Wellbeing is something we all aspire to, but it’s also something that we need to work at.

Fortunately, by simply being mindful and becoming attuned to our five senses, we can learn to improve our wellbeing in all manner of ways.

The link between wellbeing and our five senses

Our brains are responsible for processing the information fed to them by our five senses, and interpreting what we see, feel, hear, taste and smell can have a direct impact on our wellbeing:

Wellbeing and sight

Sight can be linked directly to one of the four main pillars of health – eating well. It’s often said that we eat with our eyes, which is why a plate of different coloured foods will be more appealing to most people than a plate containing just one coloured food.¹ A study even found that by using brightly coloured plates, older people were around 30% more likely to consume a little bit more food!²                    

Wellbeing and taste

Taste and smell are very much linked, with around 80% of what our brain interprets as a taste sensation actually coming from our sense of smell. We are capable of recognising millions of different odours, but when it comes to taste, without the added clues given to us by sight, smell and texture, we are only capable of distinguishing whether something is salty, sweet, bitter, sour or savoury. So how can taste by itself lead to better wellbeing? One way is that people who are sensitive to bitterness are likely to be more selective about what they eat and avoid things higher in sugars and fats, which often have a greater degree of bitterness. Another is that studies have shown that sweet tastes can distract against physical discomfort – think about giving a child a sweet to suck on before an injection, for example.³

Wellbeing and sound

Our ability to interpret sounds alerts us to danger – the beep of a car horn, the shrill of a fire alarm or the siren of an ambulance, for example. Sounds can also be used to assist in healing though, largely because music reduces stress and anxiety. Research has also shown that physical therapy patients recover better when certain sounds are played during various points of their therapy.⁴

Wellbeing and touch

Touch is one of the most powerful tools we have available to us in terms of our own wellbeing. Whether it’s the embrace of a loved one, or the stroke of a pet, the simple act of touch has been shown in studies to lead to a reduction in anxiety and to improve sleeping patterns.⁵

Wellbeing and smell

Smell is not just something that is associated with pleasure or displeasure but can be an early indication of the manifestation of certain health problems. For example, studies have shown that a decline in your ability to smell could be a predictor of Alzheimer’s.⁶ More recently, a loss of smell has been cited as an indication that you may have been infected with the Covid-19 virus.

The link between our senses, and the four pillars of health

We view health and wellbeing as something that can be broadly split into four pillars, with each of them needing to be balanced in order to keep us healthy – our senses are strongly influential in each of them:

Eating well

Sight, taste and smell are all important in ensuring we eat well. From being visually drawn towards colourful foods, to avoiding foods that have gone off and are smelling bad, our sense helps us to get the balanced diets our bodies need.

State of mind

Pleasure can be felt by experiencing human touch, but our state of mind is also influenced by our other senses. Smells can evoke happy memories, sounds can bring us joy and there is nothing better than the taste of a hot drink on a cold day to make us feel comforted.

Staying active

Staying active is important for all aspects of our wellbeing and relying on our senses can make it easier and more enjoyable. Rather than viewing a walk as a chore, you might instead stroll along a seafront or through a forest, allowing your eyes to take in the sights, your nose to take in the new smells and your ears to enjoy the sounds of the birds in the trees.

Nutritional supplementation

With good nutritional supplementation, you can make sure you are consuming everything you need for good health, taking an empowered approach to your nutritional needs.

By remembering the four pillars of good health and being mindful about how your senses can help us experience them to their fullest, you are putting yourself on the pathway to a balanced state of wellbeing.

1. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1068/p7040 [↩]
2. https://elemental.medium.com/want-to-get-healthier-hack-your-five-senses-ddc9e749c41b [↩]
3. https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=M1kNCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=taste+wellbeing&ots=QMOL9-QtnT&sig=ADjZWhgz6Pl0LfFC_g3CcCy2oQQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=taste%20wellbeing&f=false [↩]
4. https://journals.lww.com/hnpjournal/Abstract/2004/05000/Vibroacoustic_Sound_Therapy_Improves_Pain.2.aspx [↩]
5. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/INFORMIT.421000020411926 [↩]
6. https://search.proquest.com/openview/9bb25f8aec2ed382fcdff8a9db42a32d/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=31252 [↩]

Why strength fitness should form a big part of your planned movement workouts.

Being physically fit comes in different forms. For example, someone who can run a marathon is no doubt physically fit, but they might not be able to lift heavy weights. Someone who might be able to lift heavy weights on the other hand, might not be able to run a marathon, but they too are still physically fit. Broadly speaking, fitness can be divided into different categories – endurance fitness, flexibility fitness and strength fitness.

What is strength fitness?

Strength fitness focuses specifically on one of the four pillars of fitness – strength. How strong your muscles are will directly impact your ability to move and lift objects. As strength training makes you stronger and builds muscle endurance, it’s an important part of any movement workout routine.

Strength training involves moving your body against some type of resistance. This could range from a machine found in a gym, to free weights, dumbbells and kettlebells, and can also be done without any equipment at all, using just your own bodyweight.

Why is strength fitness important?         

Research has highlighted that there are many health benefits of physical exercise in relation to strength training, with findings suggesting that the greater your muscular strength is, the better your overall health and athletic performance will be.¹ Other benefits include:

• A greater ability to enjoy your movement workout before getting tired
• Easier maintenance of a healthy body weight and enhanced body composition (the ratio between fat and muscle.)
• Boosted mood and energy levels, along with healthier sleep patterns
• Better posture and relief from back pain due to stronger muscles
• Greater stability, balance and flexibility, making it less likely that you will experience as many injuries and falls
• A greater ability to burn calories, even after you stop exercising
• Better bone health and bone density
• Improved brain health and better cognitive function
• Improved mood, confidence and sense of wellbeing

Can strength fitness help with illnesses and chronic conditions?

There have been studies that suggest² that the symptoms of many chronic conditions, such as back pain, arthritis, diabetes and even heart disease can be reduced by taking part in regular physical exercise that includes strength training.

Different types of strength fitness

Strength fitness can be done at home, in a gym or even when you are out and about. If you prefer the structure of a gym, there are resistance machines that work various muscles groups and fitness classes that incorporate weights or other strength-bearing exercise, like circuit training or body pump. Activities that you might have considered more endurance based can also be great for strength training though – running, hill climbing and cycling all put pressure on your leg muscles to propel you forward, for example.

Greater physical and muscular strength comes by regularly challenging your muscles to work harder than they do usually. Along with the targeted strength fitness workouts you do, there are opportunities to get in some additional strength training that you may not even have considered. Next time you have a choice of taking a lift or walking up the stairs – take the stairs. When you go food shopping park a little further away and carry your bags to the car rather than pushing them in a trolley.  Incorporating strength training into your everyday tasks will help you experience the health benefits of physical exercise without even realising you are doing any!

1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/strength-training/art-20046670 [↩]
2. https://journals.lww.com/acsm-healthfitness/Fulltext/2013/03000/Weightlifting_Training_Gives_Lifelong_Benefits.12.aspx?bid=AMCampaignWKHJ [↩]

Flexibility is fundamental for everyday life.

In fact, it’s so important that we often don’t think about it until something goes wrong and we start to miss it. Without flexibility we wouldn’t be able to perform everyday tasks, like bending over to pick something up, or sitting down in a chair. Flexibility also enables us to release built up tension or soreness in our muscles and helps us to relax – with too much tension or soreness, it’s going to be hard to get any rest!

What is flexibility fitness?

Flexibility can broadly be defined as the ability of your muscles and the connective tissues surrounding them to temporarily stretch. Flexibility is one of the four pillars of physical fitness and it works alongside the others to help us maximise the overall health benefits of physical exercise. Greater flexibility allows us to work on strength and endurance fitness too, by enabling our muscles to complete their full range of motion.

Why is flexibility fitness important?         

There are many health benefits associated with being more flexible. Flexibility leads to a greater range of movement and improved balance, which reduces your chances of getting injured during a movement workout.¹ Other benefits of increased flexibility include:

Pain reduction

Lengthening and opening your muscles makes your body feel less tense and generally feels easier to move. When your muscles feel looser and are not as tight, you won’t feel as many aches or pains and will be less likely to experience muscle cramps.

Better posture and balance

Good posture and balance make it easier to sit, stand and move. Improving your flexibility fitness, which you can do through activities like yoga, has been shown in studies to increase your muscular flexibility and improve posture and balance.²

Greater sense of wellbeing

Movement workouts that focus on flexibility are generally quite slow and gentle on the body and studies have shown that regularly practicing poses that open up and stretch your body can bring about a greater sense of relaxation and wellbeing.³

Better physical performance

Strong and effective muscles are important for strength and endurance training too. Improving your flexibility will help these other aspects of your fitness as your muscles will be able to work more effectively.

Different types of flexibility fitness

The best way to improve your overall flexibility is to combine three types of flexibility exercises – breath work, static stretching and dynamic stretching:

Breath work

Being able to breathe properly is an important element of all types of fitness, particularly stretching and flexibility fitness. By breathing properly you will be better able to fill your lungs and won’t have to expend as much energy to continue exercising.

Diaphragmatic breathing helps you to engage and strengthen your diaphragm and core muscles and can be practiced in a few simple steps:

1. Stand in a comfortable position or sit in a chair, placing your hands on your ribcage
2. Fill your lungs with air by inhaling through your nose – you should feel your rib cage expanding
3. Slowly exhale through your mouth, at the same time, engaging your core as you do so

Static stretches

Static stretching involves entering a stretch that you then hold without moving for a set period of time. This helps your muscles warm up slowly, reducing the risk of injury. You should push yourself to the point of tension when you will feel a light stretch, but no pain or tension.

Dynamic stretches

Dynamic stretching is a different kind of stretch that involves movement. Unlike static stretching, a dynamic stretch involves putting your muscles through a full range of motion. An example of this would be ‘high knees’ where you lift one foot off the ground, then the other, in a swift movement that gets blood flowing throughout your muscles and helps to stretch your glutes, hips, and knee joints.

Taking steps to become more flexible can be a great way to connect to yourself and your body. You’re likely to feel more balanced and better overall once your body is more open, strong, and flexible.

1. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Duane-Knudson/publication/240184136_Warm-up_and_flexibility/links/0046353b54ce3432ef000000/Warm-up-and-flexibility.pdf [↩]
2. https://www.ijoy.org.in/article.asp?issn=0973-6131;year=2016;volume=9;issue=1;spage=27;epage=34;aulast=Polsgrove [↩]
3. https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/6646/benefits-of-flexibility/ [↩]

In the modern world, we have the luxury of living in similar ways season to season, regardless of the time of year. 

We can pick up a pint of strawberries in winter just as we can in summer. Sleep patterns can stay the same all year. And exercise in the gym can continue at a pleasant 70 degrees whether it’s cold out or warm. 

In fact, an entire year can be quite homogenous.

However, for thousands of years, humans have acknowledged and respected the seasons, living accordingly. Humankind is still here today much in thanks to the connection our ancestors had to the earth and its cycles.

We are genetically programmed to ebb and flow with the energy of each season, so conscious living in this day and age may benefit our bodies and minds – even if it’s not a necessity like it once was.

If you’re ready to reconnect to the organic patterns of Mother Earth, look to nature for its cues.

Whether dramatic or faint, distinct seasonal changes happen throughout the entire world. Temperatures rise and fall, daylight increases and then diminishes, plants bloom and die off and animals are active then hibernate.

These signs can help us humans adapt in our own way to each season.

Spring

Coming out of hibernation, spring is a time of outward energy leading to rebirth.  Trees and plants come to life, animals stir and wake, daylight slowly increases, and temperatures begin to warm.

During this time of year:

• make goals for the next six months
• plant seeds in your garden
• take your movement outside
• consume fresh, colourful vegetables like greens, radishes, asparagus, and leeks
• clean and declutter your environment

Springtime can motivate the renewal of body and mind, so use this inspiration mindfully.

Summer

Filled with sunshine, long days, and a bounty of colour, the earth is in full swing come summer. 

Connect with this season by:

• living in nature as much as possible (such as eating outdoors)
• consuming a wide variety of cool and crisp harvested fruits and vegetables
• engaging in outdoor activities and hobbies
• taking a break (or an afternoon nap) to beat the heat

Let summer’s energy fill you with the vitality to explore and enjoy.

Fall

This slowing time of year brings energy inward. The busyness of summer begins to dwindle and preparation for colder months becomes apparent with shorter days, cooler temperatures, and harvests from deep within the soil.

To adapt to fall:

• take measures to slow a hectic schedule
• eat a diet of warm, cooked foods such as roasted root vegetables and cosy soups and stews
• up your vitamin D intake with foods (and supplements, if needed)
• adjust your bedtime to allow for more sleep
• reconnect with others
• reflect on accomplishments and goals from the last six months, reassess what is working and what is not in your life, and make changes if necessary

Transition to fall with determination to nourish, comfort, and soothe the body and mind.

Winter

Cold temperatures and long nights make hibernation seem quite appealing. Energy is stored in the earth, and rest and recovery are needed for the renewal process coming in the spring.

In winter:

• move gently (such as with yoga and stretching)
• increase your vitamin C for immunity intake with citrus fruits
• keep your entire body warm with hats, gloves, scarves, boots, and jackets
• drink warm beverages
• calm your mind and body with reading, meditation, journaling, etc.

Take this time of year to restore yourself for busy seasons ahead.

Living seasonally is about more than just donning sweaters in autumn and swimsuits in summer. Energy from Mother Earth throughout the year can guide your internal needs if you listen closely. 

Try to make purposeful adaptations – whether big or small – to reconnect yourself to this beautiful organic cycle.

REFERENCES:

https://www.almanac.com/living-seasonally
https://earthyvibes.org/how-to-live-with-the-seasons/

Say yes to heart-healthy eating

A healthy diet is one of the key factors for heart health, of which there are three pillars – eating well, staying active, and mindfulness.
Even just making a few small changes to your diet now will have positive implications for your heart, but the aim should be to change your eating habits in the long-term and follow a hearty-healthy diet as much as possible.

Tips for eating ‘heart healthy’

It’s important to know which are good and bad foods for the heart, so that you can make informed decisions when choosing food based around a heart-healthy diet. Poor quality diets¹ should be avoided. They can be recognised broadly by fitting into one of the following descriptions:

• High in refined grains and added sugars, salt, unhealthy fats and animal-source foods
• Low in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, and nuts
• High in processed food products – typically packaged and often ready to consume
• Light on whole foods and freshly prepared dishes
A heart-healthy diet should be the opposite of this, such as the Mediterranean diet which is high in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds and olive oil. Research has shown that following a Mediterranean Diet is associated with reduced cardiovascular disease (CVD), blood pressure and serum lipid risk factors for CVD¹

Best foods for heart health

Variety in a healthy diet is key. The following foods and food groups are particularly good for the heart:¹

Fruits and vegetables:

For a heart-healthy diet, it’s recommended that you eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Ensure your plate is as colourful as possible with healthy fruits and vegetables like broccoli, tomato, peppers and avocado.

Whole grains:

Whole grain foods are rich in lots of fibre and nutrients. Oats, whole wheat bread and brown rice are all great sources of whole grains. Oat beta-glucan has been shown to lower blood cholesterol (high cholesterol is a risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease) while consumption of beta-glucans from oats or barley as part of a meal contributes to the reduction of the blood glucose rise after that meal. Beta-glucans are important as they contribute to the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol levels

Legumes:

Beans, peas and lentils are all healthy legumes that are beneficial when combined in a heart-healthy diet. Several studies have demonstrated that the consumption of lentils is immensely connected to the reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular diseases due to its bioactive compounds.²

Fish:

Fish is rich in the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) – fatty acids which contribute to the normal function of the heart.

Healthy fats:

Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids are the best choices for a heart healthy diet. Replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats has been shown to reduce blood cholesterol, which is important as high cholesterol is a risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease. Vegetable oils such as olive, canola, corn and sunflower oil are good sources of healthy fats.

Dark chocolate as a treat in a cardiac diet

While milk chocolate is not the healthiest of options, people who treat themselves to a piece of chocolate every now and then should learn that moderate dark chocolate consumption has been associated with a modest benefit in blood pressure and cardiovascular disease³
 

Foods to limit in a heart-healthy diet

Alongside knowing what food aren’t good choices for a heart healthy diet, it’s also important to be aware of the foods and food groups which are bad for the heart:¹

Saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol:
The American Heart Association⁴ which suggests limiting your intake of saturated fat and trans fats. For people who need to lower their blood cholesterol, they recommend reducing saturated fat to no more than 5 to 6 % of your total calories.

Salt (sodium):
Reducing the consumption of sodium contributes to the maintenance of normal blood pressure.

Alcohol:
Alcohol has no benefits for the heart, and should be consumed only in moderation.

Added sugars:
It’s always best to avoid foods and drinks with added sugar in favour of heart health. The consumption of foods or drinks containing a sugar substitute results in a lower blood glucose rise after their consumption compared to sugar-containing foods and drinks.

Overview of foods that are good or bad for your heart

The following table shows foods to eat and those to avoid in maintaining a healthy heart diet.

Find your own way into a heart-healthy future

Along with the other two pillars of a healthy heart – staying active and mindfulness, following a heart-healthy diet plan is one of the best ways to keep your heart in top condition.

A heart-healthy diet is very doable and can be enjoyable, with lots of fresh, natural flavours to fill your plate. There are many heart-healthy recipes and meal plans to help you with making healthy diet choices and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers a shopping list for a heart healthy diet on their website. You might also like to take a look at the recipes section on the website of the American Heart Association.
It’s incredibly important to keep a close eye on your heart health and always consult a doctor if you have any concerns, or if anything seems out of the ordinary, especially if you are at risk of a cardiac disease or are suffering from one.

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4597475/ [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩]
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5713359/ [↩]
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6713921/ [↩]
4. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/nutrition-basics/aha-diet-and-lifestyle-recommendations [↩]

Ever wondered what it’s like to walk in the footsteps of an Olympic athlete? Lifeplus has entered a sponsorship deal with British Olympic athlete, James Ellington, as he continues his incredible and inspirational journey to elite level athletic competition after a major road accident in 2017.

While we’ll be joining him on his journey from today, we wanted to know all about how he got here…from where he started, the wins, the falls, and the motivation!

About James Ellington

• Sport: Men’s Athletics – British Sprinter
• Event: 100m and 200m
• Club: Newham and Essex Beagles

The wins

• Two-time Olympian (2012, 2016)
• Two-time Gold medallist at the European Athletics Championships (2014, 2016)
• Silver medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
• Two-time champion at British Athletics Championships (2012, 2013)
• National titles winner from a young age – under 15, under 17 and under 20
• Finalist of 100m at World Junior Championships in 2004
• Gold medallist in Junior European Championships

Turning the dream into reality…

James’ aspiration to become an athlete began from the very young age of three years old. He describes himself as hard-headed and it’s this personality trait that meant he always knew what he wanted. At the age of 13, it took him seeing athletics being shown on the TV to know that he wanted to take his love of sport to a professional level. Despite everyone around him telling him that being a professional athlete wasn’t a safe career choice, he continued to dream by pushing for his goals and promising himself to never lose the child within.

This mentality has been proven through the heroic journey James has been through to get to where he is today. A journey always has its ups and downs but what James has experienced is unique and it makes his path to success an inspiration to many.

Read his interview below to discover all about the journey he’s been on to turn his dream into a reality.

Get to know James Ellington…

• What is the biggest challenge you’ve overcome?

My biggest challenge has got to be the horrific motorbike crash I experienced in 2017 which left me with a fractured tibia, fibula and pelvis, placing my career in athletics in complete jeopardy. It’s been a long journey of recovery but I’m proud to be back to where I wanted to be. I’ve had many setbacks in my career but now looking back, I felt I had to overcome those barriers to prepare me for the biggest setback of all, which was the crash. They’ve all contributed to developing my mental strength and resilience for any obstacles that come my way.

It’s been an incredibly tough journey but my mind-set had a big part to play in getting me through. Throughout I kept believing in my childhood dream and persevered by keeping things simple and not overcomplicating things, putting too much pressure on myself and getting thrown off track. I took one step at a time and I’ve always said, if I can walk, I can run, and if I can run, I can sprint – and here I am today, back in training for my next big milestone.

• How has it shaped you?

Fundamentally I still have the same drive and motivation that I’ve always had. The only thing that has changed is that I try to enjoy more of the here and now. As an athlete, you can often get caught up going from one competition to another and forget to take everything in. I try to focus more on living in the moment and celebrating achievements. This doesn’t have to be anything big, simply taking some time to mentally pause in the present and praise myself can be enough.

• Who is your real-life hero?

This is a tough one. I’ve always admired people for their achievements and I like to see everyone as human. If someone else can achieve something, so can I. Anything is impossible. As a child, Linford Christie was the person I saw winning on TV so I always looked up to him. It’s crazy how things turn out as I ended up being coached by him. Tyson Fury is someone else I admire for everything he went through.

• What is your mantra?

Be yourself and have integrity in everything you do. I like to think that, with me, what you see is what you get. I’m exactly the same behind the camera as I am in front and I think it’s important to show who you are.

• What are you most proud of?

Sticking to my word throughout my career and achieving everything I said I was going to achieve – even when everyone thought I was crazy and my career was over. If I put my mind to something, it will happen. Manifestation is key.

• What are your goals for 2021?

Before, my main goals were to get back running and compete again – and I’ve now achieved that! Now my goals are to make the Olympics team for 2021, and if I perform to the best of my ability, I believe I can win too. It will be tough but I believe in myself.

• How has your training changed in preparation for selection?

My training has changed to focus more on quality rather than quantity. Instead of training more for the sake of it and risking injury, I’m training more efficiently and making sure every session has a purpose. Nutrition is also a big part of my training. Focusing on taking the right nutrition is something I always knew was important and continues to support me in both my recovery and training.

• What does your training schedule look like?

I’ve gone from training six days a week to four days a week. Mondays and Wednesdays are the intense days with a track session, followed by a gym session. Thursdays revolve around easy recovery circuits and stretching. Then Saturday is another track session. It’s more intense as it was less compact doing six days a week but now I factor in more time for recovery time as it’s key to support my performance.

• What do you do when you’re not training or competing?

Music, exploring the outdoors (when not in lockdown) and cars are some of my favourite things. It may come as a surprise to you that I actually love music from Hans Zimmer. I always listen to music whilst I’m training. I tend to listen to more up tempo music, like deep tech house and old school garage, to motivate me whilst I’m training. And if I’m gearing up for a competition, I start off with some of Hans Zimmer’s music and then build it up to some drum and bass. Music is powerful!

• How do you give back?

I’m always looking for opportunities to give back – whether it’s getting into schools to speak to kids or giving out any boxes of kit. In the past, I worked with Met-Track Athletics to coach troubled kids from my local area. Although the main aim was to coach them in athletics, I took the opportunity to also offer some mental support.

• What are your goals beyond Tokyo?

Next year will either be the European or World Championships. Whatever happens with the Olympics, as long as I’m physically able to, I won’t stop competing. I will go as far as my body will take me.

• What makes you, as a high performing athlete, tick?

