How to Stay Healthy During Cold and Flu Season

The answer to how to stay healthy during cold and flu season isn’t especially exciting, and most people already know it: take care of yourself and minimize exposure. We’ve got some more specific tips on how to stay healthy when everyone else is under the weather for you, as well as advice on how to get over a cold (or the flu) fast.

One way to prep for cold and flu season is to download the Fetch app. Turn your points into gift cards for over-the-counter meds and use Fetch Shop to have your shopping delivered instead of going out.

Stay healthy while earning rewards with Fetch

The best defense is a good offense, and while you’re following our immune boosting tips, you should be shoring up your defenses with Fetch Points. You know to snap your receipts, but there are more ways to earn points:

• Fetch Offers: Open the Fetch app before you make your shopping list (or while at the store) to see offers of bonus points on specific products and at certain retailers.
• Boosted Brands: Offers are great, but sometimes a whole brand brings home more points for you. Look for the brand with a flame by its icon; the bigger the flame, the greater the boost!
• Fetch Shop: Stay home to keep yourself (and others) healthy. Just tap into Fetch Shop to have meds delivered from CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid or Walmart to your door. You’ll earn points on nearly every dollar you spend in Fetch Shop.

Top 12 ways to boost your immune system during cold and flu season

Like investing or downloading the Fetch app, the best time to prepare for cold and flu season is yesterday. The second-best time is today. We’ve got 12 ways to stay healthy and boost your immune system during this cold and flu season:

1. Get Your Flu Shot: There’s a new flu vaccine each year, and it should be your first line of defense. Even if you aren’t in an at-risk population, getting the flu shot helps protect others, too.
2. Stay Hydrated: You can’t go wrong with water, but if you’re feeling dehydrated, consider Gatorade or Powerade for an electrolyte boost.
3. Eat Balanced Meals: Giving your body the nutrients it needs is key to staying healthy any time of the year. Eating something is always better than nothing, though, too. Don’t feel bad for grabbing takeout like Popeyes or Taco Bell.
4. Don’t Skip Breakfast: Along with eating balanced meals, you don’t want to skip any of them. Think you don’t have time for breakfast? Grab a Yoplait cup or one of the kids’ Go-GURTs.
5. Wash Your Hands: Ensure you’ve got full Dial hand soap bottles in your house to scrub those germs from your hands. For good measure, check your Dawn dish soap, too.
6. Use Hand Sanitizer: Keep Dove hand sanitizer stocked in your home for an extra level of protection after washing hands.
7. Cover Your Nose and Mouth: If you have a cough or sneeze, cover your nose and mouth. Hands full? Bring the crook of your elbow up to block your cough or sneeze.
8. Avoid Touching Eyes, Nose & Mouth: Your eyes, nose and mouth are the most direct paths for viruses and bacteria to enter your body. Even if you’re regularly washing hands, it’s good to avoid touching your face, too.
9. Clean High-Touch Areas: Anywhere people touch regularly should also be cleaned regularly. Wipe down countertops and door handles
10. Change Your Furnace Filter: Keep your air clean with a high-MERV Filtrete furnace filter. If you can’t remember the last time you changed yours, you probably should do it now.
11. Take Your Vitamins: Vitamins C and D3 are typically recommended to boost your immune system; just be sure not to exceed your recommended daily amount. Go with OLLY for the adults and Flintstones for the kids.
12. Stay Home: If you start feeling bad, stay home and take care of yourself whenever possible. You might be on your way to a cold or the flu, but with care, your body could fend it off before it becomes a problem.

How to beat a cold fast

Did you try all of our ways to stay healthy but all ill anyway? It happens. You’ll usually get better in 7 to 10 days without any treatment, but we have some tips for how to beat a cold, fast:

1. Rest. 
2. Drink Plenty of Liquids. 
3. Run your humidifier.
4. Use saline nasal rinses.
5. Use OTC medications as needed (pain relievers like Advil, cough syrup, etc).

Have leftover antibiotics from a previous illness? Don’t use them. Antibiotics will not help you with the cold (or the flu), and they can do more harm than good if you don’t need them.

How to get over the flu fast

The flu is a different virus from the common cold, but it’s still a virus. How to get over the flu fast is mostly the same as how to beat a cold fast:

1. Rest. 
2. Drink Plenty of Liquids. 
3. Run your humidifier.
4. Use saline nasal rinses.
5. Manage symptoms with OTC meds (pain relievers like Aleve, cough syrup, etc).
6. Plan simple, bland, palatable meals and eat even if you aren’t too hungry.
7. Try ginger foods (ginger ale or candies) if you’re nauseous.
8. Contact a medical professional if any fever worsens.

Quite a few people die from the flu each year, and it’s important to contact a doctor or nurse practitioner if your symptoms worsen or you have a fever that doesn’t break. As with the cold, avoid any medications not recommended to you by a healthcare professional.

Fetch gift cards to get all the over-the-counter remedies you need

Whether you’ve got a cold or the flu, the shortest way out is through. You don’t need to suffer through the symptoms, though; use your points to pull you through this downturn with over-the-counter remedies from your retailer of choice:

• Amazon
• CVS
• Kroger
• Meijer
• Target
• Walmart

If you found your medicine cabinet empty (or near empty) when the sniffles started, maybe stock up a bit in case you forget how to stay healthy during cold and flu season next time. You can usually get more for your money with a store brand like CVS or Walgreens, and don’t forget to use your FSA dollars to get more for your money.

Prepare for cold and flu season with Fetch

Snap receipts, shop offers, buy boosted brands and if you feel a cold coming on, use Fetch Shop to have your OTC meds delivered to you. All of those bring home the points, and you can either redeem them for gift cards to care for yourself now or save them later to treat yourself when you’re feeling healthy.

All you need to do is download the Fetch app.