Help protect you & your business during the winter months. A winter health check special by Virtually Smart Ltd.

Are you self-employed? An entrepreneur? Founder of your own company? If the answer is yes, then you will know the answer to the next question. Who looks after your business when you are sick or unwell? Unless you have a manager & or employ other staff, if you are running your own business, the buck literally stops with You.

Winter always poses challenges for business owners with seasonal colds, coughs & flu causing absences. However, in these challenging times where we now have to work around the impact of Covid19; the need to look after ourselves is even more important.

If you are self employed or a business owner, contracting Covid19 & having to self-isolate or worse, finding yourself with long Covid, can have a huge impact on your ability to run your business.

Therefore, how can you try & protect yourself & boost your physical & mental health over the winter & try & prevent seasonal viruses & or Covid19 impacting on your business?

Physical health

Ensuring your physical health is protected over the Winter months is vital for all of us. Every year thousands of sick days are taken by employees across the UK.

The ONS (Office for National Statistics) reports that the UK sickness absence rate has fallen to 1.8% in 2020, the lowest recorded level since the data time series began in 1995.

Minor illness is the main reason for sickness absence in 2020; this includes coughs & colds, which have been the main reason for sickness absence throughout the data time series.

Since April 2020, the coronavirus accounted for 14.0% of all occurrences of sickness absence. (1)

If you run your own business or are self-employed, you need to make sure you look after yourself more during the winter months. With immune systems being challenged, coughs & colds can be picked up anywhere & if you have children, you know that at this time of year particularly, they can bring home a collection of viruses from school.

If you succumb to a cold, it can make you feel very unwell & although there is no ‘quick fix’ for these sorts of viruses, there are ways you can help to boost your own immune system.

Food Eating plenty of fresh fruit & vegetables, in particular those high in Vitamin C, A & B12, can go some way to boosting your immune system. Government guidelines advise that due to the reduced sunlight we are exposed to during the Winter months, taking a Vitamin D supplement, could be beneficial.

‘Advice from PHE (Public Health England) is that adults and children over the age of one should consider taking a daily supplement containing 10mcg of vitamin D, particularly during autumn and winter.

People who have a higher risk of vitamin D deficiency are being advised to take a supplement all year round. (2)

Hydration Remaining hydrated is essential for health. When you consider that a human body is made up of 60% water, remaining hydrated will support your bodies natural rhythm. However, avoid too much tea & coffee, as when it is cold we do tend to reach for those hot drinks for warmth & comfort.

Consider room temperature water, semi skimmed or skimmed milk to boost your calcium intake or Fruit or Herbal teas, which are being produced in more & more delicious flavours.

Remember, your brain needs fluids to function correctly. Tea & coffee are diuretics & therefore encourage the body to urinate. You need to remain constantly hydrated to avoid headaches & to be able to flush virus’s & colds through your body.

Breakfast If you are a ‘grab & go’ type of person in the mornings, consider ways you can include foods into your diet which will help boost your winter immunity.

Porridge is a great winter warmer & there are now several versions for those whose jobs or lifestyles do not allow for breakfast to be consumed at home. You can simply add your own oats & milk to a take away pot & microwave them at work.

Homemade Flapjacks, packed with fruits & nuts, are a fantastic way to get some slow release starchy energy in to you on the go.

Bircher museli is another way to get a hearty breakfast, which can be taken with you, eaten on the train or bus, or at a desk, if that is the only place you are able to eat in the mornings.

Mental health

Seasonal Adjustment Disorder or SAD as it is commonly known, is a diagnosed mental disorder. However, a lot of people in the UK feel particularly restless or are lethargic & irritable during the Winter months.

A combination of ‘going to work in the dark & coming home in the dark’, the cold making it more difficult to move around & the obligatory cold or the snuffles; can all add up to making you feel under the weather & suffer from low mood.

Symptoms of SAD are varied & can in some cases be severe.

a persistent low mood
a loss of pleasure or interest in normal everyday activities
irritability
feelings of despair, guilt and worthlessness
feeling lethargic (lacking in energy) and sleepy during the day
sleeping for longer than normal and finding it hard to get up in the morning
craving carbohydratesand gaining weight (3)

If ‘winter depression’ begins to impact on your ability to undertake your job or your interactions with friends & family, you do need to contact your GP.

One way you can help to combat those glum winter feelings, is by getting outdoors.

Sunshine & daylight As mentioned above, Government guidelines advise taking a Vitamin D supplement over the winter months. Although we do absorb some Vitamin D from the foods we eat, the sunlight during the winter months, doesn’t contain enough UVB radiation to produce Vitamin B. However, getting outside in the daylight is particularly effective in combatting signs of fatigue, tiredness & SAD (Seasonal Adjustment Disorder)

Outdoor activities Another way to combat low mood during the winter months, is to get outside as often as you can. Whether it be a brisk walk around the block, or a full Winter trudge through a local park or woodland. Being amongst nature is a natural mood booster & gives you wonderful memories to see you through the rest of your working week.

Note: Virtually Smart are not health care professionals & the ideas here are suggestions only. Should you feel unwell, you should seek professional Medical Attention

Written by Katy-Jane for & on behalf of Virtually Smart Ltd