I focus all my energy on things I’m passionate about and make sure I don’t get distracted too far from that. A way to distinguish a high-level performer is easier to be seen when things get tough. You do see a lot of people crumble at the first hurdle. For me, when things get hard, there’s something in my brain that switches and drives me to carry on. And that’s why my mental attitude has helped me overcome my biggest challenges over the years.

• What does high performance culture mean for you?

I’m tough on myself but I’m also realistic with my goals. A lot of people think I’m crazy when I say my goals out loud but they’re starting to believe me now. If I ever stop running, I know I will direct the same amount of energy into something else, whatever that may be.

• How do you keep the team spirit going in athletics?

At the moment I have four or five training partners and throughout our sessions, we support each other by pushing each other through. Team work even in a single sport is so important.

• And lastly, what is your advice for those starting out?

Forget things fast – it’s important to have a short-term memory when it comes to athletics. You can’t win all the time. I’ve taken many losses throughout my career and if I held on to them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Don’t let them define you!

Join us in following his journey!

We’ll be following James’ next steps as he prepares for his next big challenge of qualifying at National level to be on his way to reach the Olympics 2021. If you want to find out how important nutritional supplements are in his regime and how he’s worked on his mental strength to get him throughout his career, keep an eye out on our Wellness Centre for new articles. You can also keep updated on our social media channels to see how he’s getting on and what else may come from this new partnership with Lifeplus. The opportunities are endless!

What is stress?

All of us experience stress throughout our lives. There are common stressors we all recognise, such as major life changes, uncertainty about the future, illness, conflict, and financial problems. Although these can cause real challenges to our mental health, stress isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, in certain circumstances, short-term positive stress can actually motivate us to succeed and overcome obstacles. However, throughout the Covid pandemic, stress levels have risen for nearly everyone, and especially for young people. 

A 2021 report by UK charity Student Minds highlighted that “Young adults have been especially badly hit during the pandemic with a triple whammy of curtailed education, diminished job prospects and reduced social contact with peers.” ¹  

So, are students particularly susceptible to stress?

Yes, we know that stress is really common in students. The NHS says, “University can be a stressful experience, as well as being fun and exciting.  You may feel stressed about starting university, exams, coursework deadlines, living with people you do not get on with, or thinking about the future.” ²

Even before the pandemic, numerous studies in Europe and America consistently reported a high percentage of students suffering from stress and anxiety caused by a multitude of factors. Many of these students were worried about disclosing their mental health concerns and felt they might be stigmatised for seeking support. ^{3 4 5}

Why do students experience such high levels of stress?

Going to university or college is a significant life transition that brings with it a variety of challenges. As well as adjusting to academic demands and deadline pressures, many young people will simultaneously be coping with their first experience of independent life. It’s a time of rapid adaptation from familiar childhood routines to the realities of adulthood: learning to get along with housemates in a new town, making friends, managing a limited budget, and perhaps having the responsibility of a part-time job along with studying. All of these changes can bring anxiety as well as excitement.

Some of the factors students most commonly cited as contributing to stress are:

• Study pressure and deadlines
• Exams
• Time management difficulties
• Unhealthy habits like drinking too much alcohol
• Feeling lonely or homesick
• Poor eating habits due to budget/circumstances
• Financial pressure and debt
• Poor quality accommodation
• Friendship or relationship difficulties
• Adjusting to a new environment
• Fear of failure
• Worries about future job prospects

What are some of the signs that I might be experiencing stress?

The UK charity MIND explains that some of the common signs of stress are frequently feeling:

• Irritable
• Anxious
• Overburdened
• Unable to enjoy yourself or look forward to life
• Unable to calm your mind, concentrate or switch off

Over time, these feelings can make student stress worse by leading to a vicious cycle of being unable to make decisions, avoiding situations instead of facing them, eating or drinking too much, and alienating friends and family. They can also lead to increasingly debilitating physical symptoms like panic attacks, insomnia, muscle pain, stomach aches and headaches. Stress can badly affect our emotional and physical health, so it’s important to recognise the signs and take action to address and manage them. ⁶

What can I do to address the causes of stress and help me cope?

If you’re a student who’s feeling stressed, your worries probably fall into one or more of these areas:

• Study stress
• Accommodation stress
• Social stress
• Financial stress

No matter what challenges you face, there are some key strategies and skills that anyone can learn to help them alleviate and manage their stress. 

Take control and stay positive 
Feeling that your problems are out of control is one of the main causes of stress. By taking active control and facing up to your fears you’ll feel empowered to find a solution. Having a positive outlook and looking for things to be grateful for is also a great way to counter stress – there is a broad range of mindfulness apps available that can help with this.

Manage your time 
It can feel really stressful when a deadline is looming and you’re running out of time. When you know time management is a problem for you, try using apps to help you get organised by breaking tasks down into manageable chunks that you can tackle without feeling daunted. Make sure you schedule breaks for rest and food, prioritise urgent and non-urgent tasks and create a written schedule so you feel more in control.

Learn to budget 
Create a simple spreadsheet to make sure you’re balancing your incoming and outgoing funds. Look out for student deals and discounts in-store and online, and be smart about how to make the most of your budget.

Look after yourself 
Try to get into a regular sleep pattern – going to bed and getting up at regular times helps combat stress hormones and keep you feeling positive. Exercise and healthy foods are important for your wellbeing, too. Try not to rely on alcohol, as this is just a short-term fix that could ultimately make you feel worse. Consider taking a break from social media when you’re feeling low – remember, other people’s lives aren’t usually as glossy as they appear online. Take time to do the activities you love, whether that’s reading, listening to music or baking cakes.

Express yourself and ask for help 
Talk to friends, talk to family, or ask for help from your college or university’s Student Wellbeing service. Sometimes just sharing your worries can be the first step to feeling more able to cope, getting a different perspective, or finding resources to help you.

Find your tribe 
Finding a like-minded community helps you feel connected, boosts your mood and gives you important social support. Look out for activities like clubs and societies, because whatever you’re into there’s sure to be a group to join, whether it’s sports, music, computing, gaming or amateur dramatics.

How will learning these stress management skills help me in future?

The good news is, if you can learn to manage study stress now, you can turn it into a positive for the future. When you see a stressful situation as an opportunity rather than a threat, you can harness the power of that stress to boost your energy, sharpen your focus, and give you the motivation to respond to adversity. Every time you react positively to a challenge, such as delivering an essay under time pressure or making a presentation to your peers, you’re proving and enhancing your own ability to achieve your goals.

Once we’ve learned to overcome and master stressful situations, our ability to deal with stress in the future increases. By managing stress well, we’re rewiring our brains to cope more effectively the next time and developing our resilience. We can even begin to actively welcome positive stress by pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone with new experiences, whether they’re physical, mental, or emotional. The more we succeed, the more confident and determined we become, and the more easily we’ll weather any setbacks or disappointments.

Health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, PhD, who gave one of the most popular TED talks of all time in 2013 about the upsides of stress says that when you learn to reframe the way you think about stress, you become less anxious and more capable. McGonigal says,

“If you think stress is to help you run away from a tiger, of course, that’s not a helpful way to respond to life. But if you understand that what you experience as stress is the biological mechanism by which you are going to learn and grow and develop your strength, now that’s a totally different way to understand.” ⁷

Students who learn stress management skills will be able to face problems and overcome obstacles without fear. This personal growth reinforces their self-belief and generates a positive cycle of progress and benefit. By learning to stay calm – even in demanding situations – they will be successful, fulfilled, and healthy. Perhaps most importantly, these crucial life skills will be an invaluable asset in job interviews, internships and ultimately when students enter the world of work.

Where can I begin to reduce my stress?

In 2020, the WHO (World Health Organisation) produced a free workbook full of practical information, tips and techniques for anyone, anywhere, who experiences stress.

Doing What Matters in Times of Stress recommends:

1. Grounding: learning to focus, engage and pay attention
2. Unhooking: managing difficult thoughts and feelings
3. Acting on your values: finding ways to act on what matters to you, and positively influence the people and situations around you
4. Being kind: to ourselves and to others
5. Making room: for challenging thoughts and situations rather than trying to avoid them⁸

Remember:

• Reach out for help
• Don’t skip classes or avoid deadlines
• Practice self-care
• Get involved in extra-curricular activities
• Exercise and eat well – stay healthy in mind and body
• Make sure you’re getting enough sleep
• Stay connected with friends and family
• Laugh, dance and have fun to create balance

1. University Mental Health: Life in a Pandemic Listening to higher education communities throughout 2020/2021 [↩]
2. Student stress [↩]
3. Mental health statistics: stress [↩]
4. University students’ strategies of coping with stress during the coronavirus pandemic: Data from Poland [↩]
5. Undergraduate Student Reference Group [↩]
6. How to manage stress [↩]
7. A Stanford psychologist has a simple mental exercise for tackling student stress [↩]
8. Doing What Matters in Times of Stress [↩]

Every time you eat, you have a choice. 

Do you choose to eat something that is nutritious and healthy for you?

Or do you opt for what tastes good and is convenient?

We all have moments where we indulge in less-than-ideal meals, but on an average daily basis, what are the choices you make when it comes to food?

This is an important question to consider as what we consume plays a vital role in our health, particularly with our immune system, which is a top priority now more than ever.

Protecting and healing us from illness and disease, our immune system is an essential component of our health. As diet-related illness spikes throughout the world, it’s imperative we take care of it as much as it takes care of us.

How can we do that?

Making good decisions about what we choose to consume and how we flavour it makes all the difference in supporting a strong immune system and defending ourselves against harmful bacteria and viruses.

To boost and maintain healthy immune function:

Enjoy vegetables. If you haven’t already, add nutrient-dense produce to your daily diet, such as spinach, broccoli, peppers, and kale. Or consider using a superfood powder to boost your daily intake of these powerhouse foods. 

Eat berries. Berries are loaded with vitamin C. For the greatest impact, choose darkly pigmented ones such as blackberries, blueberries, cherries, and strawberries.

Consume pungent foods. Onions, garlic, and leeks are all highly beneficial immune-boosting foods. Use them as a flavour base for meals and recipes.

Eat citrus. Oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and limes all provide an abundance of the immune system booster vitamin C. 

Add spice and herbs. Spices in general have anti-microbial properties. They add flavour, provide a lot of versatility when added to dishes as well as teas (try adding spices or herbs to tea with a touch of Manuka honey), and provide the potential for great protection. In particular, reach for such spices and herbs as turmeric, horseradish, thyme, oregano, basil, and cinnamon.

Sip soups and broths. Chock full of nutrients, a warm bowl of broth-based soup, or plain bone broth itself, can be beneficial to the gut and in turn supports immunity.

Drink plenty of water. Hydration keeps our oral microbiome defences up, so try to drink at least ½ your weight in ounces of clean water each day.

Avoid empty calories. Say no to refined sugars and carbohydrates like biscuits, cakes, sugary drinks, and processed foods that don’t provide nutritional value and can suppress your immune system.

When eating out, order something cooked. If eating out, opt for cooked foods versus non-cooked cold foods. Heat rather than cold is more likely to kill unwanted bacteria harmful to the immune system.

Keep these tips in mind when it comes to what you shop for, how you cook or order, and what you consume. 

And remember, whether consciously or unconsciously, you make a variety of choices every day when it comes to taking care of your immune system. You can choose to support it, or you can select options that hinder it. 

What will you choose today to keep yourself healthy?

REFERENCES

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/nutrition-and-immunity/
https://www.pcrm.org/news/blog/foods-boost-immune-system

Doesn’t it feel good when you’ve completed a big project, learned something new, or achieved a set goal?

That sense of accomplishment and fulfilment is a reward that’s attributed to our state of happiness.

Quite often, that’s due to the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Dopamine is one of four neurotransmitters known as happiness chemicals. Along with serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins, it sends messages throughout the body to the brain, particularly when it comes to feeling happy.

This particular neurotransmitter is associated with reward. It boosts mood and contributes to the excitement of anticipating events (such as looking forward to a date, time with the family, or a vacation).

Think about the things you love to do, the food you crave, and the information you like to learn. The motivation to enjoy these things is pleasure-seeking and dopamine boosts this feeling.

On the contrary, low levels of dopamine have been associated with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and addiction (such as gambling, drugs, and shopping). It’s even a main ingredient in medications that support people with ADHD because it can help with focus and attention. Increasing levels of dopamine naturally may help ward off future disease.

To increase dopamine levels in your body:

1. Consume food with tyrosine

Tyrosine is an amino acid that serves as a building block for dopamine. Foods such as seeds, meat, dairy, soy, and beans contain tyrosine and can help boost amounts of the neurotransmitter.

Supplements such as L-tyrosine and L-theanine provide can additional support.

2. Pat yourself on the back

Did you cook a great homemade dinner? Have you reached your goal of running a 5k? Did you receive a compliment on your hard work?

If so, celebrate – get a massage, spend a night watching a favorite movie, or break out the bubbly for a toast and experience higher levels of dopamine as you reward yourself for a job well done.

3. Avoid certain foods

Processed foods, as well as those with high sugar and caffeine content, can deplete dopamine. 

Reduce or eliminate these as much as possible.

4. Get good sleep

Dopamine is an important part of the sleep-wake cycle and is associated with feelings of alertness.

Lack of proper sleep may decrease dopamine receptors and can result in fatigue and an overall sense of feeling tired. Practice healthy sleep habits to support your happiness.

5. Take care of yourself

Self-care is an easy and effective way to raise levels of dopamine. 

Consider what works for you – a warm bath at night? Some quiet time to read and reflect? A hike on your favorite trail?

Among innumerable others, these are all options that can help you manage stress and increase dopamine levels.

An increase in happiness may be more available that you ever imagined. With good eating habits, proper sleep, and the implementation of healthy stress-management tools, you can start increasing your chances of feeling good – starting today.

REFERENCES:

https://www.longdom.org/open-access/happiness-role-of-dopamine-and-serotonin-on-mood-and-negative-emotions-2165-7548-1000350.pdf
https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/science-of-kindness.html

The best approach to good health is one that’s proactive.

That’s why it’s important we support the immune system, a complex structure dedicated to protecting us from harmful outside invaders and fighting off what we come down with. This intricate bodily system plays a significant role in overall health by protecting, supporting, and balancing our bodies every minute of the day.

In today’s world, it’s common to reach for an over-the-counter medicines every time a symptom strikes. While that’s not always necessarily a bad thing, there are plenty of options for supporting the immune system that will prevent us from having to reach for medications in the first place.

Need some ideas?

Here are ten ways to strengthen and support your immune system:

1. Hydrate

Drinking half your body weight in ounces of (ideally filtered) water daily is a good place to start when it comes to keeping your body flushed of invaders and toxins.

2. Rest

Good sleep at night is essential for immune system recovery and should be complemented with rest and downtime throughout the day as well.

3. Exercise/Movement

Exercise supports the movement of blood throughout the body, allowing elements of the immune system the ability to patrol the blood and surrounding tissues. This movement of blood, fluid, and these elements supports the flushing of impurities and infections from the body.

4. Healthy diet

Eliminating sugar in food and drinks should be high priority on the list of a healthy diet. Paired with plenty of colourful fruits and vegetables, adequate protein, and healthy fats, the immune system can flourish with proper nutrients.

5. Reduce toxin exposure

Pesticides, lead, mould, and heavy metals can all be harmful to immunity. Eating organic produce and eliminating toxic hazards can help.

6. Support healthy bacteria

Our gut microbiome is essential to a healthy immune system. Including prebiotics and probiotics in your daily diet can make a big difference. Try fermented foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut, as well as yogurt and kefir.

7. Manage stress

Although we can’t eliminate stress in our lives, we can learn to manage it in healthy ways. Self-expression (such as dancing, singing, painting, keeping a diary, etc.), adaptogenic herbs, and forest bathing can all work wonders in bringing about peace and calm so our immune systems can rest and restore.

8. Breath work

Did you know that your diaphragm is actually a pump for the lymphatic system, which pushes out waste? Deep breathing and breath work helps support the movement of immune cells to clean up messes where they are needed throughout the body. Aim for daily meditation or breathing exercises whenever possible.

9. Mood balance

A bad mood isn’t just upsetting for your spouse and children, but for your immune system, too.  Having strong connections with others, enjoying hobbies, processing emotions, and even taking medications (whether herbal or prescribedl) when needed can all support a balanced mood.

10. Supplements

To complement the above recommendations, some supplements can be helpful in keeping immunity strong such as:

• Zinc
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D
• Elderberry
• Lemon Balm
• Garlic
• Omega-3s
• Multi-strain probiotics
• Astragalus
• Grape Seed Extract
• Mushrooms (such as reishi, chaga, turkey tail, etc.)

Speak with your doctor about which ones may work best for you, taking into consideration any chronic issues you have or medications you may be taking.

As you can see, there’s more to keeping sickness away than just taking a prescription.  A lifestyle full of healthy choices can prepare your immune system for any invaders and support it when it needs to act.

What can you do today to support the job it’s doing for you right now?

REFERENCES

https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/support-your-immune-function-with-good-nutrition

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-boost-your-immune-system

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/eat-these-foods-to-boost-your-immune-system/

Do you feel less stressed after a good run?

How about more grounded during yoga? Or refreshed after a relaxing massage?

That’s because of endorphins.

Endorphins are neurotransmitters (chemicals that send messages throughout the body) released through aerobic exercise and other calming activities with the effect of relieving or reducing pain. They’re a type of peptide (amino acids stuck together) made in the hypothalamus and pituitary gland.

In addition to three other neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin), it’s known as a happiness chemical.

What does this mean?

Simple – an increase in endorphins can mean an increase in happiness.

Think of endorphins as your body’s own production of natural morphine. Through activities such as exercise, proper eating and drinking, sexual intercourse, and self-care techniques, endorphins release and result in:

• pain relief (both mentally and physically)
• stress release
• a decrease in anxiety
• a sense of pleasure
• increased self-esteem
• an overall sense of happiness

To release endorphins, consider:

• aerobic exercise such as walking, jogging, biking, dancing, swimming, skating and aerobics classes
• having sexual intercourse
• meditating
• yoga
• diaphragmatic breathing (such as on long, slow walks or through breathing techniques)
• getting a massage
• having acupuncture
• eating dark chocolate
• laughing/watching comedic content

Sound doable?

Just keep in mind that balance is key. Too much exercise, extra servings of dark chocolate, and too much sitting on the couch watching funny movies can all have detrimental health effects. Instead of simply going for more, opt for staying balanced.

Are you ready to get (and stay) happy? Then focus on a lifestyle that boosts your endorphins.

REFERENCES:

https://www.parkinsonsnsw.org.au/four-happy-hormones

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470306/

Children can be resilient when it comes to sickness, and their immune system is what’s to thank.

But we all know it’s hard to keep little hands from germ-covered toys, screens, noses, and mouths.  That’s why it’s essential that kids are provided with the support they need to keep their immune system balanced and strong.

While some of these recommendations are the same as for adults, there are additional suggestions especially for children.

Ten tips for strong immunity in children

1. Keep sugar low

Many foods and drinks marketed to children are high in sugar, including juices. Limit intake and offer water (infused with fruit if need be) for stable immunity.

2. Teach cleanliness skills

As soon as they walk in the door, right before a meal, and after using the bathroom are particularly important times to ensure proper handwashing. 

Encourage kids to sing Happy Birthday or the ABCs while scrubbing with soap and to rinse thoroughly when they are finished.

3. Sleep

Getting good quality sleep every night is important for children. Stick to a schedule and an enjoyable nightly routine whenever possible.

4. Be mindful of food sensitivities

If chronic infections or sickness are apparent, food sensitivities may be at play. Work with your child’s doctor to rule out issues with or sensitivities to certain foods.

Bear in mind that there is a difference between a food sensitivity and an allergy – those with sensitivities can still test negative for an allergy and experience the unpleasant symptoms of intolerance. While blood-based allergy tests are a good place to start, if symptoms persist after a negative test result, it could be a sensitivity.

5. Hydrate

Make sure children have water bottles with them at school, on the playground, and in the car. Adequate hydration helps the body flush out toxins and invaders.

6. Vaccinate mindfully

When vaccinating, make sure your child is healthy prior to receiving the vaccine(s) and be mindful of how many are given at once so as not to overload the child’s immune system.

In addition, try not to suppress any mild symptoms a child experiences from a vaccination (although they should be monitored by a doctor). This is the immune system responding and building tolerance.

7. A healthy diet

They may not always want to eat their broccoli but offering a colourful diet of fruits and vegetables complemented by quality protein and healthy fats nourishes the immune system.

Try adding greens to a fruit smoothie and finely chopped vegetables to pasta sauce or baked potato for extra nutrients.

8. Limit toxic exposures

Exposure to germs and microbes are necessary for the immune system to develop and grow strong, but exposure to chemicals and toxins is harmful and could be detrimental to growing bodies.

Whenever you have the opportunity, provide your family with organic foods, pure and clean water, and plenty of non-polluted, fresh air.

9. A healthy gut

To keep kids’ guts healthy, try a children’s probiotic supplement and include fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, cottage cheese, and miso in their diets.

Another consideration for gut health is the use of antibiotics. While they’re absolutely vital in some cases, there are also times when they’re not completely necessary. Oral antibiotics can alter the digestive system’s microbiome and may ultimately impact digestive health either temporarily or long term.

10. Plenty of joy

As with adults, it’s important for children to just have fun. Many times, that means playing in the dirt and just running around.  This is good for kids’ bodies and minds and getting dirty exposes them to bacteria and germs that ultimately help build strong immune systems. 

After all, children are going to get dirty – that’s just part of growing up.

By being role models and teaching (and showing) children what to do to keep their immune systems healthy, we can encourage their good choices and watch them grow into healthy and balanced young adults.

REFERENCES:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC121401/

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-to-boost-your-kids-immunity-heading-into-the-new-school-year/

It can be quite tricky to keep up good daily habits, can’t it? But, the benefits of choosing to prioritise your health and wellbeing are so positive that we should take the time to prioritise them.

Good daily habits can help prevent overwhelm, burn-out, stress and even illness. By building a more robust immune system through sleep, rest and healthier living, we can help our bodies to become stronger in fighting off disease. We can also increase our own awareness of the signs of fatigue and stress before they have a detrimental impact on our health and well-being.

Taking the time to care for ourselves through good daily habits, helps us recognise when something is off balance or out of synch quicker to make adjustments and prevent the problem from becoming chronic.¹

So, if the benefits are so great, why don’t we prioritise the practice of good daily habits to strengthen our health and well-being?

We’d all love to feel good, eat well and create a stress-free and happy life, so why don’t we?

Because it takes time: Being disciplined and creating a routine feel like they add to the list of chores, and with so much going on in our busy lives, we feel we simply don’t have the time to do everything, so we edit our day.

It’s also easier to cut out the things we want to do because if we are answerable to no one. For example, I can easily choose not to run because I’m not letting anyone down, only me.

Why do we choose these things to cut? Because we aren’t answerable to anyone else but ourselves, you aren’t letting anyone else down but you. However, if you choose not to run an errand for a friend, then you’re letting them down. We shift our priorities when we’re under pressure based on ease.

And yet, it’s entirely counter-productive. Because eventually, we become exhausted, resentful, unwell or simply unhappy.

Therefore, good daily habits must become our non-negotiables. Things that are set in stone, just for us, to protect and preserve our mental health and well-being.

