Many people at school have been getting sick lately. The temperature changes rapidly throughout the day causing the immune system to falter. Here are some tips to avoid getting sick.

Exercise. Exercise regularly to keep stress and germs away. Find something you enjoy doing. Make sure not to slack off, even during the winter, because that’s the time when a lot of people get sick. Exercise at least two times per week for one hour.

Eat healthy. Make sure to eat three different kinds of fruits and take vitamin C every day. According to Common Sense Health, an apple is the healthiest fruit with antioxidants, followed by apricots and bananas. Don’t skip breakfast as that is the most important meal of the day. Avoid drinking canned chicken soup. It has a lot of sodium that can worsen headaches and aggravate a sore throat.

Sleep. Sleep at least eight hours every night. Sleeping can let the body regenerate. According to CNN Health, if an eight-hour sleeper lost as little as 10 minutes of sleep a night, he or she could be three and a half times more likely to get colds. If he or she lost as much as 40 minutes of sleep on an average night, they were over five times as likely to get a cold.

Drink lots of water. Add a little lemon juice to balance out your body’s pH. Drinking water helps increase metabolism and regulates appetite. It can also flush out wastes and bactiera that cause disease.

Wash hands. Avoid touching your face because physical contact with hands is the easiest way to spread bacteria and viruses. Hands hide a lot of bacteria and viruses that you can’t imagine. Hand washing is especially important after public transportation, moving from one environment to another, or preparing food.