Do This Every Day So You Don’t Get Sick
It’s true. The simple act of washing your hands is one of the most effective ways to prevent illness.
How many times in your life have you been reminded to wash your hands? From early childhood, we are repeatedly encouraged to perform this simple ritual, but by the time we’re adults, we’re not always as vigilant as we should be about handwashing. However, handwashing has a very important role in keeping us healthy and should not be ignored.
Washing hands with soap and water makes you less likely to get sick because it removes germs from your hands. Those germs can be picked up from anything you touch – from handrails and light switches to gas pumps and phone screens. Once the germs are on our hands, they can enter our bodies when we touch our eyes, nose or mouth.
Research suggests that 1 in 3 illnesses that cause diarrhea and 1 in 5 respiratory infections can be prevented just by keeping your hands clean. Not only can germs on our hands get us sick, but when we touch objects, we continue to spread those germs around, increasing the chance of others getting sick. That’s why handwashing is one of the best ways to stop the spread of infection.