What is a habit? Let’s start by understanding the nature of a habit.

The dictionary defines a habit as ‘a settled or regular tendency or practise, especially one that is hard to give up.’

The American Journal of Psychology suggests: A habit is a routine of behaviour that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. Defining a “habit, from the standpoint of psychology, [as] a more or less fixed way of thinking, willing, or feeling acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience.”

We are all familiar with some of our regular habits, for example, brushing our teeth, exercising, watching our favourite shows. Then you have the not so good habits such as drinking, smoking and overeating.

But why are some habits easier to break than others? For example, I love cake, but it’s hard for me to stop because it’s become such a ‘happy’ habit. Yet, I want to run every day, but this habit is hard to keep and easy to break. Why?

Charles Duhigg is the author of The Power of Habit; he has spent years researching this very subject. He suggests,

‘Apparently, 40% of the actions we perform on any day are not actual decisions but habits. From brushing your teeth or driving, to whether you go for a run when you get home or slouch in front of the couch. All are habits and it’s possible to create both good and bad ones. Essentially, the brain is always looking to save effort by creating new habits, so our energy can be saved for other tasks. When a habit emerges, the brain stops being involved in making decisions. So to change a habit, you have to fight it!’²

How can we find time for our good daily habits?

It often feels like we never have enough time, doesn’t it?

Rushing about, getting stuff done, but then what? At the end of the day, you may feel like you’ve achieved nothing and are exhausted and stressed from an unfulfilling day.

Time management can help; learning how to manage your time effectively can help you feel more relaxed, focused and in control.

“The aim of good time management is to achieve the lifestyle balance you want,” says Emma Donaldson-Feilder, a chartered occupational psychologist.

“Work out your priorities in life,” says Emma. “That is then the guiding principle for how you spend your time and how you manage it.”

Once you have worked out the big picture, you can work out some short-term and medium-term goals. “Knowing your goals will help you plan better and focus on the things that will help you achieve those goals,” says Emma.³

Prioritising your good daily habits

It can be difficult to work out your priorities but remember, they don’t have to be fixed, and they may change, but it’s important to make a start. Perhaps yours will be got to the gym 3 days per week. Read one book per month; there’s no right or wrong here. These are your priorities so ask yourself, what’s important to you?

We’ve chosen 5 Good Daily Habits to get you started

1. Create a Morning Routine.
   Starting your day with a good morning routine can really set you up for a positive and productive day. To begin with, keep it short and simple, then you can be sure you have the time to do it every day.
2. Sleep well.
   Sleep deprivation can be hugely detrimental to our brains and bodies, so you must achieve QUALITY and QUANTITY for your overall health and well-being. Our circadian rhythm, or circadian cycle, is a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. These natural processes respond primarily to light and dark so try to follow some simple practices like managing your eating time, daylight exposure, exercise and stress management.

‘Studies have shown that chronically sleep-deprived animals and humans have weaker immune systems, making it easier for even mild infections and viruses to gain entry to the body and cause more damage or even death. Therefore, maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is a powerful strategy to maintain better immunity.’¹

3. An Attitude of Gratitude.
Research has shown that experiencing gratitude has physical, psychological and social benefits, according to a 2012 study published in Personality and Individual Differences reported in Forbes.

Begin with something as simple as thinking of 3 things you are grateful for. You can do this when you wake up or just before bed. It’s a very simple yet effective habit to start. For example, it can be as easy as writing down, ‘today I am thankful for: The roof over my head, the food on my table, and the family around me’.⁴

4. Meditate.
The holistic benefits of meditation are diverse: It can help reduce mental health issues such as anxiety and depression and naturally manage our stress and anger levels. Not to mention the physical effects of pain reduction, improving heart health and promoting significantly improved sleep patterns.

These benefits have knock-on effects such as increasing our immunity, improving mood, relationships, and overall well-being.⁵

5. Spend time outdoors.

How often have you been for a walk and thought to yourself, isn’t this wonderful-I can hear the birds, smells the air and just be at peace?

And yet, we spend so much time indoors that we forget how uplifting and beneficial to our overall mood it can be.

Research by the mental health charity MIND suggests,

‘Spending time in nature has been found to help with mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. For example, research into ecotherapy (a type of formal treatment which involves doing activities outside in nature) has shown it can help with mild to moderate depression. This might be due to combining regular physical activity and social contact with being outside in nature.’⁶

Even giving yourself a proper lunch break, walking to work, or having your early morning cuppa in the garden can significantly impact your health and well-being. Remember, it needs to work for you, and this is one simple habit you can easily incorporate into your daily life.

Between our busy lives and unexpected things happening, one of the first things to push aside is the extra things we don’t always consider important, and our daily habits are no exception. BUT, they should be the exception!

The reality is that your good daily habits are the last things we should be edited out of our day.

1. A healthy circadian rhythm may keep you sane and increase resilience to fight COVID-19 [↩] [↩]
2. How Habits Work [↩]
3. Easy time-management tips [↩]
4. 7 Scientifically Proven Benefits Of Gratitude That Will Motivate You To Give Thanks Year-Round [↩]
5. Mindfulness [↩]
6. Nature and mental health [↩]

Many of us may not even think about our joints until something has gone wrong — particularly if they become swollen or painful.

This is often the case in particular when it comes to exercise. It’s probably safe to assume that many of us exercise in order to keep our muscles strong and our cardiovascular system in good shape, but it’s important to remember to protect our joints at the same time. A study by Harvard Medical School concluded that becoming more active can protect your joints and help you to maintain independence further into old age.¹

As the connecting points between our bones, our joints — such as our elbows, knees, ankles, hips, wrists and neck — are held together by intricate groupings of ligaments, cartilage and muscles that serve as shock absorbers.

Protecting joints during exercise

We all know how different it feels when our muscles ache due to getting back into a fitness routine compared to when we have done some damage to a joint. Muscle pain (not a strain) will ache, whereas joint pain can feel relentless.

Think of all the work our joints do to help us reach, twist, bend, turn, stretch, climb, walk and even sit! It is imperative to protect our joints when moving our bodies – joint pain is a major reason why normally active people stop exercising.

In terms of exercise, there are some common causes of joint injury. A big one is doing too much too soon. Perhaps it is the first warm day in a while and you go for a long bike ride. While cycling is fairly easy on the joints, a long bike ride after weeks or months of not riding could mean some overuse damage to your joints.

The importance of going slow

As tempting as it is to jump back into an exercise or excitedly try a new one, take it easy!

Repetition may get a bad rap for being boring, but for many of us, doing the same exercise feels comforting and familiar. But that repetition could put some strain on the joints. As with all aspects of healthy living, variety is the key.

There is no one exercise or activity you can do to strengthen and protect your joints – a varied fitness and movement routine is what’s most helpful to avoid overusing or abusing a given joint.

Strengthening muscles with weights, keeping joints moving with cardiovascular activity, stretching after exercise—these are all part of any health and fitness programme, and even more important for your joints.

Going slow does not mean avoiding movement

Beyond exercise, joint health is necessary for functional movement. At one point or another, we have all had a very deep sleep during which we may not have tossed or turned as much, leading to waking up in the morning with a stiff shoulder or neck. Or perhaps we stayed in front of the computer too long at work without getting up to take a walk and stretch. While those aren’t necessarily examples of joint damage, they do highlight the importance of keeping our joints moving all day (and all night) long. The arthritis foundation suggests taking a standing break every 30 minutes where possible and making time for simple stretches throughout the day. ²

Protect yourself with these joint health tips

Make sure you are wearing the right footwear and using the proper equipment. If you are cycling, go to a reputable bicycle shop to get measured for the right sized bike. If you are running, a shop that focuses on running shoes can be a great resource for analysing your gait and foot movements to determine what is the best shoe for you. This is when social exercise or consulting a personal trainer is very helpful. Body alignment is essential to protecting joints.

Other joint health exercises that are joint-protective are leg squats and push-/pull-ups. Squats help strengthen the muscles that protect the ankles, knees and hips.

Take away some gravity and impact by getting into a pool. Swimming is a challenging workout that minimises joint injury since there is much less impact on the joints. But beyond swimming, water walking and aqua aerobics help get our heart rate up while being good to our joints.

Push-ups and pull-ups are great joint health exercises to help strengthen the muscles in the arms, including the wrists and elbows, as well as the shoulders and neck. As mentioned above, make sure you are doing the exercise with proper form so as not to cause excessive joint strain or injury.

The most important joint health tip of all

Above all else, remember to give yourself a break. When considering what helps joint health, this is so important. As well as moving, you also need to rest and recuperate in order to achieve your fitness goals. Our whole-body benefits from stretching and resting. It is a way to slow down and give your body time to absorb the benefits of an activity and heal from any strain.

1. https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/the-secret-to-joint-pain-relief-exercise [↩]
2. https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/healthy-living/managing-pain/joint-protection/16-joint-protection-tips [↩]

Healthy living as a vegetarian

More and more people are opting for a vegetarian diet. Vegetarians don’t eat meat and fish — and in some cases, they avoid other animal products as well. Many vegetarians want to make their diet healthy and balanced. The issue of animal welfare also often plays a role in the move from eating meat to becoming vegetarian. Vegetarians mainly eat plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables and grains, giving them an excellent basis for supporting their own health.¹ A healthy vegetarian diet can also support the supply of nutrients such as vitamin B12, iron, zinc and protein, which we otherwise absorb via meat.

What types of vegetarian diets are there?

A diet without meat can be interpreted in many different ways. In addition to the classic vegetarian, there are lacto- and ovo-lacto-vegetarians, pescetarians, vegans and flexitarians. They all, more or less avoid meat, and instead fill their cupboards with a variety of other foods. Eating vegetarian food does not necessarily mean going without, but rather embracing flexibility and diversity. The right choice for healthy food is ultimately up to you. Try different adjustments to your diet until you find the diet that makes you feel good.

Lacto and ovo-lacto vegetarianism

These two types of vegetarian diet are closely related. While lacto-vegetarians supplement plant-based food with honey, milk and other dairy products including cheese, ovo-lacto vegetarians can eat all of the above plus eggs. Lacto and ovo-lacto-vegetarianism are intermediate stages of vegan and vegetarian nutrition. As neither fish nor meat are on the menu, these two forms of nutrition should likewise be rounded off with a balanced diet.

Pescetarian

For pescatarians, going without meat does not mean going without fish. Like flexitarians, pescetarians appreciate the flexibility in their diet, which may consist of fish and seafood as well as plant-based nutrition. By eating vegetarian food that is supplemented by fish, pescatarians can also ensure they give their bodies enough protein.² If you want to be vegetarian and have a balanced diet, pescatarianism can therefore be a good choice.

Veganism

The vegan diet is characterised by a complete avoidance of all animal products. Alongside stopping all consumption of meat, this also means no more dairy products, eggs or fish. Other food ingredients, such as animal fats, are also removed from the vegan diet.
The strictest form of veganism is called fruitarianism. A fruitarian lives off berries, nuts, seeds and fruits which can be harvested without killing the mother plant.
If you eat a vegan diet, you should consider that a nutrient deficiency may occur, as certain meat sources are omitted — for example, protein sources. In order to supply the body with proteins, vegans can use nuts, pulses, cereals and other nutritious foods.² Supplements can also enhance a vegan diet.

Flexitarianism

Flexitarians—also known as flexible vegetarians or semi-vegetarians—eat more vegetarian food, but do not completely dispense with animal products such as meat, fish or dairy products. Being flexible in the choice of food is the focus of this diet. From reduced meat consumption to the abandonment of certain animal products such as milk or cheese, every flexitarian can find an individualised solution for their own healthy diet.

The benefits of vegetarian nutrition

People who eat vegetarian food can benefit from their diet and support their body and their own health. Studies have shown that a vegetarian diet³ can have an effect on blood pressure and minimise the risk of becoming overweight or developing diabetes⁴. Vegetarians also suffer from heart disease less often than people who do not eat vegetarian food.⁴
Due to their predominantly plant-based diet, vegetarians also increasingly absorb secondary plant metabolites which are involved in a variety of metabolic processes in the body.⁵ Secondary plant metabolites are also said to have neurological, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects.⁵

Which foods belong to a healthy vegetarian diet?

We know how to adequately meet our nutrient needs with a meat-free diet. Those who want to eat healthy vegetarian food and benefit from their diet should listen to their own body. In this way, a possible nutrient deficiency and associated deficiency symptoms can be quickly counteracted. In view of important nutrients such as vitamin B12, iron, zinc and protein, vegetarian food should always be balanced.⁶

Intake of vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is present in a form available to humans almost exclusively in animal food sources. However, vegetarians should also take vitamin B12, which contributes to a normal energy metabolism, normal functioning of the nervous system and normal functioning of the immune system, found amongst other things:
• Eggs and dairy products are suppliers of vitamin B12 and perfectly compliment a vegetarian diet.⁷
• Pescetarians can also eat fish and seafood.⁷

Iron intake

Iron contributes to normal cognitive function, normal energy metabolism and normal oxygen transport in the body. Accordingly, iron should be an integral part of a balanced vegetarian diet.
There are plenty of vegetarian foods that contain iron, for example⁸:

• Whole wheat bread, cereals, pasta, quinoa and oatmeal
• Avocados
• Cooked spinach and boiled mushrooms
• Potatoes
• Legumes, such as soybeans and lentils
• Tofu

Foods containing zinc

Zinc contributes to a normal fatty acid metabolism, a normal macronutrient metabolism, and to the maintenance of normal bones, hair, nails and skin. In order to be able to benefit from the health-promoting effects of zinc as a vegetarian, various vegetarian foods are suitable⁹:
• Plant-based zinc sources: nuts such as cashews and pecan nuts, wheat or rye sprouts
• Animal-based zinc sources: cheese, milk and eggs

Compensating for a lack of protein

Proteins help increase and maintain muscle mass and normal bones. As animal protein sources are eliminated, it is all the more important to obtain proteins specifically from vegetarian foods.

The following are considered to be particularly high vegetarian protein sources:
• Dairy products and eggs
• Legumes: soya, lentils and peas
• Cereal products: bread

Things we would like to share as you embark upon a vegetarian diet

Vegetarian, flexitarian or pescetarian? — If you decide to live a vegetarian life, you should make sure that your diet is always healthy and balanced and that you consume all the nutrients your body needs. Why not try out different recipes with nutritious vegetarian foods and discover the best approach for you and your family.

1. https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/Gesundheitsmonitoring/Gesundheitsberichterstattung/GBEDownloadsJ/Focus/JoHM_2016_02_ernaehrung1a.pdf [↩]
2. https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/weitere-publikationen/faqs/protein/ [↩] [↩]
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466938/ [↩]
4. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-nutrition-society/article/longterm-health-of-vegetarians-and-vegans/263822873377096A7BAC4F887D42A4CA [↩] [↩]
5. https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/weitere-publikationen/fachinformationen/sekundaere-pflanzenstoffe-und-ihre-wirkung/ [↩] [↩]
6. https://www.assmann-stiftung.de/vegetarische-ernaehrung/ [↩]
7. https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/weitere-publikationen/faqs/vitaminb12/ [↩] [↩]
8. https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2017/10/06/ways-to-boost-blood-iron-levels-while-eating-a-vegan-or-vegetarian-diet/ [↩]
9. https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/weitere-publikationen/faqs/zink/ [↩]

We’ve all got our own ideas of what a superfood is – many would argue that chocolate, for example, is a ‘super’ food, thanks to its delicious, morish flavour.

But superfoods did not get their name because of the way they taste (although they do taste delicious!) but because of their very high nutritional density that enables them to deliver substantial amounts of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, while containing very few calories.¹

Why do we need superfoods?

Thanks to their high concentrations of vitamins and minerals, eating a diet rich in superfoods can help us to fight off illnesses and keep us healthier. Superfoods have been shown to promote heart health and weight loss as well as increase energy levels and reduce the effects of aging.²

A healthy diet relies upon variety – no single food can give you all the nutrients your body needs, so while superfoods are fantastic for your health, it’s important to add them to a balanced diet containing plenty of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains, legumes and nuts, while avoiding refined sugar and processed foods.

What are the different types of superfoods?

There are so many different types of superfoods, which can easily be eaten as part of your diet to enhance a healthy eating regime. From the everyday foods you see on your supermarket shelves, to the more exotic and unusual sounding, there are many ways that you can enhance your diet with the following superfoods.

Raw cacao. Good news! While chocolate itself is not a superfood, the dried seeds it is made from are! Raw cacao seeds contain one of the highest natural sources of magnesium and are also packed full of calcium, zinc, copper and selenium. In fact, raw cacao contains more antioxidants per gram than blueberries and goji berries! Raw cacao is high in flavanols – plant compounds associated with antioxidant activity. The flavanols in cacao are thought to help improve circulation to the heart² which may help to lower blood pressure and reduce inflammation. As cacao contains a small amount of caffeine, as well as theobromine – a compound known to have a mild energising effect – it may also be good for improving your energy levels.

Berries. Berries are a fantastic addition to your diet thanks to their high concentration of vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, cranberries and Goji berries are all associated in studies³ with a reduced risk of inflammatory conditions such as heart disease. The best part? They taste delicious! Berries are an easy addition to your diet and can be added to yoghurt, smoothies or cereals, or simply eaten with a snack. If they’re not in season, it’s just as healthy to buy them frozen.

Yoghurt. An excellent source of calcium and protein, yoghurt is also packed with live cultures known as probiotics. Probiotics are ‘good’ or ‘friendly bacteria that work to protect you against the other, more harmful bacteria that also live inside your body. Yogurt can be eaten on its own – or with some berries to combine another superfood! You can also use it in place of sour cream or in dips or sauces. Be sure to choose yoghurts that contain live active cultures.

Reishi Mushrooms. These rare mushrooms grow at the base of deciduous trees and have been gaining a lot of attention recently thanks to their range of purported health benefits. Studies have shown that these mushrooms contain high levels of the Polysaccharides and Triterpenes, the active components proven to strengthen our immune system.⁴ Studies have also highlighted anti-inflammatory benefits that have helped with allergic reactions linked to asthma and contact dermatitis.⁵

Leafy greens. Packed full of fibre, dark, leafy greens are also a fantastic source of vitamins A and C, as well as calcium and other nutrients including iron, magnesium, zinc and folate. Kale, collard greens, swiss chard, spinach and turnip green have all been shown in studies⁶ as having the potential to reduce the risk of some chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. You may love these vegetables on their own, but you could also try adding them to soups and salads, curries, stir fries and even smoothies!

Quinoa. This super grain is easier to source now thanks to its increase in popularity, which has seen it hit supermarket and health food store shelves. There are more than 120 different varieties of quinoa, but the most popular by far is simple white quinoa, which has a mild flavour. It’s high in antioxidants, copper, fibre, iron, magnesium and zinc and can be used in place of rice. You can also add it to salads, make burger patties with it or use it to bulk out soups and stews.

Preserving nutrients to keep superfoods super!

The superfoods listed are all fresh, which means they will spoil if not eaten relatively quickly. Some superfoods may not be local to us, so how can we still benefit from them? Thanks to the process of freeze drying, we can still enjoy these superfoods and benefit from all the goodness they offer! Freeze drying preserves food by removing around 98% of its natural water content, which stops it spoiling, but preserves most of its colour, flavour and most importantly, its nutritional value. Studies have shown that this type of dehydration method is the best to preserve nutritional qualities when compared to other dehydration methods, especially when operated under vacuum.⁷

Versatile and easy to consume

Perhaps the best thing about superfoods is just how easy they are for us to consume. Many people enjoy their natural flavours and are happy to just eat them on their own, by snacking on a handful of berries, for example. If you prefer to be a bit more adventurous, you can add them to your meals in the form of soups and salads, or in smoothies.

Remember that the key is to get a good balance of superfoods so that you are putting a wide range of nutrients in your body. Get creative with your flavours and enjoy bringing a new and healthy dimension to your meals.

1. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/303079#what_are_superfoods [↩]
2. Shiina Y et al. Acute effect of oral flavonoid-rich dark chocolate intake on coronary circulation, as compared with non-flavonoid white chocolate, by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography in healthy adults. Int J Cardiol. 2009 Jan 24;131(3):424-9. [↩] [↩]
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26501271/ [↩]
4. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.508.8752&rep=rep1&type=pdf [↩]
5. Stavinoha, W.B., 1990. Study of the anti-exploration of Ganoderma lucidum. Presented at the Third Academic Joint Conference, pp: 201-208. times. [↩]
6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29751617/ [↩]
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7022747/ [↩]

What’s intuitive eating and how is it different to eating mindfully?

Intuitive eating is the antithesis of dieting, calorie counting, food obsession and body shaming. The idea was first written about on a mainstream level about twenty years ago by Evelyn Tribole and Elise Resch. They wrote a book that among other things highlighted some basic principles in intuitive eating.¹

The primary idea is to reject the merry-go-round of the dieting mentality, accept your body and tune in to its true needs.

Many of us have no idea what eating from hunger to satiation even feels like. And to further complicate things, what does eating what we crave look like, if what we crave isn’t healthy?

Intuitive eating listens to what your body really needs

Trendy diets and lifestyle changes that exclude foods or concepts of when to eat and when to remain hungry, change faster than the seasons. Intuitive dieting is the total opposite of this. The idea is that you listen to what your body is telling you about what it needs to be fed, as opposed to enforcing limits and guidelines on your consumption. Intuitive eating promotes the idea that our bodies know the way. We just have to be in tune with them, listen and follow that way.

Research has shown us that dieting doesn’t last long. On the occasion that a dieter does lose weight, the weight usually does not stay off.² But we all continue to fall into the trap of diets that limit calories, carbohydrates, fat and sugar and require times when you can, can’t or shouldn’t (guilt!) eat.

The complexity of our relationship with food

Our relationship with food is a complex one—part natural, biological and evolved; part nurtured, taught and socialised. Aggressive food-marketing campaigns tempt us to eat and eat and eat. Emotions and stress of modern life trigger us to eat even when we aren’t truly hungry. Our families of origin or our cultural experiences have ideas of what food means in terms of quality and quantity.

It’s about trust—trust in ourselves and the dynamic between our bellies and our minds. It’s about getting in tune with your body and learning to trust it again.

Yes, this means cake, wine and burgers can be consumed from time to time, but intuitive eating is as much about knowing when your stomach is satisfied as it is about feeding your hunger.

Learning from the ultimate intuitive feeders – babies

If you’ve ever seen a new-born or infant drink milk from the breast or a slow-flow bottle nipple, you will see an example of perhaps the truest form of intuitive eating. The baby will drink when she or he is hungry, initially eating with vigour but eventually slowing down and taking pauses. Babies focus on the eating and the experience of eating—the sensations of being in their caregiver’s arms and the smell of the milk. And they usually come off the breast or bottle nipple when they are satiated. With the breast or a bottle nipple that has a similar flow speed, most babies will not overeat.

Another concept in intuitive eating is to rid yourself of guilt related to food and eat what you want. Make peace with food. Food has the ability to do so much more than just fuel us. It can bring us to satisfying heights of pleasure and experience. Or it can plague our conscience for days as we dwell on the decisions we make about what we put in our mouths and bellies. This guilty dance of good and bad is not only unhealthy, but unhelpful.

