How to protect yourself from catching a cold

During winter it's getting very cold and wet outside, making it the perfect season to get sick and catch a cold! Especially since there are no good insulated houses in Japan, you can catch a cold even faster over here. To avoid catching a cold in Japan there is some advice you should follow:

Heat up your room
It is always important to keep your body warm to stay healthy. At home you can use your air conditioner to heat up the room or use an electric carpet to keep your feet warm. Japanese also prefer to use a kotatsu (heated blanket over a table), but it takes up a lot of space. Many blankets and warm clothes are helpful, too.

Humidifier
If you are using the air conditioner a lot for warming up your room, you should watch out, that the air is not getting too dry. You can use a humidifier to avoid too much dry air, which is not good for your mucosa. You can also put some bowls with water in your apartment, to give a little bit of moisture to your room.

Hot bath
There is a reason why the Japanese are taking a bath every day. It's not only for relaxing and cleaning the body, it is also good to make your body stronger. If you are sweating a lot in the hot water, your health will get stronger after a while, also it will keep you warm for a while afterwards.

Clothes
If you have to go out, it is recommended to wear many layers instead of just a sweater. All the clothes will keep you warm and if it is getting too warm, you can just take one layer off.

Masks
The air during winter in Japan is amazingly dry, that's why you can see many people wearing masks on the street. The mask helps you to keep your nose and throat moist, also it protects you from bacteria flying around in the subway or when somebody is coughing. Also for a good sleep at night you can wear a mask and use a humidifier to protect you from the dry air.

Fruits
During winter you can find oranges and mandarins really everywhere in Japan. Every supermarket is selling tons of them and also many people have their own tree at home. Eating a lot of vitamins, especially from fruit, is very important for your health. Even though the fruit prices in Japan are a little bit high, you should invest that money in staying healthy!

I hope these tips will help you through the winter in Japan without catching a cold!