight inflammation and disease. The constant release of this hormone in people who are chronically stressed lessens its overall effectiveness resulting in increased inflammation and disease, as well as a less effective immune system.

5. Eat foods containing phytochemicals.
"Phyto" means plants and the natural chemicals in them give the vitamins in food a supercharged boost. Adding colors to your meals will help you get a wide range of vitamins such as vitamin C that enhances an efficient immune-system function.

6. Cut back on alcohol.
An increase in alcohol consumption can damage the body’s dendritic cells, a vital component of the immune system. This explains why vaccines are less effective for people with alcohol addiction.

7. Stop smoking.
Smoke dries out the passages in your nose. It affects your cilia, the delicate hairs that line your nose and lungs and help sweep away cold and flu viruses.

8. Get your flu vaccine.
Visit a Mercury Drug store for your annual shot.