Intuitive eating vs mindful eating

A guiding principle is to start eating according to what your body is telling you. This means you have to create mindfulness around hunger, cravings and satiation. We often eat mindlessly. We look at that cookie on the breakroom table at work and shame ourselves for eating it as we shove it into our mouths. Within seconds it’s gone! But what did it even taste like? What was the texture? Did we even appreciate it, much less experience it? Intuitive eating heralds the pleasure factor of food and invites us to lean into that. Mindful eating encourages us to take in every aspect of the food we are putting into our mouths and truly experience it.

Mindful eating also invites us to pay attention to how we feel after eating certain foods and to use that feedback to adjust our diet accordingly. When people have been eating a highly processed and/or fast-food diet, their senses of taste and smell are often dulled and they don’t notice any relationship between what they eat and how they feel, which often is “not very good.” So the first step is to learn about and gradually switch to a diet of whole, preferably organically produced, foods. Most people, after a while, regain the ability to notice what smells and tastes of “real” food they are particularly attracted to, and subtle changes in how they feel after eating specific foods or groupings of foods. Once you gain this ability, you’re on your way with intuitive eating.

Keeping focused on intuitive eating

The challenge is that it takes a lot of emotional work to get into a good groove with both intuitive eating and mindful eating. Just as with any mindfulness practice, or even healthy lifestyle, we have to reset our mental compass, sometimes several times a day—or even several times a meal! But by simply asking ‘what’s intuitive eating?’ when we start to feel hungry, we change our relationship with food and start to experience the physical, as well as psychological, benefits. Once we do that, intuitive eating will become easier and more natural to get to grips with.

1. Tribole, Evelyn, and Elyse Resch. Intuitive Eating: a Recovery Book for the Chronic Dieter: Rediscover the Pleasures of Eating and Rebuild Your Body Image. St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 1996. [↩]
2. Lowe, Michael R., et al. “Dieting and Restrained Eating as Prospective Predictors of Weight Gain.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 4, June 2013, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00577. [↩]

Regular exercise is the best solution for a healthy body, offering a whole host of short and long term benefits. The main benefits can be split into three areas:

1. Aerobic endurance

2. Strength gains

3. Psychological benefits

Whilst helping to improve your physical shape externally and the health of your body internally, exercise can also have positive effects on your mood, energy levels, sleep quality and combating stress.

How much exercise do I need to do to be healthy?

The benefits of staying active on your life are varied and widespread, but just how much exercise do you really need to feel the benefits?

According to official NHS advice,¹ all adults should be engaging in two different types of activity on a weekly basis:

• Aerobic: cycling, walking, jogging, swimming, sports
• Strength: lifting weights, body weight exercises, resistance band work, yoga

It’s recommended to complete 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise every week. Two sessions of strength training a week are also highly recommended where all the body’s major muscle groups are worked. Strength training is a great way to strengthen muscles and bones, regulate blood sugar levels and blood pressure and maintain a healthy weight.

Do shorter exercise sessions still have health benefits?

Studies have shown that completing less exercise than recommended isn’t a bad thing with plenty of benefits still to be gained.

If a short session sounds more achievable, making them more intense could actually reap the same benefits as a longer, moderate session. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a popular way to train your body hard when time is limited.

An additional benefit to short, sharp sessions is the buzz you often come away with, thanks to close association of exercise intensity and the release of beta-endorphins,² a hormone produced by the brain that reduces the perception of pain whilst triggering feelings of exhilaration. Known as ‘feel-good hormones’, researchers have found that HIIT triggers a significantly greater release of endorphins when compared to moderate exercise levels.³

Are longer exercise sessions necessary?

More time training will often bring greater benefits. You’ll become fitter and stronger, and could lessen your risk of disease. However, training for multiple hours a day is not achievable for most people. This is best left to professional athletes and sportspeople who have highly organised and regulated exercise schedules, as well as diet plans to make sure they’re performing and recovering optimally.   

Any physical exercise is better than none at all. If you can’t commit to 30 minutes five times a week then think little and often to help accumulate the benefits over time. The most important aspect of exercise is to make it regular and part of your lifestyle. It’s here where you’ll reap the most rewards.

1. NHS: Physical activity guidelines for adults [↩]
2. NCBI: Exercise intensity-related responses of beta-endorphin and catecholamines [↩]
3. Medical News Today: Endorphin release differs by exercise intensity, study finds [↩]

Strengthen your body naturally

Is raw food healthy or just a trend? Many people are sceptical about meals that are prepared with a blender, juicer or spiraliser, and prefer to pull out a frying pan or switch on the oven instead. That being the case, we often overlook the fact that not all foods have to be boiled, fried or baked. We are accustomed to cooking foods at high temperatures to kill parasites and bacteria — and of course this is essential for meat and poultry, for example. Other foods, however, such as certain types of fruit and vegetables, are also completely edible raw. So if we always cook our food without exception, we might be missing out on many of the best nutrients that nature has to offer. As is the case with many other diets, balance is also key for a raw food diet. Eating nothing but raw food is less helpful for health,¹ whereas a mixed, balanced diet with a high proportion of raw food can be a very healthy option. 

What does a raw food diet consist of?

You can turn the cooker off because you won’t be needing it much; food can only be heated up to a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius. Many people who haven’t heard much about the concept of raw food associate it with giving things up. Is that what you think too? The truth is that raw food can be extremely varied. According to the Giessen Raw Food Study, a raw food diet is a diet that largely or solely contains uncooked plant (and sometimes also animal) foods.¹ How strictly you wish to pursue the raw food aspect is entirely up to you.

Some raw fooders eat nothing but uncooked, raw food, while other people make a step-by-step transition, so that they find a healthy balance between cooked and raw food. One widespread assumption about the raw food diet is that you have to be vegetarian or even vegan.

However, depending on the type of diet, there are three different variations of the raw food diet. There is raw vegan, raw vegetarian and the raw food diet with meat and fish:

• A raw vegan diet is exclusively plant based.
• Raw vegetarians also eat raw milk products and eggs.
• With a raw diet that contains fish and/or meat, items such as tuna, carpaccio and tartar are on the menu. Everything that is air-dried can also be eaten, including ham and salmon.

Because the diet includes food that is either raw or cooked up to a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius, eating raw food means that you are eating whole foods in their natural state.

Raw food versus cooked food — what’s the difference?

In a raw food diet, food is eaten in its natural state, whereas cooked food is first boiled, fried, pasteurised or heated in some other way before it is eaten — pretty clear so far. But to what extent do the two ways of eating impact our bodies differently? What are the health benefits of eating raw food?

At around 40 degrees Celsius, important micronutrients start to change. As such, when boiling or frying food, important nutrients such as vitamins can be destroyed or changed in a way that prevents them being absorbed by the body. When cooking foods at temperatures that are too high, the flavours we want are sometimes also accompanied by unwanted substances. For instance, when frying food, a substance called acrylamide can form.² Chemicals such as this might only be dangerous for us if we consume them in excessive quantities, but we should still try to limit our intake as much as possible. To keep acrylamide formation to a minimum when cooking, always remember the FSA’s health advice and “go for gold” rather than burning your food to a crisp!²

Right now you must be thinking that it sounds like a good idea to give up cooked food entirely and dive into a raw food diet to protect your body against harmful substances. But that is by no means the case — if you did that your diet would be quite one-sided and unbalanced. Instead, aim for a balanced diet that combines both raw and cooked food. By eating a mixed diet, you can help your body find and maintain a balance between nutrients and harmful substances.³

How much raw food is healthy?

The German Nutrition Society recommends eating three portions of vegetables and two portions of fruit a day. The size of one portion is equal to the size of your own hand.⁴ The recommendation is also known as “5 a day” and is indispensable when it comes to a healthy diet. Following up with the “5 a day” recommendation, many raw fooders ask themselves: how much raw food is actually healthy?

As shown by a study by Giessen University in Germany, it is not possible to cover all your nutrient requirements through raw food alone.¹ If you want to provide your body with everything it needs, you should avoid an exclusively raw diet. In the scope of its “5 a day” campaign, the DGE makes the following recommendation: adults should eat around 400 g of vegetables a day, 200 g of which should be cooked, and 200 g raw or as a salad. The remaining daily nutrient requirements can be covered by around 250 g of fruit, which we are accustomed to eating in its natural, uncooked state anyway.⁴ So to ensure that raw food is always beneficial to our health, it should always be integrated into a mixed diet comprising both cooked and uncooked food.

What makes raw food so healthy? Three reasons to include more raw food in your diet

1. Raw food is low in calories but rich in nutrients.

2. Valuable substances such as vitamins, minerals, fibres and secondary plant metabolites are more abundant in raw food than in boiled or cooked food.

3. Healthy raw food also contains fewer free radicals than cooked food.

Raw food quality — quality of foods in their natural state

What makes fruit and vegetables so healthy are all the vitamins, minerals, fibres and secondary plant metabolites that they contain. If you leave the food in its original state and don’t cook it, all of these valuable nutrients remain in the food in high amounts. So by eating raw food, we are giving our body the best that nature has to offer.

Raw food has a high percentage of

• Vitamins, e.g. vitamin C

Vitamin C contributes to a healthy immune system and metabolism, among other things. However, the vitamin is water-soluble.⁵ By cooking foods rich in vitamin C, like spinach or tomatoes,⁶ you can quickly strip the food of its nutrients, and its raw food quality is lost.

• Minerals, e.g. calcium

Calcium contributes to the maintenance of bones and teeth, among other things, and is the most important mineral in our body in terms of quantity.⁷ As such, a diet that is rich in calcium is important to many people. This nutrient is found in green vegetables such as broccoli and kale.⁷ To fully utilise the potential of the vegetables, it is smart to vary the way you eat them between raw and cooked.

• Fibres

Dietary fibres—whether cooked or uncooked—ensure that we have a lasting feeling of fullness. With this one fact, the myth that raw food doesn’t make you full is blown clean out of the water. You can contribute to your daily fibre requirements by eating raw carrots and raw kohlrabi, for example.⁸

• Secondary plant metabolites, e.g. carotenoids

Secondary plant metabolites can have a positive influence on numerous metabolic processes. In order to consume as many of these antioxidative substances as possible, the German Nutrition Society (DGE) recommends integrating more vegetables, fruit and nuts into your meals — all foods that can be enjoyed raw. If possible, combine these with seeds, pulses, potatoes and various wholegrain products for a balanced, mixed diet.⁹

Raw food to protect against oxidative stress

Cooking food can release free radicals. These highly reactive metabolic intermediates can damage the cells in our body, and are being increasingly linked to disease.¹⁰ If you leave raw foods such as fruit and vegetables in their natural state and don’t cook them, you can help limit an excessive intake of free radicals.

To protect your body, you can make sure to increase your intake of antioxidative nutrients. Zinc, selenium and vitamin C, for instance, contribute to cell protection against oxidative stress. Whether you are a raw fooder or not only plays a role in the extent to which your body absorbs nutrients. 

Raw and delicious — intense, sweet and above all natural

We usually choose our favourite meals based on their taste. Pasta with tomato sauce, curry with rice or a colourful vegetable stir fry — even the thought of some of these dishes makes our mouths water. Many of these recipes, which we make for ourselves week after week, include instructions for boiling, frying or baking after the ingredients have been prepared. Is it still possible to integrate raw food into our diet to change things up and not sacrifice the delicious taste?

Of course — raw food can taste delicious too. The world of raw food has more to offer than you might think. On your next trip to the supermarket, pick up various types of vegetables and leave the cooker off for a change. You will see for yourself — nothing tastes as good as the natural sweetness of a crunchy carrot or pepper. Fresh celery sticks are also delicious. Try them with a salad and a wild herb dip — you probably can’t remember the last time you prepared a meal so quickly. And you did it with no cooking at all.

There are plenty of other delicious recipes online for integrating raw food into your diet. For instance, have you ever heard of kohlrabi tortellini? You are probably thinking that tortellini have to be cooked. But for this recipe, kohlrabi is not used as a filling for pasta made of wheat or similar. By cutting the kohlrabi into very thin slices, you can make tortellini that can be enjoyed raw. Choose any filling you like and then fold the kohlrabi slices together to make your tortellini. Served on a plate, this raw food meal doesn’t just look great, it is also extremely tasty. If you give raw food a try, you will quickly be just as convinced as we are that taste and health go hand in hand with a raw food diet.

What foods shouldn’t be eaten raw?

So you’ve acquired a taste for raw food, and now you want to freshen up your favourite dishes with raw components bit by bit? Then you’re sure to bring new energy to your cooking. However, you should first always check to see whether the ingredients can really be eaten raw. Pulses, grains and potatoes, for instance, should not be served raw.

Pulses contain lectins, which are plant ingredients that are only destroyed when cooked.¹¹ Beans, soybeans, chickpeas and lentils should therefore always be cooked before eating. The same goes for soybean and mung bean sprouts. Although peas contain fewer lectins than other pulses, they still shouldn’t be eaten raw due to the indigestible fibres they contain.¹¹

Raw fooders should also avoid eating grains without due preparation. Why? Grains contain phytin, a substance that impairs the absorption of minerals in the body.¹² Grains are more digestible if they are ground or soaked for several hours.

Potatoes contain a bitter, poisonous substance called solanine. This substance is mostly found in the skin, but can also move into the tuber itself if the potatoes are stored for too long and in too warm conditions. The solanine can only be removed if the potatoes are cooked in hot water.¹³

Recipe ideas with raw food

We all have a lot keeping us busy. Our hectic day-to-day lives don’t always give us the liberty of preparing nourishing meals from scratch. On a stressful day, we might catch ourselves putting a frozen pizza in the oven or heating up a ready-made meal in the microwave. The next time you find yourself with no time to cook a proper meal, just try raw food instead. Raw food is quick to prepare, so that you can serve up a healthy, nutritious meal or snack in the blink of an eye.

To help raw food newbies in particular, we have compiled a menu with recipe ideas that are both raw and delicious. Feel inspired.

Recipes with a high proportion of raw food:

• How about a delicious smoothie and fruit for breakfast? One bite into a ripe, juicy peach and you are guaranteed to have a great start to the day. Smoothies and whole fruit can also easily be combined to create smoothie bowls. They don’t just look good, they taste amazing too. Have a look through our smoothie recipes.
• For lunch, we suggest a raw food classic — a salad. Seasoned with raw ingredients such as red cabbage, mushrooms and nuts, you can prepare a delicious meal in no time.
• Feel like an afternoon snack? As tempting as chocolate is, why not try a pepper with a guacamole dip?
• Who doesn’t love spaghetti? But have you heard of courgetti? For dinner, we recommend pasta made of courgette. For this, all you need is a spiraliser — which is already a good investment for anyone who wants to integrate more raw food into their diet. When choosing the sauce, you can be as flexible here as you are with regular pasta. Salmon, pesto or more vegetables — try it all.

Tips for raw food newbies

• Don’t transition to raw food all at once
• Wash raw food thoroughly before eating it
• Eat raw food slowly and chew thoroughly

Would you like to do your health a favour with raw food and are you enthusiastic about making the swap? So that you don’t shock your body by taking away its usual food too quickly, it can be beneficial to replace cooked food with raw food slowly or add raw components to your meals bit by bit. Maybe we have already been able to inspire you a little with our recipe ideas.

You should also make sure to wash vegetables and other raw foods thoroughly before eating them. Because it’s not just nutrients that are retained by eating raw, bacteria are too. And they really shouldn’t end up on your plate.

Eating slowly and chewing thoroughly is not just important for kids; we should take this to heart ourselves if we start eating more raw food. Because otherwise the food won’t digest properly.¹⁴

Balance is key — combining raw and cooked food

Variety in a healthy diet is key. How you eat is a decision that has to fit your lifestyle. Whether you eat meat, fish and/or dairy products or opt for a vegetarian or vegan diet, a higher proportion of raw food is always a good idea and lets you eat delicious meals full of diverse nutrients which you need to stay healthy. Anyone starting out into the world of raw food will quickly discover that raw food is not only healthy, it is also delicious and absolutely rawtastic!

1. https://www.uni-giessen.de/fbz/fb09/institute/ernaehrungswissenschaft/prof/nutr-ecol/forsch/forsch-epid/gi-rohkost-studie [↩] [↩] [↩]
2. https://www.bmel.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Broschueren/ErhitzenUnerwuenschteStoffe.pdf [↩] [↩]
3. https://www.bzfe.de/inhalt/schadstoffe-im-essen-vermeiden-1887.html [↩]
4. https://www.dge.de/ernaehrungspraxis/vollwertige-ernaehrung/5-am-tag/ [↩] [↩]
5. https://www.gesundheit.gv.at/leben/ernaehrung/info/vitamine-mineralstoffe/wasserloesliche-vitamine/vitamin-c [↩]
6. https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/weitere-publikationen/faqs/vitamin-c/ [↩]
7. https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/weitere-publikationen/faqs/calcium/ [↩] [↩]
8. https://www.dge.de/presse/pm/mehr-ballaststoffe-bitte/ [↩]
9. https://www.dge.de/presse/pm/sekundaere-pflanzenstoffe-und-ihre-wirkungen-auf-die-gesundheit-farbenfrohe-vielfalt-mit-potenzial/ [↩]
10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7704185 [↩]
11. https://www.dge.de/presse/pm/ein-hoch-auf-huelsenfruechte/ [↩] [↩]
12. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4325021/ [↩]
13. https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/weitere-publikationen/fachinformationen/solanin-in-kartoffeln/ [↩]
14. https://www.daab.de/ernaehrung/darm-im-fokus/wie-funktioniert-verdauung/ [↩]

You have probably heard of electrolytes before. They’re often found in sports drinks, or in recovery sachets to be added to water if you’ve been unwell, but do you know what they actually are and how they work?

An electrolyte is a mineral that carries an electrical charge when it is dissolved in water. They spark cell function and are essential for many bodily processes – from the regulation of muscles and nerve function to keeping the body hydrated, balancing blood pressure and acidity levels, and helping damaged tissues to rebuild and repair.

What are the different electrolytes within the human body?

We naturally have electrolytes within our body but it’s important to ensure we have enough of them and not to let them become unbalanced. The main electrolytes that can be found in human bodies include:

• Bicarbonate
• Calcium
• Chloride
• Magnesium
• Sodium
• Phosphate
• Potassium

Electrolytes move through our bodies via transportation through the fluid in and around our cells, and all of these electrolytes are needed to function properly. A muscle, for example, relies upon calcium, sodium and potassium in order to contract. If it doesn’t get enough of these it can lead to feelings of weakness or, conversely, may contract or spasm involuntarily.

The role of electrolytes

Electrolytes keep your heart beating by electrically stimulating muscle contractions and are essential for balancing fluids within the body. They have other important functions in addition to that. Studies have shown that electrolytes help to build new tissue and can support blood clotting. They also maintain the pH level of your blood and regulate the fluid level in your blood plasma.¹

What happens when electrolytes are imbalanced?

If the range of electrolytes in your body is either too high or too low, this can result in an electrolyte imbalance. There are a few different things that can cause this to happen. Dehydration is one of the most common and can result any time there is a rapid loss of bodily fluids via an illness, excessive sweating or burns. Studies have shown that certain conditions, such as kidney disease or Addison’s disease, as well as those with type 1 diabetes, may also be at risk of electrolyte imbalances.²

When you are experiencing an imbalance, you may notice that your muscles feel weak or suffer from cramps, spams or twitching. You may feel thirsty or have a headache, feel tired or lacking in energy or even might feel confused or disoriented.

How many electrolytes do you need and where can you find them?

Several factors will influence the levels of electrolytes your body needs, including your age, activity level, water consumption and climate. Those living in warm environments or taking part in regular exercise, will need more than someone in a cold climate with a sedentary lifestyle, as electrolytes leave the body through sweat, evaporation and excretion.

Electrolytes can be found in a well-balanced diet. Fruits and vegetables are great sources of electrolytes, with some stands outs being bananas, which contain high levels of potassium, and almonds which contain high levels of magnesium.

Supplementation

Many people will get the electrolytes they need though their daily diet, but you can also supplement your electrolyte intake if you are at risk of an imbalance after an illness, following exercise or if visiting a hot country and sweating more, for example. You should remember though, that you can have too high, as well as too low, levels of electrolytes and your body is usually pretty good at regulating these levels itself. If you are in any doubt, it’s always best to consult your doctor.

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541123/ [↩]
2. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Syed-Shahid-6/publication/7342529_Electrolytes_and_sodium_transport_mechanism_in_diabetes_mellitus/links/54c709460cf238bb7d0a3b28/Electrolytes-and-sodium-transport-mechanism-in-diabetes-mellitus.pdf [↩]

For any movement we perform, balance is a fundamental aspect of it.

Often it will come without having to think about it, for example, simply standing upright on our own two feet requires us to maintain balance. While it often comes without thinking, that doesn’t mean it’s something that should be taken for granted. Studies have shown that balance is something that can deteriorate with age, so maintaining it is crucial.¹

What are the health benefits associated with good balance?

There are many health benefits associated with balance, both from the preventative side of reducing the chances of injury, to the maintenance side of good health and finally, in helping you recover and build up strength after an injury or illness that has affected your balance:

Core strength

Balance is not just something that is important for athletes or sports people. It’s important for all of us! This is particularly true when it comes to building core strength. The core can be considered the foundation of your body. It’s made up of several muscle groups that work together to keep us upright, enable us to move well and help reduce the chances of injury. Kailin Collins, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital, has concluded that core strength is immediately related to balance because you need good stability in your core to have safe and effective movement at the hip, knee and ankle.² You shouldn’t wait for problems with your balance to present themselves before you consider core strength training. Instead, you can work to prevent them through gentle stretching and strengthening exercises.

Keeping fit

Balance can help to strengthen your muscles, which will in turn increase their power output. The greater the force your muscles can exert, the further you will be able to jump, the faster you will be able to run and the higher you will be able to leap. In any sport or activity where powerful short, sharp movements are needed, such as boxing for example, good balance will be a great help. 

Injury prevention

In older adults, and women with a low bone mass in particular, balance has been shown in studies to help decrease the risk of falls and improve postural stability.³ Further studies have also shown that balance training seems to prevent falls and injuries in seniors, with a report published by the BMJ concluding that exercise programmes reduced falls that caused injuries by 37%, falls leading to serious injuries by 43% and broken bones by 61%.⁴

What are the best exercises for improving balance?

Gentle strength and stretching exercises such as yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi, as well as coordination-focused exercises like dance, are all excellent for helping to improve your balance. There are also ways to work on your balance that don’t even require leaving your house and some of the best exercises for improving balance require little more than patience and commitment of getting in a habit. You might try standing on one leg while brushing your teeth for example, which may sound easy, but you’ll soon find that your legs start to sway. Remember to switch legs each day so that both sides of your body get to experience the benefits. Alternatively, you could stand for one minute on the left leg, and then one minute on the right leg.

Sitting and standing up is something else you may take for granted but try doing so without using your hands to help stabilise you. You’ll be activating a whole new set of muscles that you wouldn’t normally use for this and will probably find it more difficult than you expected!

Walking is something else that you might think is just ‘something you do’, but even walking in a different way can help with balance training. Practice heel-to-toe walking, where you act like a tightrope walker by placing one foot directly in front of the other on an imaginary line or try walking backwards in a straight line (making sure there’s nothing in your way first of course!).

