Tips to Stay Healthy this Winter

Okay, here are my top ten recommendations to stay healthy this winter. They've really worked for me this year and in years past. As always, check with your doctor and take your special health needs into consideration.

10. Buy and use a neti pot or other nasal irrigation squeeze bottle and use it once a day, in the morning. This is really an effective way to keep the sinuses clean and clear. Even my ENT doctor recommends it!

9. Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. If you live in a cold climate, eat gently cooked vegetables in the winter months.

8. Add a super-food to your diet. There are so many out there, from berries to cacao to nuts and seeds, even bee pollen.

7. Take a multi vitamin.

6. Get enough sleep! Think about how much more sleep our ancestors probably got in the winter when there's not as much daylight.

5. Drink more water. Hot herbal teas are good too, but add in a couple more glasses of water and just deal with the extra trips to the bathroom (drink earlier in the day so you don't disturb your sleep). As a nation, we are dehydrated. Coffee, soda and alcohol are not hydrating. Water!

4. Drink a nourishing broth. Chicken soup, or a vegetarian broth made with onions, ginger and fresh herbs.

3. If you feel yourself getting a cold, REST! Pushing yourself will just make it worse.

2. Reduce sugar and caffeine.

1. Sleep some more! And try a practice like Restorative Yoga to relax the body and mind.