By Sara Lovelady, TasteForLife.com Contributor

It’s impossible to follow the news these days without hearing some mention of the swine flu, the A (H1N1) strain of influenza that officials suspect has now claimed over 150 lives in Mexico and has spread to at least 11 countries across the globe. Manifesting in symptoms similar to regular influenza, swine flu is particularly pernicious because it is easily passed from person to person and is potentially lethal. Flu pandemics can have devastating consequences. For example, the influenza epidemic of 1918 killed an astonishing 50 million people — claiming three times as many lives as World War I — in a matter of months. While no one knows whether the swine flu will peter out or gain steam, there are simple steps you can take to protect yourself.

1.  Wash your hands. It sounds obvious, but this simple act is probably the most important thing you can do to protect yourself against swine flu. In addition to washing your hands after using the restroom, make an effort to soap up after you’ve handled a public doorknob, stair railing or grocery cart. Good old-fashioned soap kills viruses after 15-20 seconds of exposure. You can also use alcohol-based gels if you don’t have access to a sink and water.

2.  Eat nutritious foods. One of the main factors that can weaken immunity is free radicals. Produced in response to exposure to smoke, pollution, poor diet and even normal metabolism, free radicals attack healthy cells, leaving them more vulnerable to invasion by viruses and bacteria. The best way to fight free radicals is with antioxidants, found abundantly in fruits and vegetables. Aim for five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, including some leafy greens.

3.  Get enough sleep. Sleep is your body’s time to recuperate; skimp on rest and you lower your defenses against pathogens. A recent study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University found that people who sleep less than eight hours a night are three times more likely to fall victim to the common cold than those who get a full night’s sleep. According to the researchers, "a possible explanation for this finding is that sleep disturbance influences the regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, histamines and other symptom mediators that are released in response to infection."

4.  Work out. Studies have shown that moderate aerobic exercise increases your resistance to the flu. When you exercise, you increase your circulation, which means you also increase the number of white blood cells — your prime infection fighters — moving through your system. Just remember, the operative word is “moderate.” Endurance exercise suppresses immunity; which is why endurance athletes are twice as likely to develop illness as those who exercise less.

5.  Manage your stress. While short-term stress, like being stuck in a traffic jam, isn’t likely to have a long-term effect on your immune function, chronic stress, such as being in an unhappy marriage, is. That’s because chronic stress elevates levels of the hormone cortisol, which, like sleep deprivation, interferes with the body’s ability to regulate pro-inflammatory cytokines. One study found that people who felt high levels of stress came down with 2.7 upper respiratory infections versus just 1.5 for those who felt relatively stress-free. And research by Dr. Sheldon Cohen at Carnegie Mellon indicates that being unemployed or underemployed increases the risk of catching a cold fivefold.

Another helpful supplement is probiotics, or live beneficial bacteria. Evidence shows probiotics may help prevent colds, most likely by fortifying the immune system, and may even improve the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine. Remember though, probiotics are extremely fragile. To ensure potency, you want to buy a product that:

1. Is guaranteed to have live bacteria two years from the date of manufacture, not at the time of manufacture,

2. Is room-stable rather than requiring refrigeration, as these types of products are more stable in general, and

3. Contains specific strains backed by human clinical research, since not all strains are documented effective.