Flu vaccines are cool, but keeping healthy may be just as good.

Flu season is a great reason to double down on your health-conscious lifestyle. Here are four things to keep in mind to avoid feeling under the weather.

Not to Be Inflammatory, But…

You’ll want to avoid inflammatory foods, specifically sugar, alcohol, and wheat. You should also avoid trans-fat and margarine. And flu season aside, a healthy diet should limit or altogether eliminate those types of foods anyway.

Be Anti-Inflammatory Instead!

Fruits and vegetables have been shown to decrease inflammation (not to mention all their nutrients), and green tea has antiviral elements that can actually prevent the flu. Awesome!

Stay Zen

When you’re stressed, your body can put a lot of energy into the tasks clouding your comfort, energy that could be going into powering your immune system. Get plenty of sleep and exercise to keep stress down, your body centered, and the flu at bay.

Wash Often, Wash Well

How long you should wash your hands for the most effective scrub is debated. But intuitively, I think we can all assume that the longer you’re washing, the better. So lather with soap, scrub for 30 seconds or more, then use a cloth to turn off the faucet.