These common, everyday actions are some of the best to remind your of the importance of balance, and to help keep you in great condition, with excellent balance for as long as possible.

1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF03324095 [↩]
2. https://www.health.harvard.edu/balance-and-mobility/improve-your-balance-by-strengthening-your-core [↩]
3. https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/The_benefits_of_balance_training [↩]
4. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/balance-training-seems-to-prevent-falls-injuries-in-seniors-201310316825 [↩]

The macros: carbohydrate, protein and fat

Macronutrients, or macros for short, include carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Almost everything we eat contains a certain amount of macronutrients. Our body needs the nutrients for various important functions such as growth, development and energy supply.¹ Learn more about what macronutrients can do in our body.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are our body’s primary source of energy. They consist of chains composed of starch and sugar which the body breaks down into glucose. A distinction is made between simple (short-chain) and complex (long-chain) carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates can be processed more quickly by the body and cause blood sugar levels to rise rapidly, but only briefly, while complex carbohydrates provide us with energy for longer.²

In order to function, our brain needs energy – as macronutrients, carbohydrates are the main source as they help maintain normal brain function. Our body can also efficiently store the energy from carbohydrates in the liver and muscles.³ The store in the liver ensures that our blood sugar levels remain as constant as possible. So that we move without a constant supply of carbohydrates, the body relies on the carbohydrate store in the muscles. This is particularly helpful when we are playing sport. Highly intense and/or prolonged physical exertion leads to muscle fatigue and depletion of the glycogen stores of the skeletal muscles. Carbohydrates can help restore normal muscle function (contraction).

Proteins

Proteins are chains of amino acids that are present throughout the body – including in muscles and bones. Protein contributes to the growth and maintenance of muscle mass as well as the maintenance of normal bones. Proteins are also of central importance in the development of adolescents. It’s needed for normal growth and development of bones in children.

There are 20 amino acids, eight of which are known as essential amino acids. The body cannot produce these itself, which means that we need to absorb them through food.

Fats and fatty acids

We can meet our energy needs with carbohydrates and proteins but also with fats. By consuming fats, our body can be provided with essential fatty acids that it cannot produce itself. Omega 3 fatty acids, for example, are among the essential fats. A basic distinction is made between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids are often referred to as “bad fats” while unsaturated fatty acids are known as “good fats”.

It has been shown that replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats in food lowers or reduces the level of cholesterol in the blood. High cholesterol is a risk factor for developing coronary heart disease. Reducing the consumption of saturated fatty acids can therefore help maintain normal blood cholesterol levels.

Which foods contain macronutrients? 

To help you create an optimal nutrition plan, we have put together some natural macronutrient sources for you. According to the D-A-CH reference values for nutrient intake, over 50% of the nutritional energy consumed daily should come from carbohydrates, preferably via starch and high-fibre foods such as whole grain products, potatoes, legumes, vegetables and fruit.⁴ You will see that some foods even contain two or three macronutrients.

Sources of carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are found in many healthy foods but also in some unhealthy foods. Because there are these two sources of carbohydrates, some people find making healthy diet choices difficult. Basically, what you should remember: the type of carbohydrates is more important than the amount of carbohydrates you consume as macronutrients through your diet.⁵

Healthy sources of carbohydrates include:⁵

• Unprocessed or minimally processed whole grain products
• Vegetables according to the rainbow principle, e.g. carrots, peas, cauliflower and peppers
• Fruit such as grapes, bananas, pomegranates and pineapple

Less healthy sources of carbohydrates include many highly processed or refined foods, such as white bread, pastries or soft drinks.⁵

High-protein foods

Proteins are found in both animal and plant-based products – so we can rely on variety here too. Protein sources include:⁶

• Meat such as chicken breast and beef
• Fish such as trout and salmon
• Dairy products such as quark and yoghurt
• Eggs or egg whites
• Legumes such as soya, lentils and peas
• Cereal and whole grain cereal products such as bread

Fatty acid sources

While we should largely avoid bad, saturated fats, we can have a positive effect on our body by consuming good, unsaturated fats.

Foods rich in good, unsaturated fatty acids include:⁷

• Avocados
• Fish
• Vegetable oils such as olive oil, sunflower oil, linseed oil, rapeseed oil and soya oil
• Nuts such as walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and pecans
• Seeds such as pumpkin seeds, linseeds and sesame seeds

Saturated fatty acids are mainly found in foods high in animal fat such as sausages and high-fat meat but also in butter and cheese.

What does optimal macronutrient distribution look like?

We need each of the three macronutrients to stay healthy but just as important is the quality of the carbohydrates, proteins and fats that we absorb through food. A slice of pizza may offer the same macronutrient ratios as a slice of whole grain toast with avocado and tomato slices but not the same nutritional values. So it is not only the number of calories that is important but also their composition.

As part of a study by the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School⁸, researchers have observed the effects of dietary and lifestyle changes on health, especially body weight. Every day for four years, the subjects consumed increased portions of individual food components that provide micronutrients and macronutrients. It was noticed that people who mainly ate potatoes and crisps, sweetened drinks, unprocessed red meat, but also processed meat gained a significant amount of weight. In contrast, subjects who consumed more fruit, vegetables, whole grain products, nuts and dairy products such as yoghurt experienced weight loss. The results of the study support the findings from research into macronutrients that the type of food is just as important as its calorie content.

The German Nutrition Society (DGE)⁹ has also been looking into how we can achieve an optimal distribution of macronutrients in food – namely with a diet that includes:

• a high intake of fibre, especially from cereals
• a high intake of secondary plant metabolites as well as
• a moderate fat intake.

A prerequisite for this is that foods rich in fibre, especially whole grain products, make up the largest proportion of the carbohydrate-supplying foods. It is also advisable to include a high proportion of plant-based products with minimal processing in the diet. You can find out how to whip up delicious dishes with raw or largely unprocessed foods in our article on raw food nutrition. 

Calculating macronutrients – what is my macronutrient requirement?

As with many nutritional concepts, there is no “one size fits all” for the proportions of macronutrients. There is no ideal ratio that is right for everyone. If your lifestyle changes, for example, so do your macronutrient requirements. People who want to lose weight have different needs than people who want to maintain their body weight. The same applies, for example, to building muscle – should the macronutrients be used to build muscle or maintain muscle mass?

Those who know their macronutrient requirements and how much energy their own body needs can create an ideal nutrition plan and eat a balanced and healthy diet. Online there are many useful macronutrient calculators that will do all the maths for you. After entering some key data, such as body weight, age, gender and height, the calculator shows you the amount of macronutrients your body needs per day. Try it out and calculate your personal macronutrient requirements.

1. https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/534-macronutrients [↩]
2. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/carbohydrates-and-blood-sugar/ [↩]
3. https://www.gesundheit.gv.at/leben/bewegung/koerpergewicht/energiestoffwechsel [↩]
4. https://www.dge.de/presse/pm/kohlenhydrate-und-ballaststoffe-in-der-ernaehrung/ [↩]
5. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/ [↩] [↩] [↩]
6. https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/weitere-publikationen/faqs/protein/ [↩]
7. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/types-of-fat/ [↩]
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21696306 [↩]
9. https://www.dge.de/fileadmin/public/doc/ws/position/DGE-Positionspapier-Richtwerte-Energiezufuhr-KH-und-Fett.pdf [↩]

How can developing mindfulness support positive mental health?

Positive mental health is determined by a variety of factors and while it’s impossible to control everything that happens around us, developing mindfulness can be a strong step in the right direction when it comes to experiencing greater happiness and a positive state of mind. 

Why should you eat healthy, high-frequency energy foods?

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” – Nikola Tesla

We’re not just a physical body – scientifically speaking, we’re a source of energy that is bound together by an energy field. Everything with energy vibrates, and the higher the energy, the higher the frequency of this vibration.¹ High-frequency foods help us to increase our natural energy vibration and in doing so, we’re better-able to connect with ourselves and rid our minds of unhealthy thoughts.  Foods with a high vibrational energy include organic fruits, herbs, vegetables and nuts.² By contrast, low -frequency foods, such as meat, poultry and sugar, as well as foods that are highly processed, chemically or genetically altered or contain chemical additives, can result in ill health when eaten in high amounts.

Why is it important to keep hydrated?

Dehydration makes you feel physically unwell and can also affect your mental health.³ The human brain is composed of around 75% water and as soon as this level starts to drop, circulation slows and blood and oxygen move around the body more slowly.⁴ Even mild dehydration affects how you think and feel. If you can’t think clearly, it’s difficult to be fully mindful and to experience happiness.

Why is movement vital for mental health?

Evidence suggests that physical activity and exercise probably alleviate some of the symptoms associated with a negative state of mind. In addition, scientific studies have concluded that exercise might help with improving self-image, social skills and cognitive functioning, as well as reducing the symptoms of anxiety.⁵ Try taking a stroll in the fresh air or going for a gentle swim. You’ll soon see that it’s difficult not to feel in a more positive state of mind after this.

Why is sleep so important?

Anyone who has ever suffered a bad night’s sleep will tell you that their brain probably wasn’t firing on all cylinders the following day. Lack of sleep can leave you feeling mentally exhausted, emotional and unsettled in your surroundings. Try to get eight hours of quality sleep each night.⁶ Set a routine and go to bed at the same time each evening.

Try to wake up at the same time each morning (even on weekends!) and don’t stare at your phone or other electronic devices before you sleep as they can keep your brain alert and prevent you from relaxing fully.

Why is elevating your thoughts the key?

The law of attraction states that what we put out into the universe; we will receive.⁷ If you want to attract joy and happiness, you need to make an active effort to put those messages out there. Don’t focus on what you don’t want from life but concentrate on what you do want. Set meaningful goals and strive to make the very most of every single day.

Why is altruism beneficial to mental health?

Doing something kind for someone else doesn’t just benefit them – it can benefit you too. Connecting with people, and taking time to help them, can create positive vibes and help enhance your sense of purpose and wellbeing. Helping others has been scientifically shown to reduce stress and improve both your physical and mental health, leading to a sense of calm and ease and enabling you to increase your confidence, happiness and optimism.⁸ Ultimately, by helping others, you too could lead a happier, more fulfilled life.

Your state of mind isn’t something you can focus on in isolation. Different aspects of our lifestyle, including your physical health, can all contribute to achieving a positive state of mind.

1. Full on happiness: Vibrational Frequency 101 + Foods to increase it [↩]
2. Mindbodygreen: How to make sure you’re eating high-vibrational food [↩]
3. https://psychcentral.com/news/2012/02/20/dehydration-influences-mood-cognition/35037.html [↩]
4. AIFC: How important is water and hydration to mental health? [↩]
5. NCBI: The relation of physical activity and exercise to mental health [↩]
6. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need#:~:text=National%20Sleep%20Foundation%20guidelines1,to%208%20hours%20per%20night. [↩]
7. The Law of Attraction: What is the law of attraction? Open your eyes to a world of endless possibilities. [↩]
8. Mental Health Foundation: Doing good does you good [↩]

With many fruits and vegetables available year-round it’s easy to forget that nature knows best, and that the foods it provides us with do in fact have an optimal eating time.¹ Seasonal fruits and vegetables not only support our nutritional needs more efficiently, but they taste better too! These are just a couple of the reasons why seasonal fruits and vegetables should feature regularly in your diet.

They really do taste better

It’s not a marketing ploy – there’s a fundamental reason why seasonal produce is far better tasting. In-season fruits and vegetables are fresher, sweeter and perfectly ripe. This is because they’ve been picked or harvested at the right time after they’ve naturally ripened in the ground, or on the vine or tree – allowing them to retain greater flavour. When we eat foods that are out of season, they will have been harvested early and undergone a process of refrigeration to keep them from spoiling during transportation. Fridges are beneficial for preservation, but they’re the enemy to flavour, and chilling will always diminish that perfectly-ripe, sweet taste. Often, products will have to undergo extra heating to artificially ripen them once they reach their intended destination too. This greatly reduces the flavour and removes that lovely sweetness that you only get with freshly picked produce. Out-of-season foods can taste floury, fibrous or even flavourless in comparison to their seasonal counterparts.

Benefit from a higher nutritional value

It’s not just the flavour that’s retained in seasonally ripened fruits and vegetables, but the nutritional value is far greater too. Eating produce closer to harvesting ensures better retention of nutrients, as many nutrients will start to decrease in foods stored for longer periods of time. Vitamin C, folate and carotenes in particular will rapidly decline in produce that are not consumed soon after harvesting. Larger suppliers may even stock out-of-season fruits and vegetables that have been gassed, irradiated (through radiation) to kill germs and preserved in wax to keep them looking fresh and extend their shelf life. It goes without saying that none of this will be beneficial to our health.

Support your body’s natural requirements

Eating foods that are in season will better support your body’s natural healing and cleaning abilities. In winter, for example, nature provides us with an abundance of citrus fruits which are high in Vitamin C and help to protect against the cold and flu viruses, and many varieties of squash, which contain Vitamin A to strengthen our immune systems ahead of the change in weather. Seasonal changes are always a key time for picking up viruses. So wild garlic, chives and leeks, which all contain natural antibiotics, are great to eat as it moves into the Spring. By contrast, summer brings with it lots of stone fruits that offer extra beta-carotenes and other carotenoids to help protect against sun damage.

Support the environment and the local economy

Purchasing more locally grown fruits and vegetables protects small, local farmland from being financially pressured into expanding and developing for industrial or commercial use. Preserving this farmland also provides animals, insects and birds with a place to live and thrive.² ‘Food miles’ are reduced with less travel, meaning less consumption of fossil fuels and fewer carbon emissions and greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, because local farmers don’t have the inflated transportation and distribution costs that large agricultural businesses do, they’re able to retain more of their profits. Helping small, local businesses to become even more successful.

Eating a variety of healthy, nutrient-filled fruits and vegetables is always going to be beneficial to our health and is certainly a giant leap up from processed foods and artificial colours and flavourings. But for the greatest benefits of all, try to keep seasonal fruits and vegetables at the forefront of your shopping list. 

1. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/seasonal-calendar [↩]
2. https://www.gdrc.org/uem/footprints/food-miles.html [↩]

From better nutrition to improved mental and physical health, the benefits of growing your own food are plentiful.

Whether you are growing a small pot of kitchen herbs or an allotment full of fresh fruits and vegetables, you’re doing good for both your own health, and the environment.

Here are our top five reasons to grow your own food:

Better nutritional benefits

Growing your own food is an excellent way to ensure that your diet is nutritious, healthy and full of variety. Growing a diversity of fresh foods gives you access to plenty of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Raw foods are not just arguably one of the tastiest, but studies have also shown that they contain the most nutrients.¹ That’s not to say that cooking is bad though, as there are still plenty of health benefits to come from your food once you cook it – especially as it will be fresher as the time taken to get it from the ground to your plate will have been less than if you had bought it from a shop.

Better for the environment

As well as having less time for its nutritional value to start decreasing, foods that are home grown and haven’t had to undergo transportation are better for the environment and will not be impacting your carbon footprint.² Not only will you be reducing the reliance of fossil fuels for long distance transportation (it’s been estimated that an average of 1,500 miles is travelled before food is consumed)³ but you won’t be using chemicals or pesticides that can be bad for the environment.

Good for your physical health

You might not consider it to be the same as going for a long run, but growing your own food is actually a great way to stay fit and active! From digging to pulling up roots, to planting, weeding, watering and caring for your growing foods, gardening offers you a great physical workout that can help improve your cardiac strength, decrease stress and improve your strength and flexibility. Being outside will also expose you to Vitamin D, which has been proven to be crucial for maintaining healthy bones and teeth, as well as increasing your immunity against certain diseases.⁴

Great for mental wellbeing too

It’s not just your physical body that will thank you for growing your own food and gardening, but your mental health can benefit too. The simple act of getting exercise has been shown to relieve stress, depression and anxiety, as well as boost your energy.⁵

You can save money

The outlay might seem a bit more expensive than simply picking some salad up from the supermarket shelves, but once you are in an established routine, all you really need to grow your own food is time, patience and water. When you consider the higher costs of organic food, you can see that by growing your own, you will soon make back any money you spend on pots, soil etc. at the outset.

When growing your own foods, remember that variety is key. Don’t be afraid to try things you’ve not had before – particularly as you won’t be contributing to any increased pesticide usage or transportation costs to do so. Try to expose yourself to as many new and interesting fresh foods as you can, to contribute to a healthier you, and a healthier planet.

1. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/jf60202a021 [↩]
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921344914002626 [↩]
3. https://cuesa.org/learn/how-far-does-your-food-travel-get-your-plate [↩]
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3356951/ [↩]
5. https://journals.lww.com/acsm-essr/Citation/1990/01000/Effect_of_Exercise_on_Depression.16.aspx [↩]

Every action has a consequence and this is even true in terms of how our diet affects those who will be born after us. 

The diet you eat today will affect the bodies and worlds of your children and grandchildren. From epigenetics to environmental sustainability, your own eating habits—for better or for worse—will influence generations to come.Internally diet affects our health. We all know that. But are you also aware that diet has been shown to affect us on a genetic level? DNA, the very basis of who we are and the genes we pass on to our children, is affected by diet. It makes sense that what we eat today will affect our children in the future.

Pregnant mothers are especially tasked with consuming a healthy diet because the nutrients they consume are sent directly to the foetus, but future fathers-to-be also have a less direct but equally important responsibility to their children. A man’s diet consumed even before having children has been shown to have an effect on his children after they are born. ¹

Eating well can affect multiple generations

Beginning in the 1930s, Dr. Francis M. Pottenger performed a 10-year-long study examining the effects of nutrition on cats through multiple generations. Dr. Pottenger’s ultimate results found that feeding cats a nutrient-poor diet resulted in nutritional damage after just one generation. After the third generation all the cats were unable to reproduce. Despite major differences in the metabolisms of cats and humans, we can clearly infer from his study that the quality of nutrition in one generation has powerful effects on not just one generation but possibly multiple ones.

Several studies have shown how healthy eating and wellbeing can be passed through the generations and how eating well can positively influence the health of babies. ²

The importance of a healthy diet

After they are born, our children and grandchildren will benefit from being exposed to a healthy diet. Children who are raised in homes where the family sits down and eats a healthy meal together on most nights are much more likely to practice the same healthy behaviour later in life.

They too will make healthy family meals a priority which in turn will be passed on to their own children.

From an external viewpoint, eating a healthy, environmentally conscious diet can affect the world future generations live in. Agriculture and farming have evolved rapidly since the end of World War II, when researchers discovered leftover nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (from explosives) made excellent fertilisers that produced enormous crop yields. Since then, selective breeding and genetic engineering have created agricultural practices far different from what our bodies and environment are used to.

Generation health and wellness

While huge agricultural corporations have taken up unsustainable practices in order to produce maximum profit, a counterculture has arisen that seeks to return to a more natural way of food production. Sustainable, organic, local farming does not use synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers.

Farmers often use ancient techniques for crop and field rotation that rely on natural replacement of soil nutrients that are more sustainable than repeatedly fertilising year after year.

Meats, fruits and vegetables from these sources tend to be a little more expensive. But due to the law of supply and demand, the more people who adopt such a diet, the lower these prices will become. The more people take an environmentally friendly approach to purchasing food, the more likely we are to give our children a healthy planet.

You are what you eat

We’ve all heard the saying that goes “You are what you eat.” Perhaps a more enlightened version would be to say, “You, your children and your grandchildren are what you eat.” Consuming a healthy diet cultivated from sustainable sources will affect the world and the health of generations to come. When you consider how closely healthy eating and wellbeing are linked, not just for you, but for those who will follow you, it’s another strong reason why we should all be concerned with what we put in our bodies.

1. Gunnar Kaati, Lars Olov Bygren, et al. “Transgenerational response to nutrition, early life circumstances and longevity.” European Journal of Human Genetics (2007) 15, 784–790; doi:10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201832 [↩]
2. https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/7/2633 [↩]

When it comes to how often one should exercise, the answer is often subjective.

Generally, the recommendation is thirty minutes of exercise daily for five days a week. But when it comes to Pilates specifically, what’s the right amount to practice?

How often should you do Pilates?

The creator of Pilates himself, Joseph Pilates, recommended that those interested in Pilates practice it at least three times per week. However, if you’re getting exercise in other ways, it may be worth it to trim the amount of time spent in Pilates classes down to one class weekly.

Pilates is often used as a type of physical therapy. The impact it can have on the body is huge; regular practice can improve balance, flexibility, and mobility. Just that one class per week can result in enhanced recovery from injuries and your body relearning how to move correctly, preventing further injuries. Therefore, it might be wise to consider participating in Pilates regularly, even if you get the majority of your exercise from morning runs or evening strength-training sessions.

If you go beyond that and want to take your Pilates practice further, performing the core Pilates exercises twice or three times per week will help you see bigger chances in your strength, stability, flexibility, and mobility. With this level of dedicated practice, you may start to see a difference in the way you sit, walk, and carry yourself. Your posture and mobility will begin to improve, and you may even notice better mental concentration and control.

What about rest days?

Pilates is a low impact exercise, so the amount of rest and recovery needed between sessions is relatively low. So if you want to participate in Pilates classes a few days in a row, worry not. In fact, Pilates is so gentle (and so beneficial) that it’s even okay to practice Pilates on your rest days from other exercises. Just be aware that even the smooth movements of Pilates can cause micro-damage to muscles, requiring time to refresh them and build them back up.

Did you know that certain chemicals in our bodies (four neurotransmitters, to be exact) influence our levels of happiness?

Serotonin is one of these wondrous neurotransmitters known collectively as happiness chemicals (in addition to dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins). Specifically, it’s associated with mood and the feelings of relaxation and calm.

Designed to communicate information throughout the body, serotonin is a chemical messenger primarily produced in the gut with a direct connection to the brain. This means that our levels of serotonin can have a powerful effect on our happiness or our lack thereof.

Let’s take a further look.

Serotonin is created by the amino acid tryptophan. Tryptophan converts to 5-HTP and eventually into serotonin. Essentially, tryptophan is the building block for this neurotransmitter.

When levels of serotonin are low at any given time, symptoms can appear such as:

• depression
• anxiety
• impulsive behavior
• irritable mood
• sleep issues
• undesirable choices

But what contributes to low serotonin levels?

While research is still ongoing, there’s a strong link to gut health. 

Serotonin is highly influenced by the gut microbiome. Poor diet, a lack of helpful bacteria, and the overuse of antibiotics can all impact the creation of this neurotransmitter.

To increase and support healthy levels, practice self-care techniques such as:

• belly breathing
• meditation
• yoga
• forest bathing
• aerobic exercise
• massage
• getting outside and enjoying the sun (ideally at least 10-15 minutes daily)
• a diet rich in healthy bacteria including pre and probiotics
• eating foods rich in tryptophan alongside healthy carbs for good absorption (such as a turkey and cheese sandwich on wheat bread or a plate of salmon and brown rice)
• mindful use of antibiotics
• 5-HTP supplements

In addition, SSRIs are a common anti-depressant that work to block the brain from depleting serotonin and encourage the body to recycle it instead. This is helpful in severe cases of depression.

While happiness may rely on a variety of lifestyle, physical, and mental health factors, serotonin also plays a significant role.

