Flu season starts around October and usually peaks in January/February. But you can catch the flu all year long. Symptoms may be minor, like a runny nose or sore throat, or very serious – even life-threatening. Your best protection is to get the flu vaccine each year. It’s even safe for babies as young as 6 months. Talk to your doctor if you have questions or concerns about the vaccine.

Because the flu is spread through contact with affected people and things, good hygiene is an important defense. Wash your hands often to kill germs, and avoid people who are sick. If you get the flu, stay home for at least 24 hours after a fever passes so you’re not contagious.

You may not see them, but dangerous germs can be unwelcome guests at mealtime. Thousands of people die in the U.S. each year because of contaminated food. Soap
and water are your best defense against food-related illnesses. To keep germs from spreading, you should wash your hands throughout the day. Scrub them for 20 seconds – or about the time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” twice. On the go, use hand sanitizer with at least a 60% alcohol base.

Clean hands are especially important when you handle food. You should make sure to clean counter tops, cutting boards, dishes and other areas where you prepare food. Never mix fresh fruits and veggies with raw meat, poultry or seafood. And don’t place cooked food back on plates that held uncooked food.

Deciding what to put on your plate at meal time can be hard. You want to eat healthy, but you also want to feel satisfied. The good news is that you don’t have to figure out nutritional value versus calories on your own.

Forget the old Food Pyramid. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a new online tool called MyPlate. It can help you and your family make smarter choices in a fun, engaging way. Check out how MyPlate can make mealtime easier at myplate.gov.

Whole grains are a very important part of a healthy, balanced diet. Barley, quinoa, wheat berries and other whole grains are full of protein, fiber, vitamins and iron your body needs. There’s also strong evidence that whole grains may lower your risk for heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

The biggest challenge may be knowing what a whole grain is and where to find it. To help you do just that, the Whole Grains Council created an official packaging symbol, called the Whole Grain Stamp, to identify whole grain-rich foods where you shop.

Walking helps you stay fit and healthy. Being active even lowers your risk for serious health problems, like heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, depression and some cancers.

Yet more than half of adults in the U.S. don’t get enough physical activity. What is enough? Adults need at least 2.5 hours – and children about an hour – of “moderately intense” aerobic activity each week for better health. This can include walking briskly, dancing, gardening and biking. A good test to see if your workout is making an impact is whether you can talk, but not sing, as you’re doing it.

Americans eat a lot more calories today than they did just a few decades ago. Part of the problem is fast food and super-sized portions. Our food servings have doubled or tripled at restaurants – and even at home.

The key is to choose foods like fresh fruits and veggies. They’re packed with health benefits and fill you up, without the calories!

Getting a good night’s sleep can help you in many ways. It can keep your heart healthy, lower your risk for cancer and diabetes, reduce stress and even promote weight loss.

Yet 70% of American adults say they don’t get enough rest. And they’re not only missing the great benefits of sleep, they’re also raising their chances of having memory loss, low energy, poor mood and accidents. For your health and well-being, make sleep a
priority today!

There are bad habits and there are bad habits. When people smoke cigarettes, cigars or pipes, they’re not just hurting themselves. Every exhale puts more than 250 dangerous chemicals into the air.

Secondhand smoke, like smoking itself, is a risk factor for four leading causes of death in the U.S. These include heart disease, cancer, respiratory illness and stroke.

Children who breathe secondhand smoke are especially at risk. They have higher rates of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems and severe asthma. So protect yourself. If someone’s blowing smoke your way, walk away. No amount of smoke is safe.

Everyone thinks about sun safety during the summer or at the beach. But it’s important to protect yourself all year long – even on cloudy and hazy days. The sun, as well as tanning beds and sunlamps, gives off an invisible kind of radiation called ultraviolet (UV) rays.
Too much exposure to UV rays can damage your skin and eyes, and lead to cancer.

The hours between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. are the most dangerous for UV exposure. To
play it safe, stay in the shade; use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protective factor (SPF) of 15 or higher; and wear full-coverage clothing, sunglasses and wide-brimmed hats.

Whether you eat three or six meals a day, maintaining a healthy weight comes down to what you eat, how much you eat and how much energy you use. We gain weight when we eat more calories than we burn. So it’s really important to couple balanced meals with an active lifestyle.

Everyone has different calorie needs in order to function. Avoiding extra pounds is just a matter of making sure your energy in (calories from food) equals your energy out (daily energy usage) over the long run. Once you learn your daily calorie needs, you can plan the right kind of diet and exercise to keep a healthy weight.