Fighting the cold and flu? There’s nothing our local ‘bouyon bred’ can’t cure |04 January 2020
Over the last few weeks, if you’ve been around public places in Seychelles, you may have heard a fair amount of coughing and sneezing, or moans and groans from family, friends and co-workers that they are feeling unwell – safe to say that the cold and flu season is definitely upon us.
If there’s one thing we are repeatedly being told, it’s that antibiotics cannot help with cold and flu symptoms caused by viruses, leaving many of us wondering what we can do to speed up our recovery.
Seychelles NATION spoke to several local healthcare professionals to obtain their knowledge on some of the best cold and flu-fighting strategies, as well as some ways to prevent catching/spreading them.
Prevention Strategies
- Be aware of germs
With so many germs around during cold and flu season, infections can spread easily from commonly touched surfaces like doorknobs and telephones. Since many people use the public bus service in Seychelles, being aware of this when on the bus is important.
A few ways to protect others and yourself is to avoid touching these surfaces directly or at least use a tissue to do so and to wipe these surfaces down with a disinfectant when possible.
If you’re unable to do any of these, wash your hands carefully after coming into contact with these surfaces before touching your face.
- Practice good hygiene
The cold and flu are very contagious and spreads from one person to another via droplets from sneezing, coughing and talking.
Good hygiene habits can help us to prevent the spread of the cold and flu, and some simple ways to do this include avoiding close contact when you are sick or when around sick people; covering the nose/mouth when sneezing/coughing; and washing hands regularly with soap and water or using an alcohol-based disinfectant.
- Maintain your immune system
The immune system, when functioning properly, protects us from infection and hence can help to fight against the cold and flu.
Adopting healthy lifestyle habits can help us to maintain our immune system; this includes a healthy diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. Think of the many that we have in Seychelles like moringaoleifera leaves (bred ti fey), lettuce, cucumber, mango, banana and papaya.
Other things we can do is to exercise regularly, get enough quality sleep and to keep our stress levels as low as possible.
Flu-fighting strategies
- Get plenty of rest
Been told to ‘soldier on’ when you’re sick? Not an uncommon piece of advice even here on our islands. However, getting in more sleep and resting time when sick is actually important since it helps to boost our immune systems.
This means turning away from our usual routines and daily activities, and rather staying at home to get in as much rest and sleep as we can.
- Eat well and drink up
Eating keeps our blood sugar up which in turn makes sure that we have the energy we need to fight off infections and to recover from colds and flu.
Food and beverages that are known to help with symptoms of the cold and flu include broth and vegetable based soups (our famous and local ‘bouyon bred’ is an excellent example here); water as well as hot beverages like a mixture of hot water, lemon, honey and fresh ginger; and foods rich in vitamin C like green pepper, oranges and cabbage.
- Make use of natural treatments
There are many but some of the well-known and easy ones are to:
- Gargle your mouth and throat with warm salt water
- Blow your nose when you have a cold
- Have steamy showers to help nasal passages
- Use mentholated salves; a traditional and popular one in Seychelles is ‘Mentholatum’
Compiled by F.P.