A healthy diet paired with active self-care can support this neurotransmitter and ultimately, your mood. And that is something to smile about.

As of September 2022, the World Population Review declared Japan as having the second-highest life expectancy worldwide. Beaten only marginally by Hong Kong who hold the top spot, the Japanese are living to an average of 84.67 years. But why is this? Is it down to diet? Social practices? Exercise? Genetics? Or a combination of all these factors?

The mystery of Okinawa

Located in the rural north of Okinawa’s main island is the 3,000-person village of Ogimi. Here, even given Japan’s impressive longevity statistics, something fascinating seems to be happening. At the latest count there were 15 villagers who were centenarians and 171 in their 90s . New York Times bestselling author and National Geographic explorer Dan Buettner calls this a ‘blue zone’; one of only five places in the world where people live the longest, happiest lives. What can Okinawa, and indeed Japan as a whole, teach us about the key to a long and healthy survival? After all, those living there have been through the same hardships as people across the rest of the world – wars, family difficulties, grief, loss, money worries. The same stresses we face, they face. So what can we learn from them?

10 reasons why the Japanese live a long healthy life

1. Genetics

For almost five-decades, Craig Willcox, professor of public health and gerontology at Okinawa International University, has been investigating Okinawan longevity. Also a co-principal investigator of the Okinawa Centenarian Study, he has spoken to over 1,000 centenarians and hundreds of younger elders in their seventies, eighties, and nineties to try and understand the health phenomenon seen in Okinawa. The study searches for commonalities in diets, exercise habits, genetics, psychological and spiritual practices, and social and behavioural patterns. Professor Wilcox has concluded that “about two-thirds of longevity is related to diet and way of life, the rest is genetics.”

2. Nutritionally rich foods

The importance of diet as a means of staying healthy can’t be underestimated. We need vitamins and minerals to fight disease and infection and a calorie-controlled diet to prevent obesity and inflammation. The Okinawan diet gives more than the recommended five daily servings of fruit and vegetables and has a greater focus on heart-healthy fish than on meat. Rather than rice, sweet potatoes are staples, which are nutritionally dense but low in calories. Carotenoid-rich marine foods such as seaweeds and iron-rich, green leafy vegetables help to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress.

3. Matcha tea and its benefits

The Japanese drink a huge volume of tea and in particular, matcha tea. Matcha is becoming more popular in the west as we begin to understand more about its nutritional properties and antioxidant effects, but it seems the Japanese have known this for centuries. The secret to this ancient drink lies in the way it is produced, with the young leaves of the tea plant being deprived of sunlight as it grows to retain its chlorophyll and antioxidant content. Traditional Japanese tea ceremonies have been practiced for more than 1,000 years, with the Japanese drinking tea several times daily.

4. Avoidance of sugar

Japanese cuisine leans further towards the savoury than sweet side of the scale. There are of course desserts in Japan, but they are simply not favoured as much as desserts are in the western world. As a nation, there is a much lower consumption of sugar, and of foods like white potatoes, which are higher in natural starches. As well as matcha tea, the Japanese consume a lot of green tea, without the sugar and milk that is frequently used to flavour black tea. Less sugar in their diets equates to lower obesity levels and less of the negative effects sugar is known to cause, such as inflammation, higher blood pressure and diabetes – all of which have been linked to an increased risk for heart attack and stroke.

5. Hara hachi bu – eating in moderation

While much of the world views quantity as a sign of quality, eating culture is somewhat more controlled when it comes to portion sizes. Hara hachi bu is the practice of eating in moderation and stopping when you are about 80 percent full. Mealtimes are not solely about food, but about socialising and sharing the overall eating experience with others. It’s a time for communication and reflection, rather than gluttony. Cultural habits can be difficult to change, but those in the western world can make small changes to work towards Hara hachi bu by eating slower, being more mindful of each mouthful and reducing the size of their plates so that smaller portions appear more satiating. As it takes around 20 minutes for your brain to recognise you’re full, this practice is a good reminder to stop eating before you feel you need to.

6. Healthcare

The Japanese government had a large healthcare push around 50 years ago,  investing in childhood vaccination programs to ward off future illness and introducing universal health insurance in 1961. Equal and universal access for all is paid for through the government, employers and individuals and regular health check-ups are the norm, as are mass screenings in school and workplaces, conducted by local government authorities. The private sector has also shown an interest in health and in Matsumoto, the second largest city in the Nagano Prefecture, a bank even started offering higher interest rates and incentivised benefits, such as weekend breaks to Disneyland in Tokyo, for those who undertook a medical check-up for three consecutive years.

7. The importance of Ikigai – life’s purpose

Ikiagi is the concept of finding and retaining life’s purpose. This ancient philosophy is similar to ‘joie de vivre’ in France or ‘hygge’ in Denmark and roughly translates as ‘your reason to live.’ In an aging population, such as in Okinawa, the older population are given tasks such as weaving locally crafted basho-fu textiles, keeping them social active and mentally engaged while also generating an income and contributing to the economy of the village. The Japanese believe that having a purpose is essential for life fulfilment and that in can be found in many different aspects of your life – from eating well to helping others and surrounding yourself with friends and family.

8. Moai – joint support systems

This Japanese support system brings together people with like-minded interests to encourage the development of deep emotional connections and a common bond. A group, or moai, could be formed from old friends, former colleagues or simply those with an interest in the same hobby or game. It is common practice to belong to a number of different moai and, while they have a clear benefit for those who are older, they can be joined at any age. The Japanese are culturally very loyal to their moai, with some having belonged to them since their school days. By discussing and enjoying those things that you find interesting with others who feel the same, you can relieve stress and combat the loneliness that can accompany life’s later years.

9. Exercise

Japan is a very active country, with citizens remaining physical even into their older years. Walking routes around cities and parks are commonplace, and all over the country there are community groups and neighbourhood associations that organise group walks. Culturally, more people on average will commute by public transport than by car, so there is naturally a greater degree of physical movement.

10. Mindfulness and stress-release

The Japanese are no stranger to the concept of mindfulness and the benefits of being at one with nature. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku, which is becoming more popular across the world, actually originated in Japan in the 1980s as a physiological and psychological exercise to help relax and ground you to the earth. Forest bathing is simple to practice and involves keeping calm and quiet amongst the trees while observing nature and breathing deeply to reduce stress level and boost health and wellbeing naturally. With around 3,000 miles of natural woodland, the Japanese government actively encourage citizens to make use of trees for therapy.   

We all want to know the secret to eternal youth. However, when looking at Japan, it might not be such a secret after all. While genetics may well play a factor, there are clear signs that looking after your body, engaging your mind and interacting with others may be the best things we can do to live a long and healthy life.

If you think fresh and nutrient-dense foods are only available in warmer months, think again. Winter is a wonderful time of year to take advantage of the abundance of delicious and nutritious foods. 

Whether it’s roasting root vegetables for fibre and antioxidants, simmering broths for bone health and weight loss, or slicing citrus for immunity and hydration, winter has plenty of foods to keep you warm and healthy.

So cosy up by the fireplace and enjoy what the season has to offer with some of the following flavorful, comforting, and nutrient-packed fare.

Root vegetables

Winter squashes, beets, turnips, kohlrabi, radishes, and parsnips are all excellent seasonal produce in cooler months. 

These starches are good sources of fibre, beta carotene, vitamin C, iron, potassium, and other nutrients which can help support:

• detoxification
• immunity
• heart health
• weight management
• proper digestion

Try including root vegetables in your winter diet by:

• roasting them with herbs
• adding them to smoothies (especially beets)
• including them in winter stews and soups
• combining them into risotto, rice, or pasta dishes

Enjoy the natural sweetness root vegetables have to offer and simultaneously reap the benefits for your health.

Bone broths

Winter can, at times, be filled with heavy meals that don’t necessarily support goals of weight management and healthy eating. Broths can help offset those rich feasts while still satisfying and comforting your body.

Bone broths, made from animal proteins and bones, can boast high vitamin and mineral content inclusive of collagen (which transforms into amino acids), iron, vitamin A, vitamin K, selenium, zinc, and manganese.

These flavorful broths can help:

• strengthen bones
• reduce inflammation in joints and the gut
• encourage proper sleep
• support hair, nails, and skin

They can be enjoyed as a light meal, as a foundation for soup or stew, or even just sipped as a warm beverage.

To make one quart of broth, add 2-3 large chunks of beef or buffalo bone (or animal bone of your choice) to a slow cooker with 1/4 cup vinegar (white or apple cider), and a hefty pinch of salt. If desired, add herbs, onions, garlic, and/or vegetables. Fill the remainder of the slow cooker with water and simmer for 4-6 hours.

For a non-animal protein broth, check out Rebecca Katz’s Magic Mineral Broth™ recipe.

Citrus

Winter can bring with it its fair share of colds and flu, which is why citrus is such a treasure this time of year.

These fruits ripen to their sweetest during cooler months in North America, making them both an excellent source of nutrients and antioxidants and a bright way to liven up your diet.

Grapefruits, oranges, lemons, tangerines, and kumquats offer high levels of vitamin C, fibre, and antioxidants that can:

• enhance immunity
• reduce inflammation
• help balance mood (particularly helpful in winter months)
• protect the brain
• support heart health

Add them to your diet:

• as a snack
• on top of salads
• in smoothies or juices
• as a fresh-squeezed juice
• as dessert

Just remember that moderation is key as these fruits do contain natural sugars and elevated acid levels.

As you can see, winter doesn’t have to be filled with heavy meals that help put on weight rather than manage it. By including root vegetables, broths, and citrus, you can increase your nutrient content while still enjoying full flavour and comfort.

REFERENCES:

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/food-features/winter-squash/
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/natural-health/citrus-winter-fruits-benefits/

Travel at the holidays is often exciting – the anticipation of getting away, the enjoyment of seeing loved ones, and the indulgence of our favourite meals all beckon to us.

However, our immune systems can take a beating during this time, leading to susceptibility for colds and flu – not what we want our holidays to be full of.

If you’re planning on travelling this holiday season, take a strong, healthy immune system with you with these supportive tips.

1. Be conscious of sugar intake

Would the holidays really be the holidays without sugary treats?  For many of us, probably not –and that’s okay (for the most part).

Sugar can wreak havoc on the immune system, creating low-grade inflammation and weakening its fighting response to bacteria and viruses.

However, rather than depriving yourself of all of your favourite goodies, adapt your daily choices to fit the season. 

First, reduce and/or cut out sugars found in such foods and beverages as sodas, salad dressings, and processed foods. This will free up some sugar and caloric intake for that piece of pumpkin pie or glass of eggnog you’ve been craving.

Second, be aware of unconscious eating. It’s easy to reach for one of the doughnuts sitting out in the break room or snag a piece of hard peppermint at the receptionist’s desk during an appointment, but all of those things add up. 

Ask yourself if you really want that treat or if you’re choosing it just because it’s there.

Third, eat protein with sugar. Protein helps keep blood sugar levels stabilized. If you really want that breakfast pastry, include an egg on your plate. Or if you desire hot chocolate, make it with dairy or soy milk.

Lastly, have healthy options readily available. Place clementines in a bowl on your kitchen counter, pack hummus and vegetables in a small cooler for work, or fill a bottle with fruit-infused sparkling water. Whatever route you choose, be diligent in keeping low sugar options within reach.

2. Get good sleep

Hours sitting in a seat, shifting between time zones, and laying in a bed that isn’t your own are all catalysts for poor sleep. And when we don’t get enough, our immune system suffers.

During sleep, the body produces cytokines, proteins that fight infection and reduce inflammation. Sleep not only creates cytokines but also puts them to work.

For better travel sleep, start by adjusting your schedule slowly to your destination before you leave. That may mean going to bed 30 to 60 minutes earlier for a few nights before boarding the plane as well as making sure you still get your usual amount of sleep in after you land (even if that means going to bed early in your new time zone).

Also, bring sleep aids such as melatonin, a sleep mask, and earbuds (if sensitive to light and sound), as well as your own pillow if possible. For kids, make sure to pack their favourite stuffed animal or blanket.

3. Be prepared before, during, and after travel

Strong immunity for holiday travel starts before you’ve even left and doesn’t stop until long after you’ve arrived back home.

A daily supplementation regimen contributes to supporting the immune system throughout the entire holiday. Some things to include:

• Vitamin D
• Vitamin C
• Zinc (a lozenge can be helpful during a flight)
• Omega-3 fatty acids
• Colloidal silver (sprayed on hands and in the nasal cavity during travel)

But make sure you don’t just rely on supplements. Foods that boast these nutrients should be top of mind and your first choice whenever possible.

In addition to these tips, making the holidays about family, friends, and love and keeping it filled with plenty of joy and laughter may be one of the most beneficial things you can do for your immune system when travelling during the holiday season.

So let go of stress, take care of yourself, and revel in the time spent with those you love. Your immune system will thank you.

REFERENCES:

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/how-sleep-affects-your-immunity

https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/8-expert-tips-to-avoid-getting-sick-when-you-travel.html

In addition to the beautiful change of nature’s colours, the crisp feel of an autumn morning, and the cosiness of the early evening twilight, for many, falling in love with fall includes enjoying the rich, nutrient-dense foods that fill our plates.

And for good reason. Even though today’s world offers the ease and accessibility of consuming any type of food any time of year (think berries in winter or asparagus in fall), the earth was not designed to have the same availability all year long.

For thousands of years, our ancestors lived seasonally, knowing it was a necessity to survive.  The functionality of what was consumed during each time of year was essential to life – much different than our modern world, in which we don’t have to live as carefully.

However, fall is a time of year that inspires reconnection with the earth and the harvest it has to offer. With intention and mindfulness, you can enjoy the transition and learn to live seasonally.

Resetting

During autumn, nature begins to slow. Daylight lessens, temperatures drop, and leaves fall, making way for reflection and awareness. This makes it an encouraging time to reset, particularly when it comes to diet.

Cleansing the body of built-up toxins and old cells, providing the digestive system with a rest, and creating fresh seasonal eating goals are all distinct ways to regroup with the new season.

For example, such options are:

• Intermittent fasting – restricted eating within an 8-hour period
• Consecutive fasting – fasting for an extended period of time
• Elimination diet – eliminating food sensitivity triggers such as sugar, dairy, and/or gluten
• Modified diet – consuming only designated foods such as organic and/or non-processed fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean proteins
• Proper hydration – providing the body proper fluid for cooler months

A reset can be as simple or intense as you’d like, lasting one to three days, a week, or even longer (oversight from a health care practitioner is advised for substantial diet changes such as fasting) – just remember to be prepared before you start.

Organize your reset with:

• a detailed plan of what you will eat and when
• a pantry of stocked items needed
• appropriate cooking instruments
• encouragement from your family, friends, a nutritional counsellor, a health care provider, or an online support group

Nourish

Once the work has been done to start anew, it’s essential to move forward with proper nourishment and fall boasts a plethora of ways to do that.

First, transition from cooling summer foods to warm fall foods. Swap the raw and uncooked for:

• roasted vegetables
• baked fruit
• cooked lean proteins
• homemade broths
• warm soups and stews
• hot teas and coffees

Second, look to nature’s bounty (available at many local farmers’ markets or grocery stores with seasonal produce) for what foods to cook such as:

• root vegetables (sweet potatoes, carrots, turnips, rutabaga, and beets)
• squash (butternut, acorn, red kuri, spaghetti, and delicata)
• pumpkin
• kale
• arugula
• apples
• pears
• pomegranates
• cranberries
• figs
• Brussel sprouts
• cauliflower

Lastly, take time to cook favourite fall recipes and try new ones. Slowly chew and savour your meals, and if preferred, share dishes made with love and nutrients with others.

Pumpkin-flavoured anything can be fun when the mercury dips but the season has much more to offer than what we add to our coffees (although that’s an enjoyable part of it, too). 

Consider how you will reset your system and then nourish it properly for a fruitful and healthy autumn.   

References:
https://shawellnessclinic.com/en/shamagazine/the-seasonal-foods-you-should-be-eating-this-autumn/
https://platefulnutrition.co/5-tips-for-transitioning-into-fall/

Pregnancy is a time to be kind to yourself and listen to what your body needs.

It’s also a time to be aware of certain foods that are less than ideal for the health of yourself and your growing baby. With a few tweaks, you can still enjoy a healthy and satisfying pregnancy diet that shouldn’t leave you feeling too deprived.

High mercury fish

Mercury is highly toxic and is commonly found in polluted seas, where certain fish can accumulate high levels of it. These highest amounts can be passed on to you where they may be toxic to your nervous and immune systems. Mercury exposure has also been shown to risk causing serious developmental problems in children, even in lower amounts. High mercury fish include shark, swordfish and tuna.¹

Raw, or undercooked fish

Unfortunately for sushi and shellfish lovers, it’s off the menu for 9 months. Raw fish have a higher risk of carrying a number of viral, bacterial or parasitic infections ranging from norovirus to salmonella and listeria.  Not only can these make you very ill, but they can also be passed onto your baby. Furthermore, pregnancy seems to make you even more prone to picking up these infections, with research showing that pregnant women are up to 10 times more likely to get infected with listeria than the rest of the population.²

Undercooked, raw and processed meats

The issues that exist with raw and undercooked fish can also be seen in undercooked, raw and processed meats, which also pose a risk of bacterial or parasitic infection that can make both you and your baby seriously unwell. Most of these bacteria are found on the surface of the meat, so it’s best to ensure any meat you eat is cooked well done while pregnant. Processed meat also carries a higher risk of infection so is best avoided altogether if possible or if not, reheated until piping hot to kill off any bacteria.

Unpasteurised dairy foods

As with fish and meat, raw milk and unpasteurised or soft ripened cheese can carry a number of harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, Listeria, E.coli and Campylobacter, which can all cause serious complications to your unborn baby, as well as making you extremely ill.³

Raw eggs

Raw eggs can be found hidden in many products from homemade mayonnaise and ice cream to hollandaise sauce and cake icings. Poached and lightly scrambled eggs can also contain traces of raw egg. These are all best avoided as raw eggs come with a higher risk of containing salmonella, which can make you and your growing baby very unwell.

Caffeine

This can be a tricky one to give up, but caffeine is not the best thing for your pregnancy diet. As it is very quickly absorbed, it passes easily to the placenta where it can build up in high levels that are unable to be metabolised. This can lead to restricted foetal growth rates, which has been linked to lower birth weights and an increased risk of infant death or chronic illnesses during adulthood.⁴

Eat these foods instead!

The good news for fish lovers is that there are options other than shellfish and sushi, and not all ocean or farmed fish are high in mercury! Cod, haddock, salmon and freshwater trout are all safe options. Salmon is particularly good as it’s high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for the development of your baby.⁵

While soft and unpasteurised cheeses may be off the menu, you should still consume protein to support the needs of your growing baby. Dairy products like milk, pasteurised cheese and yoghurt are all perfectly safe.

Raw eggs might also be forbidden for a while, but eggs in general are absolutely fine. What’s more, they are an excellent source of choline, which is important for the development of your baby and can help prevent developmental abnormalities of the brain and spine.⁶

Lean meats and proteins are great sources of energy, and beef in particular is rich in iron, which is essential during pregnancy as you will need more of it while your blood volume is increasing. Lower levels of iron during early and mid-pregnancy have been linked to iron deficient anaemia, which can increase the risk of lower birth weights, so go ahead and eat that steak – just make sure that it’s well cooked.⁷

Avocados are great as part of a pregnancy diet as they are high in potassium, which may help relieve leg cramps that are common during pregnancy. Try not to think of your pregnancy as a time of food deprivation. You will need more calories than before to support the growth of your baby. Armed with the knowledge of what is, and what isn’t, a healthy food choice, you will be able to enjoy the ultimate pregnancy diet that is both satisfying and safe for you and your baby.

1. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1056.9831&rep=rep1&type=pdf [↩]
2. https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/risk-groups/pregnant-women.html [↩]
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24344105/ [↩]
4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15752534/ [↩]
5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12509593/ [↩]
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3639110/ [↩]
7. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/126/4/e874.short [↩]

Famous as a Japanese cuisine, sushi has amassed an equally strong following in the West.

In recent years, Japanese restaurants have been popping up in capital cities to small towns across the globe. Interestingly, sushi actually originated in China, where farmers first began fermenting fish with the rice from their paddy fields, rice vinegar and salt. That specific dish is known today as narezushi. It was introduced in Japan during the Yayoi period, dating from 300BC to 300AD, and has since become synonymous with Japanese culture. The version we know today however, has been around for only about 200 years.

What if you don’t like fish?

It’s a misconception that sushi has to contain fish! Most people know it as chunks of raw fish, either on their own or wrapped in or presented on rice. Sushi is actually the generic term for a dish containing rice that is seasoned with vinegar and topped with raw fish or vegetables – not necessarily both. If you are not a lover of fish, or are a vegetarian, you can therefore still eat sushi. What’s more, the Western world has adapted sushi to suit a wider-ranging palette, and it’s not uncommon to see duck, chicken or even beef in sushi now.

But is it healthy?

It certainly can be. Like most cuisines, there are ways to lessen or increase the health benefits. If you opt for overly processed varieties, you might end up consuming more sugar and empty calories than you planned. If you season your sushi with too much soy sauce you may also find yourself consuming more than the recommended daily salt allowance, as soy sauce is particularly high in sodium. That being said, there are ways to make sushi a very healthy snack or even a meal:

• Opt for sashimi. Sashimi is literally just the fish without the rice or extra sauces, meaning you won’t be consuming the extra salt and sugar.

• Focus on the vegetables and ginger. Ginger has been shown to be anti-inflammatory and have strong healing properties,¹ and it tastes delicious with sushi!

• Go for brown rice instead of white. Brown rice is higher in nutrients and lower in refined carbs.

The specific health benefits of sushi

As well as tasting delicious, there may be some specific benefits of making sushi a part of your healthy living diet.

Assists with hormone balance

Sushi rolls wrapped in seaweed are high in iodine, which is fantastic at helping to maintain the body’s hormonal balance.² This is particularly beneficial for people going through the menopause who may have fluctuating hormone levels. In addition, people going through the menopause often have problems with their thyroid function, and iodine can help regulate this.³

Good for the skin

Sushi is packed full of ingredients that naturally contain antioxidants, which reduce cell growth and slow down cell damage,⁴ making your skin look younger, fresher and more radiant.

Improves brain activity

The fish in sushi is naturally high in Omega 3 fatty acids that have been shown to be beneficial to brain function, noticeably improving your ability to concentrate and enhancing cognition.⁵ Omega 3s may also reduce high cholesterol levels and lower blood pressure.

Helps to repair muscles

Eating sushi may help to replenish fatigued muscles. This is because it is packed full of protein, which has been proven to aid muscle repair significantly.⁶

Guards against osteoporosis

Sushi contains height levels of calcium, which is important for keeping your bones healthy and free from osteoporosis.⁷

Enhances immunity

Sushi is packed with vitamins, minerals and nutrients including zinc and calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, and iron, which are all necessary for a healthy immune system.⁸

Reduces sugar cravings

Protein is known to balance blood sugar which keeps your energy levels stable and reduces food cravings – particularly for sugar.⁹

If you haven’t tried sushi or were put off by the thought of eating raw fish, it might be time to give it a try. There are many different varieties, both with and without fish and there are a wide range of tasty fillings and toppings to choose from including avocado, tofu, chicken and vegetables. If you like your food with a bit of a heat-kick, try it with wasabi, the green paste that often accompanies a sushi dish. It’s fiery, delicious and comes with health benefits of its own, including reducing the risk of foodborne illness and bacteria¹⁰ making your sushi dish even healthier!

1. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/jmf.2005.8.125 [↩]
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3063534/ [↩]
3. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/13697137.2013.838554 [↩]
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249911/ [↩]
5. http://www.bourre.fr/pdf/251_Bourre_2004_The_Journal_of_Nutrition_Health_and_Agein.pdf [↩]
6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20048505/ [↩]
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2621390/ [↩]
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2906676/ [↩]
9. https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article-abstract/2/7/421/2722546 [↩]
10. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01403/full [↩]

Your metabolism is important in keeping you healthy but what exactly is a metabolism? Your metabolism is – in essence – a way of describing the chemical processes that continuously occur within your body to keep your organs functioning optimally and to keep you alive. ¹

It is responsible for helping you breathe, for repairing cells and for digesting food. It’s this final function that is typically referred to when speaking of metabolism, with people who struggle to keep weight off, even when they seem to be eating right and getting enough physical exercise, sometimes suffering from a ‘slow metabolism.’

What influences and controls your metabolism?

We are all different. We come in different shapes, sizes and genders and we all have a different set of genes. These are all factors in the speed of our metabolisms. Our body composition in part determines the speed of our metabolism – as muscle cells require more energy than fat cells, so generally speaking, increasing your muscle and decreasing fat will speed up your metabolism. Men typically have a more muscular body composition than women, which is why they generally have a quicker metabolism.² This doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to increase your metabolism though and in fact, focusing on the three key areas of fitness, nutrition and lifestyle, can make a difference to pretty much everyone’s metabolic rate.

Fitness and metabolism

Heart-rate cardio training, such as jogging, aerobics or swimming, is one of the best ways to boost your metabolism with the health benefits of this type of physical exercise being an increased aerobic capacity, maximised calorie burn and improvements in the way your body burns fat as a fuel source. For maximum results though, remember to switch things up and try to incorporate weightlifting into your movement workout too.

If you’re not a fan of gyms and the idea of lifting weights terrifies you, don’t worry. Other types of resistance bodyweight exercises will also help boost your metabolism. You could try squats, lunges, press ups and crunches, for example. Weightlifting makes you stronger and increases your muscles, and we’ve already seen that muscle cells require more energy than fat cells, and therefore burn more calories. This doesn’t mean you should focus exclusively on weightlifting though, as cardio still burns significantly more calories than weight training when your body is not at rest.

Both cardio and weightlifting produce what is known as a metabolic ‘afterburn’ effect called excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). In simple terms, this effect means that your body will continue burning calories at a higher rate than normal for up to two hours after you finish your movement workout, so you will still be reaping the health benefits of physical exercise long after you finish!³

Nutrition and metabolism

What you eat does not just affect how you feel but can play a direct role in the effectiveness of your metabolism. When your metabolism is working optimally, your cells will be efficiently producing energy and removing toxins. Try to focus on clean, wholesome foods. These foods will be free from pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, hormones, highly processed sugars and trans fats, all of which can stress your body and release the stress hormone cortisol. A higher level of cortisone can result in reduced thyroid activity which, in turn, can slow your metabolism. Try to base your diet around vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds and include dairy and lean protein if they suit your dietary preferences. These foods are far less likely to stress your body and affect your level of cortisone and, therefore, your metabolism.

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of water. Dehydration can negatively affect your metabolism because water is required for all anabolic repairs such as recovering from exercise or healing from an injury. The NHS recommends we consume 6-8 glasses of water or other liquids each day, or more if you are doing frequent exercise or sweating more than usual.⁴

Lifestyle and metabolism

Coupled with the health benefits of physical exercise and maintaining a good diet, your lifestyle also has an impact on how effective your metabolism is. Getting a good amount of sleep is one of the most important things we can do for our bodies as sleep is the prime time for the growth and repair of our cells. Studies have shown that when sleep was restricted, people experienced impaired carbohydrate metabolism which could lead to weight gain.⁵

Stress is also a factor in how well your metabolism works. Your brain is wired to recognise any kind of threat and respond with a fight-or-flight stress response which releases adrenaline and cortisol, which we have already learnt can reduce the effectiveness of your metabolism. Furthermore, stress also often leads to other metabolism-damaging behaviours such as overeating, skipping exercise, and missing quality sleep.

While some factors are beyond our control, such as ageing, we do still have a strong influence when it comes to ensuring our metabolisms are working as well as possible. We can’t stop time, but we can eat better, move more and do what we can to lead a more healthy, less stressful lifestyle – all of which will help maximise our metabolisms.

1. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/metabolism-and-weight-loss/ [↩]
2. https://journals.lww.com/co-clinicalnutrition/Abstract/2001/11000/Gender_differences_in_fat_metabolism.6.aspx [↩]
3. https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-200333140-00002 [↩]
4. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/water-drinks-nutrition/ [↩]
5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1087079207000202 [↩]

When something is a habit you do it almost automatically and without thinking, but sometimes things we want to become a habit can seem a bit of a chore. Why is this? We all set ourselves goals and it’s great to do this, but with the best will in the world, much of the time we will fail to stick to our goals long enough to see them to completion. Don’t worry though, as our six top tips will help put you in a healthy mental state, boost your focus and motivation and will put you on the path to not only reach your goals, but turn them into easy-to-maintain habits.

1 – Start small

It can be very tempting when setting a new goal to focus on the end result and then try to get there as quickly as possible. This is completely normal – it’s human nature to want to succeed at what we put our minds to. By focusing on the large goal rather than breaking things down into smaller goals though, it’s less likely that we will succeed. A great example of this is if you decide to lose weight. With a focus on your end goal, you may find yourself going from zero to 100 by cutting out all ‘bad’ foods overnight and going from a place of no exercise to multiple gym sessions each week. The problem with this is that it requires a phenomenal amount of willpower and if you run out you could be more likely to quit altogether.

Instead start small, so that very little extra effort is required, and build from there. For example, instead of instantly changing your entire diet, try adding an extra piece of fruit each day. After a week try switching your lunch to a salad or healthy soup. The following week, commit to eating more vegetables with your dinner. By making these small changes, eventually the big changes you first envisaged will have been made and you will barely have noticed.

2- Take one thing at a time

Habits are hard to build, so don’t try to do more than one new thing at once. For example, if your end goal is to lose weight then try to focus only on one way of doing this in the early days. Rather than completely changing both your diet and your fitness regime, perhaps focus on your diet first. It will take enough willpower and effort to reduce your calorie intake without having to then find more willpower to motivate yourself to go to the gym too. After a few weeks when it has become more of a normal-feeling to be eating less, you might then bring in your new habit and try including some more exercise in your plans.

3 – Make sure you have clear intentions

This is not the time to be vague. If your goal is ‘to go to the gym more’ then decide when you are going to go and what you are going to do. If you know, for example, that on a Monday you are going to do a Pilates class at 9:00 AM, on a Wednesday you are going to jog on a treadmill for 20 minutes after work and on a Friday you are going to go for a 30 minute swim first thing in the morning, you will have a clear idea of when and what you need to do to meet your goal. If you just say you are going ‘to go to the gym more’ there is no real tangible commitment and it will be far easier to put things off, let the days roll into each other and not achieve your goal.

4 – Make yourself accountable

Research has shown that watching someone else’s behaviour and habits can have a big influence on your own.¹ For this reason it can be beneficial to find a partner to work on a positive habit alongside you. Not only will you have accountability for your actions, but you will have someone to look at to motivate you and encourage you to reach the same goal that you are seeing them achieve. This could be a friend, partner or even someone you know through a social media network.

5 – Reward your wins – even the small ones

Never underestimate the effort it will take to maintain a new habit. Even if the habit is something that seems relatively small in comparison to what others are doing, you are running your own race and you should always reward yourself for any progress, no matter how small. Rewarding yourself activates the reward circuitry in your brain that’s responsible for emotions such as achievement and pride, which empower you to take action to maintain your habit and create even bigger successes in the future.²

6 – Set your environment up for success

Do what you can to make your environment suit your desired goals. For example, if you are in the habit of checking your mobile phone before bed each night, don’t simply decide not to do it, but instead place your phone charger in a different room so that you can’t take your phone into the bedroom with you. If you use the alarm clock on your phone, buy yourself a traditional alarm clock instead. Likewise, if you want to get into the habit of reading more books, ensure that there are books waiting to be picked up at the places you would usually sit down to relax, whether this is on the sofa or in bed. This way you will be less likely to turn on the TV instead.

While these top tips do not guarantee that your goals will become a habit, they do put you in the best position for success. Maintaining motivation, keeping good self-control and adapting new behaviours into daily habits is always going to be difficult. By following these tips we believe you can do it.

1. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bdm.408 [↩]
2. https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article/18/4/898/282183?login=true [↩]

What are calisthenics and why should you be doing them?

Developed in ancient Greece, calisthenics are exercises of differing intensities and rhythms that can be completed using nothing but your own body weight – although you also have the option of introducing light handheld equipment. The variety of exercises you can perform target everything from strength to endurance, flexibility and coordination and are great for getting your body warmed up before a more strenuous activity. Furthermore, studies have shown that calisthenics can also be used to help treat health conditions such as obesity.¹

How are calisthenics different to weight training?

Weight training always requires special equipment such as dumbbells, kettlebells or weight machines, which are used to perform strength-training movements. Calisthenics, on the other hand, require nothing but your own body weight. Don’t be fooled into believing this will deliver a less beneficial movement workout though, as studies have shown that the health benefits of physical exercise are similar for both calisthenics and weight training exercises.²

A simple calisthenics movement workout to try at home

The following workout does not require any additional equipment and will target various parts of your body for a complete, full-body workout. Try to complete the circuit, doing each exercise 5-20 times depending on ability and allowing yourself a rest in between each exercise if needed. Repeat the circuit if you are looking for an additional challenge.

Jump squats

• Stand with your feet parallel, directly under your shoulders
• Spread your feet a few inches apart and point your toes slightly outward
• Lower into a squat position, bending at the knees with your hips back and down
• Keep your head and face forward and your chest up
• Lower into as deep a squat as you can, then explode up into a jump

Always make sure that your knees don’t go over your toes, as this can strain and potentially injure your knee joints.

Pushups

• Lower down onto your knees with your hands underneath and slightly outside of your shoulders
• Extend your legs, using your arms to keep you upwards in a plank position
• Keep your core tight
• Don’t allow your back to arch
• Bend your elbows close to your body and lower it until your chest almost reaches the floor and your upper arms are at a 45-degree angle
• Pause and then push back to the starting position

*If you find this too challenging, you can try a modified pushup where you keep your knees on the floor

Crunches

• Lay flat with your back against the floor and your feet flat on the ground
• Bend your knees at a 90-degree angle
• Cross your hands over your chest
• With a tight core and your head about a fist’s distance from your chest, raise your body towards your knees
• Breathe out as you sit up and in as you lower back down

Burpees

• Stand with your arms at your side and your feet shoulder-width apart
• Bend at the knees and lower into a squat
• Drop your hands forward in front of you, a little narrower than foot width
• Lean into your hands and jump softly back onto the balls of your feet, with your body in a straight plank position
• Jump your feet forward next to your hands
• Jump back up, pushing your arms up over your head

*Should you wish to include some additional apparatus to your movement workout, these are also great exercises to add to your full body workout:

Pullups

• Grasp the top of an exercise bar with your arms slightly more than shoulder-width apart
• Pull upwards using your shoulder muscles and bring your head over the bar

Chin-ups

• Grasp the bottom of an exercise bar from underneath with your arms tight and slightly closer than shoulder-width apart
• Pull upwards using your biceps to pull and bring your head over the bar

Skipping

• Hold a handle in each hand and move your hands to the side of your body and the rope behind your feet
• Rotate the rope with your wrists and jump into the air, clearing the rope on each rotation, keeping your knees slightly bent

With no equipment needed, calisthenics are a great movement workout to try at home. All you need is your own body and you’re good to reap the health benefits of physical exercise!

1. https://www.journalofsports.com/pdf/2020/vol5issue1/PartA/4-2-118-976.pdf [↩]
2. https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2008/03000/Effects_of_Two_Different_Eight_Week_Training.28.aspx [↩]

Running is a great example of an accessible movement workout that can really help you reap the health benefits of physical exercise.

While it’s relatively easy for most people to pick up, it’s also easy to run without using the correct form and technique, which can lead to a whole host of injuries from the niggling and annoying to the painful and debilitating. Fortunately, by learning the right techniques, you can greatly reduce the risk of doing damage to yourself and continue to enjoy your workouts.

So what is the correct running technique?

Whether you are going for a quick run around the street, or for a long-distance training session for a big running event, technique is everything. Studies have shown that poor technique is a major factor in running injuries.¹ These running tips will help you get all the health benefits of physical exercise with the least risk of pain or injury.

Look ahead

Keep your eyes forward. As much as you might want to look at what your feet are doing, you should focus on the ground about 10-20 feet in front of you instead. This avoids putting stress on the back of your neck and shoulder muscles and also means you will see what’s coming, making your run safer.

Avoid over-striding

There is such a thing as ‘too much.’ In the case of running, we’re talking about your stride. Try to find your own stride length and don’t worry about matching others. We’ve all got different length legs and different degrees of flexibility. The correct stride will help your foot to fall in line with your torso, and not in front of it. Ideally you want your knee to flex directly above the ankle on your foot’s initial contact with the ground. If you can see your ankle ahead of your knee, you are overstriding.

Maintain your posture and relax your shoulders

Good posture leads to good form. This is true whether you are sat at a desk, in your car, or running. Bad posture will see your shoulders rounded forwards and your body tight. Good posture is a combination of awareness and practice. Take a check every so often and think about how you are standing. You should be straight with your chest open, your shoulders back and loose, and your arms swinging naturally by your side rather than in front of you. Tension in your shoulders, back or neck can affect your arm motion and while your feet are responsible for the moving part, your arms are there to provide balance, rhythm and power. Keep your arms moving and match them to your legs – smaller movements when jogging, bigger movements for larger strides.

Strengthen your core and glutes

Your core and glute muscles are the two key muscle groups that provide stability around your lower trunk, pelvis and hips. Weaknesses in these areas can lead to a host of possible injuries, as well as a reduction in performance. To be a good runner, you need to focus on regular strength and stability movement exercises that strengthen these muscles, such as squats, lunges and hip raises.

Learn to control your breathing

This comes with practice and it undoubtedly gets easier as you get fitter, but it’s important whatever stage of your running journey you are at. The ratios with which you inhale and exhale will vary according to the intensity of your workout. While it might feel a little unnatural at first, breathing through your mouth can really help you here as inhaling and exhaling through your mouth allows more oxygen to enter your body and fuel your muscles quicker. Another tip is to try and breathe more deeply, in what is known as diaphragmatic breathing. This involves breathing deeper into your belly to allow more air to enter.

A word about running shoes…

As important as it is to ensure you are maintaining the correct form and technique, making sure you are wearing the correct running shoes is also key. Running is a high-impact activity that can add stress to your joints and the tiniest imbalances can soon throw your body out of balance. If you are a ‘neutral’ runner you are one of the lucky ones! Your feet will naturally fall where they should and you won’t pick up injuries as easily. Most of us naturally fall into the categories of ‘overpronators’ or ‘under pronators’ though, which studies have shown are associated with more foot injuries. An overpronator will run with their feet facing slightly inwards – almost as if they are walking a tightrope – whereas an under pronator will do the opposite and run with their feet facing slightly outwards.² You might be able to tell which you are by looking at how the sole of your shoes wear. If they wear on the inside first, you’re likely to overpronate. If they wear on the outer edges, you probably under pronate.

It all sounds very technical but thankfully you don’t have to worry. Any good running shop will be able to assess your feet, watch how you move and then help you find the correct running shoes to counteract any imbalances. This is not a time to worry about fashion and go for the latest brand, it’s a time to let the experts help you find the shoes that will cushion and protect you best. Your feet will thank you for it!

1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-199214050-00004 [↩]
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4392721/ [↩]

There are many health benefits of physical exercise, but sometimes, the one we want is simply weight loss.

There’s nothing more annoying though, than being committed and disciplined on the exercise front and then getting on the scales at the end of the week only to find you haven’t actually lost any weight – or worse still, that you might even have put some on! Before you start smashing your scales and throwing them out the window though, know that all is not actually lost. Things are not always what they seem and you could well be benefitting from the exercise you are doing more than you realise!

So… if things aren’t as they seem, what could be the reasons why your weight isn’t changing?

Weight fluctuates

Your weight naturally goes up and down and during a single day you could weigh as much as 5-6 pounds different at various points!¹ Given that it takes around 3,500 calories consumed to gain 1 pound of fat, you can’t possible have put all of this on in one day. Scales are great as a guide, but they are a reflection of your ‘weight’ and this is not the same thing as body fat. At certain times we might be carrying more water, so the number on the scales could be greater, but this does not mean we have gained ‘fat.’

Gain muscle whilst losing weight

If you are exercising, you are most likely gaining muscle, and this can show up on the scales.
Not all pounds on the scales are created equal though and if you look at two people who are the same height and weight, they could look very different. This is down to a number of factors – water retention, body composition and the overall shape of your body, but it’s also because muscle and fat have a very different density. It’s often heard that muscle weighs more than fat. This is itself is incorrect. A pound of muscle, and a pound of fat, both weigh the same. They do not look the same though. A pound of cotton wool, for example, is going to be physically larger looking than a pound of steel.

Not keeping track of what you are eating

It’s not always a factor, but are you actually consuming more calories than you need without realising? It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that if we are exercising more we can eat more, and to a degree, this is absolutely correct. You do need more calories to fuel your body if you are frequently enjoying a good movement workout… but we don’t always need THAT MUCH more. Try snacking on high-protein foods that have been proven in studies to keep your fuller for longer and are more likely to help you with continued weight loss.²

Not eating whole foods

Whole foods are rich in vitamins and minerals, don’t contain any chemical additives and are largely unprocessed. They are things like apples, bananas, broccoli, tomatoes, brown rice, whole eggs and salmon. As these foods are nutritious, they give our bodies what they need to function optimally. A diet rich in processed foods on the other hand, can slow down weight loss in a number of ways. Firstly, it often won’t contain enough iron, which is needed to move oxygen around the body and can limit your ability to burn calories through exercise.³ Whole foods also don’t contain refined sugars, which are associated with obesity and have been shown to increase production of the hunger hormone ghrelin which reduces your brains ability to make you feel full.³

Not lifting weights / resistance training

The health benefits of physical exercise are most evident when you combine different types of movement workout. Often, it can be too easy to think that if you are spending all of your time on cardio, then that’s good enough. You can give your muscles a far better workout though – and fuel weight loss – by mixing up your routines with weights or resistance training. While weight training doesn’t burn as many calories during the session as cardio will, it is more effective at building muscle. Muscle burns more energy throughout the day than fat does, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you will be burning, even when you’re not doing anything!⁴

Not doing cardio

The opposite is also true. Weightlifting and bodyweight resistance exercise are fantastic for making you physically stronger, but overall, cardio burns more calories per session than weight training will. The evidence points to cardio being what makes you fitter and helping to fire up your metabolism, leading to better weight loss in the long run.⁵

Not sleeping enough

Studies have shown that not getting enough sleep can have a direct impact on your ability to lose weight as the biological mechanisms that kick in when we are tired make us hungry and inclined to eat more than we actually need in order to achieve a quick burst of energy.⁶ Additionally, evidence suggests that your metabolism will not work optimally if you are tired during the day,⁷ so even if you can resist the chocolate biscuits, your body won’t be burning calories as it usually would be anyway.

The bottom line is that daily and even weekly fluctuations in your weight are rarely a cause for concern and are perfectly normal – albeit sometimes frustrating! As long as you are following a healthy diet, getting enough varied exercise and having a good night’s sleep, any ‘stuck’ scales will soon start moving in the direction you want them to again. Also remember that scales are just one way to measure your progress but there are other ways too. You can take monthly measurements to see how your body shape is changing, consider how your clothes are fitting and most importantly, pay attention to how much better you are feeling.

1. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/when-is-the-best-time-to-weigh-yourself/ [↩]
2. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/101/6/1320S/4564492?login=true [↩]
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK54103/ [↩] [↩]
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2980962/ [↩]
5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1521691804000836 [↩]
6. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%252Fs13679-012-0026-7 [↩]
7. http://www.tgiscience.com/documents/Sleep%20and%20Weight%20Gain.pdf [↩]

While it would be nice to have the same energy and ability to bounce back in our 40s, 50s and beyond, as we did in our teens and 20s, it’s sadly just not the case.

As we get older our bodies don’t respond to our regular movement workouts in the same way. Tiredness, aches and the potential of increased injuries are all greater. This doesn’t mean we should stop exercising though! If anything, the health benefits of physical exercise are more important than ever to keep us in good shape during the mid-to-latter years of our lives.

So what should we do?Well, much of the same really, but with a few adaptations to help prevent against injuries and to keep our bodies supple and able to move freely still.

The importance of stretching

Stretching is important at any age, but as we get older, we naturally become less flexible so it becomes even more important. Studies have shown that stretching can vastly improve natural gait and movement in the elderly.¹ Whereas it might have been ok before to stretch a day or two each week, you should now be increasing the frequency of which you stretch. It doesn’t need to be onerous or time consuming though. Try getting in the habit of going through a short daily stretching routine as soon as you get out of bed in the morning and focus on moves that stretch your entire body.

Cool off cardio/ramp up resistance

Around the age of 50, muscle mass and bone density begin to drop so resistance training is crucial to keep them strong. Strength training helps offset the loss in muscle mass and strength typically associated with normal aging. Additional benefits from regular exercise have been proven in studies to include improved bone health and reduction in risk for osteoporosis; improved postural stability, reduced risk of falling and associated injuries and fractures; and increased flexibility and range of motion.²  The good news though, is that you don’t need to become a gym bunny. If the thought of going to a gym fills you with terror, don’t worry. While weights are certainly an option, there are plenty of bodyweight exercises you can do in your own home too, which require no equipment. Squats, lunges, planks and leg raises are all good options.

Cool off doesn’t mean stop

Cardio still plays an important role if you are going to fully experience the health benefits of physical exercise. Cardio has been shown in studies³ to help in the fight against heart disease, which becomes more of a concern after the age of 50. Cardio also helps to increase lean muscle mass and, as muscle burns more calories than fat, this will help prevent too much weight gain as your metabolism naturally begins to slow as you age. If time is lacking, give interval training a go. This form of movement workout alternates bursts of high intensity exercise with short recovery periods and helps you burn calories even after you have finished exercising – thanks to what is known as the EPOC effect (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). Take a day off in between workouts to give your muscles a proper chance to recover. If you’re still sore after this time, listen to your body and increase your rest and recovery time further. Niggling aches and pains are often an indication that an injury might be brewing, but simply resting is often enough to prevent it turning into anything serious.

Rest is as important as movement

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the more you exercise, the greater the benefits will be, but rest periods are just as important as active periods and should form part of any movement workout programme. As you age, you might find you need more time to rest and recover than you did when you were younger.

