How Seniors Can Stay Healthy in the Spring

Lake Oconee Boomers

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How Seniors Can Stay Healthy in the Spring

When spring comes into full swing, it’s easy for us to feel like the biggest dangers to our health are gone with the winter wind. Cold and flu season fades into the background, ice is a thing of the past, and cabin fever finally starts to break.

That doesn’t mean it’s time to stop being mindful of your health, though. Spring provides a set of unique benefits and challenges to consider when trying to stay healthy. You can experience everything from increased allergies to slippery outdoor hazards. Today, we’ll discover how seniors can stay healthy in the spring.

Keep an Eye (and a Nose) Out for Allergens

As winter weather subsides, allergens emerge. Once the rain starts to come down, mold and pollen can reign in spring. Even if you’re staying indoors when the mold and pollen counts are high, your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system can still bring these microscopic irritants into your home. From there, you can inhale them and trigger overactive immune system reactions, leaving you suffering from cold-like symptoms. Make sure you install a fresh furnace filter in spring to capture these particles, and remain diligent about replacing that filter at this time of year when it works its hardest.

Walk With Care With Your Cane

If you need a cane or walking stick to get around sometimes, you’re not alone. However, the often-damp conditions of springtime can prove problematic for people who need a cane for mobility. Be careful in the wake of any hard rainfalls. Wet grass gives canes particularly poor traction, and that can mean the same slips, falls, and subsequent injuries that make winter so treacherous. So be aware of how different surfaces can affect canes.

Embrace Fresh Produce

Colorful and delicious fruits and vegetables are available year-round nowadays, but there’s still something special about enjoying delicious fresh produce in the spring. If you’ve been subsisting on prepared and processed foods throughout most of the winter, we don’t blame you. Quick-prep comfort food makes life a little easier in those winter months. However, there’s no better time to pivot toward a plant-based diet than this lovely change of seasons. You may find yourself feeling lighter, spryer, and more alert.

Soak Up That Sunlight

Fresh fruits and vegetables contain vitamins you need to feel your best, from vitamin A in pink grapefruit to vitamin K of leafy green kale. But there’s one vitamin you’ll need to get from outside your diet: vitamin D. Your body synthesizes this with exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. One key to how seniors can stay healthy in the spring is simply enjoying the great outdoors. Take care not to get sunburned, of course. But as the sun finally begins to peek through those heavy winter clouds and hang in the sky just a little longer, take advantage of it. You’ll have happier feelings and better health.