Freshers’ Flu: How to avoid the inevitable

It’s Freshers’ Week, and now is the time to start thinking about how best to ward off the sickness that, unsurprisingly, a week of  bingeing on booze and fast food will induce.

With excessive alcohol consumption, a diet consisting primarily of Domino’s Pizza and the generous drunken sharing of saliva with your crush from the floor below, Freshers’ Flu will find you, and it will get you. To help you avoid spending the first few weeks of your semester sniffing and coughing your way through lectures, we at The Mancunion have decided to share some of our wisdom gained through our many tumultuous years at university.

We’re not suggesting that you don’t fully embrace the bad habits and self-abuse that makes Freshers’ Week what it is, we simply want you to amaze your peers by swanning into your first week of actual lectures as the beacon of health (well kind of, you are students after all!)

Firstly, vitamins! As much as we wish it was, pizza is not technically considered a “balanced meal”, even if you get the veggie one. For this reason, we advise that you supplement your intake in the form of pills. A vitamin a day will keep the doctor away! To support your immune system, Vitamin C is the one for the job. To address the wider issues that arise from abusing your body, multivitamins are also ideal for keeping you on form.

Secondly, actually eat something healthy. You’ll be amazed what a little greenery can do for you. Make the most of the weekly greengrocers that visits the Owens Park Campus. You don’t even have to walk to Tesco!

Thirdly, drink plenty of water. Although many of you will still have your youth to protect you from the crippling hangovers to come, a litre of water before bed will ensure that you can get up and go to those introductory lectures in your first week. (Or at least leave your bedroom… your choice.)

Last but most certainly not least, try not to let your beer goggles get the best of you! Although a couple of smooches are perfectly acceptable as you get to know the students that share your halls, try not to let it get out of hand. This is, by far, the easiest way to contract some unwanted illness, whether it be something serious, or simply an annoying cough or cold.

With all of these tips and tricks to evade the plague, you’ll have no excuse to miss those vital introductory lectures. You can thank us in October!