Secrets of Healthy Women

Women Who Never Get Sick

Provided by Health.com

They survive cold season without a sniffle. They fly in germ-packed airplanes unscathed. And they somehow avoid stomach bugs that decimate the office. Wish you could be one of these women who never get sick? Try one or -- even better -- all of these secrets, and you may join this club come flu season.


Get a massage

For the past three years, Mindy Hardwick, 38, of Lake Stevens, Washington, has dodged all the major bugs while volunteering at schools and a juvenile-detention center. Her secret weapon: a monthly massage. Hardwick even sailed through a move (selling her first house) without the poststress blahs. "It's got to be the massage," she says. "I'm convinced it's like taking medicine." Most studies show that massage can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and heart rate-and lowering these is likely to cause your stress level to drop, one key to building immunity. "Decreasing stress increases your immune cells," says Tiffany Field, PhD, director of the Touch Research Institute of the University of Miami School of Medicine.



Take a cold shower

Gwendolyn Witherspoon, 54, of Baltimore, came across her stay-healthy secret-an icy shower-during a power outage. "I felt great afterward," she says. A year later, she says her chilly regimen keeps her cold-free, her skin glowing, and her energy level higher than ever. The scientific jury's still out on cold showers, but Mary Ann Bauman, MD, author of Fight Fatigue: Six Simple Steps to Maximize Your Energy, says there's no harm in trying. Devotees claim cold showers help with low energy, migraines, circulation, and pain reduction, in addition to enabling women to age gracefully. (Some even argue that they're the French woman's secret to firm breasts.) Make cold showers work for you: Try small doses. Witherspoon limits her 10-minute cold showers to summertime; in the winter, she opts for a 1-minute blast at the end of a warm shower. Consult your doctor if you have cardiovascular problems, because the sudden chill can cause a spike in blood pressure.


Treat GI problems "gingerly"

In the last five years, Gwynne Berry, 39, of Waterbury, Vermont, has avoided serious bouts of constipation by sipping a soothing home brew. When irregularity looms, she puts a few slices of peeled fresh ginger into a mug of hot water, steeps it for five minutes, and adds honey. "It tastes great and works like a charm," Berry says. She sees results in about three hours, sans the diarrhea many conventional laxatives cause. For centuries, ginger has been the go-to root for a wide range of GI distresses. Researchers believe its compounds stimulate digestive secretions, improve intestinal muscle tone, and help move food through the gastrointestinal tract. It's also safe to take ginger in small doses (less than 1,000 milligrams) for a short period of time during pregnancy, says Joyce Frye, a doctor of osteopathy and clinical assistant professor at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. Berry used it during both her pregnancies and had little morning sickness.


Wash your hands -- a lot

Chris Pope Campbell, 39, of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, washes her hands up to a dozen times a day-after using the restroom, upon returning home after work and errands, after blowing her nose, before eating. That's unusual. Surveys suggest less than half of us are so vigilant. Campbell's thrilled with the results: "I rarely get a cold, and there hasn't been a stomach flu in my family for more than five years." While washing your hands that much may seem like a hassle, Campbell says it's become a comfortable habit. The only downside is that her hands get dry, so she has to moisturize frequently. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say hand-washing is the number-one action you can take to dodge the 1 billion colds Americans come down with annually, not to mention bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses such as E. coli and salmonella.


Try a vitamin C and zinc cocktail

The überhealthy don't shrug off an impending cold-they attack it. Jenny Spring, 29, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, takes a double shot of vitamin C and zinc at the first sign of ominous sniffles or throat tickles. She sips the powdered drink mix Emergen-C (it packs 1,000 mg of vitamin C) once or twice a day, followed by a few blasts of Zicam, an over-the-counter zinc nasal spray. "I've warded off coughs and colds long enough that I don't remember the last time I had one," she says. Although vitamin C and zinc for cold prevention remain controversial, some studies show that C is especially helpful for people who are under extreme stress and that zinc can prevent viruses from multiplying. Experts say there's no harm in trying-and just believing these remedies work may help, too.


Eat more garlic

Susan Spain, 54, of Conyers, Georgia, hasn't been sick since 1992, and she credits that to one daily ritual: eating a clove of raw garlic right after breakfast. "I quarter it and put it in applesauce so it is easier to swallow and doesn't upset my stomach." Spain is onto something. Garlic is rich in antioxidants that boost immunity and fight inflammation, says Carmia Borek, PhD, research professor in the department of public health and family medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. That means the herb, in addition to boosting defenses against everyday illness, probably helps to stave off cancer and boost heart health.



Stay positive

At the first sign of sickness, Jenny Spring, 29, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, practices another tactic linked to good health: "I tell myself that I refuse to be sick." Is she crazy to think that works? Not at all. In one study, participants who had heightened activity in a region of the brain associated with a positive attitude produced greater amounts of flu antibodies. Another study showed that people with sunny dispositions churned out more antibodies in response to vaccinations. Researchers aren't clear on the connection, but they do know "the brain communicates with the immune system, and vice versa," says Anna L. Marsland, PhD, director of the Behavioral Immunology Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh. And a growing number of psychologists stress that focusing on wellness, as opposed to illness, can have good results.


Nasal Washing sounds gross, but it works!

After suffering through 10 years of sinus infections (and their accompanying face pain, clogged passages, and two to three rounds of antibiotics per infection) I was ready to try anything even the all-natural neti pot that my doc recommended. Instructions: Fill with warm water and add a smidge of salt, then tilt head with left nostril over sink and pour mixture into right nostril; water mixture and a lot of snot will exit through the left side. I soon started watering my nose like it was a geranium-and coughing like an old man. But after a few days, I was clearing out congestion before it had a chance to set up camp in my sinuses. Docs are on board with nasal irrigation: University of Michigan researchers have found that it's much more effective than saline sprays for limiting the severity and frequency of sinus problems. Since I got my neti, I haven't had a single sinus infection or even a bad cold. Downsides? A little after-use drainage (i.e., nose rain). But blowing your nose after each treatment limits sudden downpours.


DON'T put a topical drug up your nose

Some frequent travelers report that this simple trick is germ-killing genius. Not so, says Neil Schachter, MD, director of respiratory care at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City. Neosporin treats only topical bacteria, not the ones that cause airway infections. Plus, it's powerless against viruses and may irritate your sensitive nasal lining.