To truly experience the health benefits of physical exercise it’s important to stay fit and active whatever your age. There’s no magic number when you will suddenly reach a certain birthday and be told movement is now bad for you, but there is a trend in that you may find it getting more challenging and feel it taking longer for you to recover with each year that passes. If in doubt, always listen to your body. If you are sore, it may be that you have done too much, too soon. If you are exhausted for days after exercising, it’s almost certain you need to slow down. Whatever age you are now though, the earlier you start exercising, the easier you are likely to find it as you age.

1. https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/235863 [↩]
2. https://experts.illinois.edu/en/publications/exercise-and-physical-activity-for-older-adults [↩]
3. https://europepmc.org/article/med/7934752 [↩]

When we talk of children and physical exercise, it’s a lot different to how we would approach a movement workout for an adult – you certainly wouldn’t expect to see a child lifting weights at a gym, for example.

For a child, any form of movement could be classed as physical activity, from running around with friends to dancing around the living room.

Why is exercise so important for children?

Exercise is usually something that is done to keep fit and well, and while that’s true for any age, there are other factors that make it so important to encourage activity in children from an early age. Exercise enhances and promotes the development of motor skills, bones and muscles, cognitive and social skills and brings a number of other health benefits too:¹

• Improving fitness
• Providing an opportunity to socialize
• Increasing concentration
• Improving academic scores
• Building a stronger heart, bones and healthier muscles
• Encouraging healthy growth and development
• Improving self-esteem
• Improving posture and balance
• Lowering stress
• Encouraging a better night’s sleep     

What type, and how much exercise does your child need?

Both the amount and type of exercise your child should be getting depends on their age:

Less than 5-years and not yet walking – NHSguidance states that children under the age of 5, who are not yet walking, should be encouraged to enjoy any type of movement activity to benefit their development. Examples of suitable exercises would include floor-based activities that encourage them to hold different positions, such as rolling over or reaching for a toy. You could also enjoy water-based activities, such as play time in the bath or you could go to your local swimming pool with them.

Less than 5-years and walking unaided – In this scenario, the guidance is that you should ensure your child is active for a minimum of three hours each day. Time in front of the TV or computer should be minimized and instead, they should be encouraged to enjoy activities like running or playing in the garden, throwing and catching a ball, climbing, walking and bouncing on a trampoline.

Children and young people between 5-18 years – NHS guidance is that children and young people should be doing at least one hour of moderate to vigorous activity each day to fully reap the health benefits of physical exercise. Examples might include riding a bike, swimming, gymnastics, skipping, playing a sport such as football, martial arts or even taking the family dog for a brisk walk, which would benefit them too!

Whatever the age of your child, it’s important to remember that physical movement should form the basis of their development and should always be encouraged over spending time in front of the television. As with most things though, it’s all about balance, so there’s certainly nothing wrong with sitting down and watching a movie with them occasionally either.  Physical exercise has been shown in studies to enhance self-esteem, reduce stress and benefit children’s overall mental health,² so should always be actively encouraged.

1. https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/conditions-and-treatments/general-health-advice/leading-active-lifestyle/exercise-children-and-young-people/ [↩]
2. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1994-05137-001 [↩]

What to know about midlife exercise needs

Turning 40 is a big milestone in life. On the one hand you may feel as youthful as you did when you were 20, but all you have to do is walk into a greeting card shop and you’ll be faced with rows of cards telling you that you are now officially ‘over the hill.’ The truth is, that your physical abilities, and your physical needs will both start to change around this age and while there’s certainly nothing wrong with remaining young at heart, it’s still worth addressing your usual movement workout routine and considering whether there is anything you might benefit from adapting.

Aerobic exercise becomes even more important

Inactivity in itself doesn’t put you at risk of heart disease but being inactive means that you are more likely to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and be overweight, and all of these factors do put you at risk. Whether you love or hate cardio, now is the time to ramp up your aerobic exercise to help reverse the increased risk of heart disease. Statistically, you are not yet likely to start suffering from it – heart disease becomes more common in people over the age of 50¹ – but now is a great time to strengthen your heart in preparation, as exercise is only going to get more difficult as you get older.

Build your bones with strength training

It might seem counterintuitive to start strength training as you age, as the older you get, the more likely you are to start suffering from osteoporosis, but research has shown that strength training can actually help improve strength and balance. As with any movement workout, it’s important to take it easy at first if it’s something new to you. You could start with light weights or dumbbells, or speak to a personal trainer at your local gym for advice on the best strengthening exercises for your age. You don’t want to do too much too soon, so you need to build recovery time into your workouts too.

Move more for mental health and mood benefits

There’s no doubt that the health benefits of physical exercise extend beyond the physical. Physical exercise is increasingly being advocated as a means to maintain and enhance good mental health. In general, findings from research indicate that exercise is associated with improvements in mental health including mood state and self-esteem, with just 20 to 40 minutes of aerobic activity resulting in improvements in state anxiety and mood that persist for several hours.²

Incorporate interval training into workouts to help ease menopausal symptoms

Exercise may be able to help regulate your mood, manage your weight and relieve hot flashes, which are all symptoms of the menopause.³ High intensity interval training (HIIT) in particular is a great option as it has you working at full capacity for a short period before resting, which can increase your cardiovascular health, but prevent your cortisol levels (the body’s stress hormone) from raising too high.

You can get fit at any age, so even if you’ve reached your 40s and have yet to discover physical exercise, it’s not too late. The best part is that there are so many options to suit all lifestyles too. If you are a bit more shy or nervous about exercising in front of others then you could take a look at the many online workouts available or could simply go for a walk. If you have a pet dog, this becomes even easier and a lot of the time you won’t even notice that you’re exercising! Or you could grab a friend and ask them to try out a new activity with you. It could be a dance class perhaps? Whatever it is, try to find something you enjoy as this will make you more likely to stick with it. Set small goals, be kind to yourself, recognise your achievements and above all else, try to enjoy what you are doing, knowing that you are also enjoying the many health benefits of physical exercise at the same time.

1. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cardiovascular-disease/ [↩]
2. https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-199009060-00001 [↩]
3. https://www.thelunahive.com/why-exercise-is-vital-during-menopause/ [↩]

Fitness is often thought of as a ‘one size fits all’ thing, whereby you are either fit, or you aren’t, but the science of fitness actually goes a lot deeper than that and demonstrates that there are a number of components that go into a person being physically fit.¹

The strongest, most musclebound person may have no flexibility for example, but does this mean they aren’t physically fit? Conversely, a petite gymnast might be able to touch their toes and perform a backbend, but they probably couldn’t lift the same weights as the person in the first example. Does this mean they are not physically fit? Total fitness is better defined by looking at how well your body performs under different types of scenario.

A holistic approach to fitness

Total fitness looks at different areas and can be broken down into components or parts to make it easier to understand. It also helps you to appreciate the different requirements of different sporting activities, and even the different requirements of different roles within that activity – on a football field for example, a goalkeeper will need to work on different areas of skill than a striker.

Health related components of fitness

Health related components of fitness are those that you need to work on in order to improve and can be broken down into the following areas:

Body composition. The division of your body into percentages of fat, muscle and bone will have a direct result on your fitness level. A high jumper for example, will have a lean body composition to enable them to propel themselves upwards, whereas a shotput thrower will need a more solid body composition to generate the strength to thrown further.

Cardiorespiratory endurance. Certain sports will need a very high level of cardiorespiratory endurance. Long distance running for example, is dependency on your heart, lungs and blood having the ability to transport oxygen effectively for an extended period of time.

Flexibility. The range of motion that you can move your joints through is a measure of fitness and some sports will require this more than others – a gymnast for example needs to have more flexibility than a billiards player. 

Muscular endurance. This is the ability to continue your performance without your muscles becoming fatigued. A great example of a sport where this would be needed would be rowing, where rowers need to be able to continue the same repetitive movement for a long period of time.

Strength. Strength is a measure of how much force your muscles can exert when they come up against resistance. Wrestling, for example, requires more physical strength than something like badminton.

Skill-related components of fitness

Many sports require different levels of skill-related components of fitness. Gymnasts, for example, have been shown in studies to need high levels of speed, strength, endurance, agility, flexibility and power.² Skill related components of fitness are those that can be improved with practice:

Accuracy. Controlling movement in a fixed direction is essential for certain sporting practices, like boxing, where your focus needs to be on a very specific area.

Agility. Be able to quickly change direction in a controlled way is important for certain sports, such as tennis and squash and would be less important for something like sprinting.

Balance. The ability to control and stabilise the body is a requirement of many sports and is a good indication of fitness for someone like a sprinter, who would need to maintain perfect stillness until the gun sounds and then spring into action.

Coordination. When you are able to use two or more body parts at the same time to do different tasks you could be considered well-coordinated. An example would be dribbling a basketball, where your legs needs to move you around and your hand needs to maintain contact while moving the ball.

Power. Power is a key indicator of fitness in sports such as javelin or discus throwing, where your performance is directly related on the distance your arms can throw, having applied great force to the tool while rapidly shifting your arm forward.

Speed. Speed is often used as a reflection of fitness in sports that require you to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, such as running.

Breaking down fitness into these components demonstrates that it is about more than just ‘who is the quickest’ or ‘who is the fastest’. Fitness is unique to each individual and to each type of sport. The important thing is to use your own capabilities as a benchmark and not compare yourself to other people. Whatever your fitness level, based on any, or all of the 11 components, practice and perseverance can help you improve them all.

1. http://www.professorjohnthoday.com/downloads/Fitness.pdf [↩]
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3325636/ [↩]

How to achieve your sporting goals

Reducing fat or building muscles – the targeting of sports nutrition is versatile and can have different effects on the body. Sports nutrition that includes a balanced combination of minerals, vitamins, and essential nutrients offers the most benefits. The individual composition of the diet in sport not only depends on the athlete themselves, but is also determined by stresses on the body and the body’s needs.¹

If you tailor your diet to your profile, the correct healthy diet can support rapid progress towards results for the amateur and elite sports person alike.² Whatever sporting ambitions you pursue, balanced meals with sufficient carbohydrates, proteins etc. can help you achieve your personal goals.

Complex carbohydrates

Complex carbohydrates are a key component in the relationship between sports and nutrition. They contribute to the restoration of normal muscle function (contraction) after highly intense or long-lasting physical stress, which can lead to muscle fatigue and exhaustion of glycogen stores in the muscular system. In principle, these nutrients should supply the largest proportion of the body’s energy supply and should take up 50% to 60% of meals.

During a workout, carbohydrates supply the muscles and the central nervous system. If the supply is not sufficient, mental and physical impairments can occur.³ Carbohydrates provide a better energy flow than fats and can even be stored by the body for a certain period of time so that they can be used when exposed to stress.¹

Proteins

Do proteins guarantee muscle building? Proteins are used for nutrition in strength-based sports and contribute to the growth and maintenance of the muscles. In addition to muscle mass, high-quality proteins can also increase muscle strength and provide a reliable source of healthy, essential amino acids. However the muscles cannot be strengthened by the absorption of proteins alone – only the combination of diet and exercise can lead to success.

The necessary intake of proteins is usually determined by the intensity of the training. Grass roots athletes often have a lower demand for proteins than performance athletes, while the body of a well-trained athlete is often able to manage their protein supply more efficiently.³

Fats

In comparison to carbohydrates and proteins, fats are of secondary importance in nutrition for athletes. In order to promote one’s own health, attention should nevertheless be paid to the presence and quality of fats in food. In particular, essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins can have a positive effect. Between meals, these nutrients provide a longer-lasting feeling of satiety¹ and help carbohydrates to enhance the body’s energy as well as immune function.⁴ To ensure a healthy diet for sports nutrition, the fat content should be balanced against the subsequent exercise.³

Minerals and vitamins

Minerals and vitamins complete a comprehensive sports diet and can elevate your body to the next level.¹ While micronutrients should always be integrated into the diet, athletes have an increased requirement. Micronutrient deficits can lead to a loss of performance which often affects athletes who eat insufficient calories or who do not tolerate certain foods. Athletes who eat a vegan diet should also take care to include a sufficient supply of nutrients.³

A correctly balanced diet often covers the necessary minerals and vitamins. Vitamin D can be an exception in individual cases. The demand for iron can also increase depending on output and should be compensated where necessary.⁵ For athletes, it’s also important to keep an eye on the supply of key minerals such as magnesium.²

Sport and nutrition – at what level do they come together?

In order to correctly combine the level of activity and the type of diet, we need to consider what the body needs most. If you do a lot of strength training, you build up muscles. In endurance sports, you burn a lot of fat within hours. Regardless of the activity, all athletes require sufficient energy, proteins and above all, a large fluid supply in order to provide the body with all that it needs during training.¹

As is so often the case when it comes to nutritional issues, it is also true in sports nutrition: There is no universal diet, as individual factors of the athlete such as age and gender, play a significant role.

Nutrition in strength sports and bodybuilding

If you want to practice strength sports or bodybuilding, alongside discipline, the correct sports nutrition can also be beneficial. The right diet can help you build up and define muscles during exercise. The focus is also on increasing the strength of your own body.

Proteins play a central role in this process. They provide energy and can promote muscle building in a range of different areas.⁶ Current findings report that the amount of protein, the type of protein and the time of intake are important for strength athletes:³

Protein quantity: The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that weight-lifting athletes ingest 1.2 to 1.7 g of protein per kg body weight daily – a protein requirement that is covered with a balanced mixed diet. 

Type of protein: athletes who integrate animal products into their diet can rely on animal proteins because they have a higher content of essential amino acids than plant proteins. In addition, liquid protein sources can be more effective to support sporting goals compared to solid protein-rich foods as the body can absorb amino acids from liquid sports drinks more quickly.

Time of administration: proteins are more effective when eaten after sport than during sport. You should not start your workout on a completely empty stomach but the feeling of a full belly might limit your performance during your sporting activity.

Nutrition in endurance sports

Running, cycling or swimming — endurance sports can cost our body a few hours full of energy. Many different types of endurance sports ensure rapid burning of fat and can contribute to a healthy lifestyle.⁷ The success of the sport can depend on whether the body is sufficiently fuelled with carbohydrates – and thus with energy.

Endurance athletes should therefore ensure that their diet contains a high proportion of carbohydrates. In addition to carbohydrate-rich foods such as wholegrain cereals, vegetables, fruit or beans, there are also carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions that help maintain endurance performance during long endurance training.

Nutrition for athletes

The diet for a performance athlete is often subject to a strict nutrition plan and varies according to the current training phase of the athlete. For example, a competitive athlete can adjust hydration, vitamins and minerals a few hours before a competition depending on requirements. Intake of sufficient water is especially important in competitive sports, in order to maintain the required level of energy and to provide the body with sufficient fluid despite the perspiration.³

These foods are essential for any sports nutrition plan

When choosing the right sports nutrition, you should always first consider what your body needs. Do you want to build up muscles and need proteins? Or do you burn energy on a regular basis while running and therefore carbohydrates would be a better option? An individual sports nutrition plan can help not only in achieving your goals, but also in planning weekly grocery shopping and finding recipes.

The nutrients you need as an athlete can be obtained from the following foods:

1. https://www.dge.de/ernaehrungspraxis/bevoelkerungsgruppen/sportler/ [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩]
2. https://www.lebensmittelverband.de/de/aktuell/20180406-internationaler-tag-des-sports-mikronaehrstoffe-nahrungsergaenzung-sportler-innen [↩] [↩]
3. https://www.ernaehrungs-umschau.de/fileadmin/Ernaehrungs-Umschau/pdfs/pdf_2014/07_14/EU07_2014_M370_M379.pdf [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩]
4. https://www.ocl-journal.org/articles/ocl/full_html/2020/01/ocl200009s/ocl200009s.html [↩]
5. https://www.dge.de/presse/pm/sporternaehrung-praxisnah-top-trainiert-und-ernaehrt/ [↩]
6. https://www.ernaehrungs-umschau.de/fileadmin/Ernaehrungs-Umschau/pdfs/pdf_2020/07_20/EU07_2020_M406_M413_1.pdf [↩]
7. https://www.germanjournalsportsmedicine.com/fileadmin/content/archiv2005/heft09/Standarts1.pdf [↩]

There are so many ways food can contribute to improved mood, which is one of the reasons why our relationship with food is a complicated one.

We do not eat simply to fuel our bodies. We break bread with friends and families, passing on family recipes with fondness. We share meals to grow deeper in relationships, spending hours around a table. Sometimes we reach for sweets or salty snacks during moments of stress, mindlessly eating to calm our nerves. We raise our glasses in celebration to honour and commemorate.

The truth is we are strongly, emotionally connected to food. And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Comfort food helps us recall warm memories of childhood. Food is cultural and therefore helps us connect to our larger society. Many of us recall that amazing meal we had on a holiday.

What are mood-boosting foods?

Caffeine and sugar will give an immediate boost but they are not the healthy options as later in the metabolic process they will cause quite a slump. Instead it’s better to stick to mood-boosting foods that are more sustainable for the body.

That said, dark chocolate—rich in antioxidants and flavanols—has been shown in many studies to improve mood and elevate emotions. Part of that also has to do with the caffeine in it, which makes the case for coffee as a mood booster. But beyond the caffeine, coffee seems to hold some emotional improvement capabilities since one study noted that even when drinking decaffeinated coffee, participants felt improved mood and cognition.¹

The link between food and mental health

When considering food and mental health, pumpkin seeds may not get all the limelight that chia or hemp seeds are getting these days, but these magnesium-packed seeds are a great option for a mood pick-me-up. Magnesium is essential for brain function (as well as a myriad of other body functions, like sleep and bowel elimination).² Unfortunately, many of us have a magnesium deficiency, largely due to the depletion of the mineral in farm soil.

Other nuts and seeds also help with mood because of an amino acid many contain called tryptophan. Tryptophan helps produce serotonin in our bodies. Brazil nuts are high in selenium which is important for brain health. Flax, hemp and chia seeds are all good sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which are well known for mood improvement effects.

Ward off depression with Omega-3

If you are looking to boost your mood with food, there is no better source of omega-3 fatty acids than fatty, oily fish. Wild-caught Alaskan salmon, sardines, arctic char, anchovies and Atlantic mackerel are good sustainable fish options that are high in omega-3s. The Mediterranean diet is an eating lifestyle that emphasises the consumption of vegetables, fish, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds and olive oil. In a long-term study of over 15,000 people, those who adhered largely to a Mediterranean diet showed lower rates of depression.³

Mood-boosting herbs and spices

Ashwagandha is a medicinal herb from the Ayurvedic tradition that is considered an adaptogen.

Adaptogens are believed to work with the body’s endocrine system (the hormonal system, essentially) to optimise function, reduce stress and improve mood. Participants in studies reported lower levels of anxiety when taking this herb.⁴ Research suggests ashwagandha reduces cortisol, which becomes elevated with chronic stress.⁵

Eating plays such a strong role in our lives, both socially and for our physical and mental wellbeing. Being creative and eating a varied diet gives us the opportunity to experiment with flavour and benefit from a wide range of nutrients. It’s so important to enjoy what you eat, particularly as you can boost mood with food and benefit your mental health at the same time.

1. Haskell-Ramsay, Crystal, et al. “The Acute Effects of Caffeinated Black Coffee on Cognition and Mood in Healthy Young and Older Adults.” Nutrients, vol. 10, no. 10, Sept. 2018, p. 1386., doi:10.3390/nu10101386 [↩]
2. Inna Slutsky, Nashat Abumaria, Long-Jun Wu, Chao Huang, Ling Zhang, Bo Li, Xiang Zhao, Arvind Govindarajan, Ming-Gao Zhao, Min Zhuo, Susumu Tonegawa and Guosong Liu. “Enhancement of Learning and Memory by Elevating Brain Magnesium.” Neuron, Jan. 28, 2010 [↩]
3. Fresán, Ujué, et al. “Does the MIND Diet Decrease Depression Risk? A Comparison with Mediterranean Diet in the SUN Cohort.” European Journal of Nutrition, vol. 58, no. 3, Apr. 2018, pp. 1271–1282, doi:10.1007/s00394-018-1653-x [↩]
4. Andrade, C, et al. “A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Evaluation of the Anxiolytic Efficacy of an Ethanolic Extract of Withania somnifera.” Indian Journal of Psychiatry, Medknow Publications, July 2000, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21407960 [↩]
5. Chandrasekhar, K, et al. “A Prospective, Randomized Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Safety and Efficacy of a High-Concentration Full-Spectrum Extract of Ashwagandha Root in Reducing Stress and Anxiety in Adults.” Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, vol. 34, no. 3, July 2012, p. 255., doi:10.4103/0253-7176.106022 [↩]

Everything you thought you knew but didn’t

Most of us know what protein is. Along with carbohydrates and fats, it makes up the three most important macronutrients of our diet.  Research has shown why it’s so beneficial as part of a balanced and healthy diet, as it plays a key role in the creation and maintenance of every single cell in our bodies.¹ So what happens if we don’t get enough protein and what are the best food sources to ensure we get the right amount?

Why our bodies need protein

Did you know that there are over 10,000 types of protein in everything from our internal organs to our tissues, muscles, skin, hair and bones? Every single cell in our body contains protein, and protein is needed in our diets to help those cells repair and regenerate.² Protein is critical in aiding the processes that give us energy and help move oxygen around in our blood. It is absolute essential for keeping us healthy and ensuring our bodies continue to work as they should do:

Building cells

Bones, muscles, cartilage and skin can only be built with the help of protein.  

Repairing tissue

Protein is needed to build and repair damaged tissue.

Oxygenating blood

The protein compound in red blood cells delivers oxygen throughout the body and supplies it with the nutrients we need.

Aiding digestion

Dietary protein makes enzymes, which help us to digest food properly, and make new cells and body chemicals.

Regulating hormones

Protein helps to keep our hormones regulated, which is particularly important when cells are developing and transforming during puberty.

…and there are even more benefits to eating protein!

Protein is often at the forefront of those trying to either lose weight or build muscle and that’s because it’s great for doing both! Studies have shown that not only does protein reduce cravings and desires for late night snacking,³ but protein is the most satiating of the macronutrients and will curb your appetite longer than carbohydrates and fats.⁴ Numerous studies have also shown that you can increase strength and muscle mass, as well as decrease muscle loss,⁵ by eating plenty of protein.

Essential amino acids

During digestion, the protein we consume is broken down into amino acids – it’s these amino acids that are the building blocks of protein. The British Nutrition Foundation recognises around 20 different amino acids, of which 9 are needed in an adult diet to maintain good health.⁶ These are known as Essential amino acids and can only be made through eating protein-rich foods.

How much protein do we need and what foods are the highest in protein?

Whilst it will depend on your age and weight, research has shown that adults need on average around 0.6g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight each day. Infants, children, pregnant and breastfeeding women have different requirements.⁷

Protein can be found in high amounts in meats, milk, fish, and eggs. If you are vegetarian or vegan you don’t need to worry though as you don’t need to eat animal products to get the protein you need. You can also find it in soy, beans, legumes, nut butters, and some grains (wheat germ and quinoa, for example).

What are the different types of protein?

Protein falls into different types, which is another bonus for people who have to, or choose, to avoid certain food groups.

Casein protein is found in milk, but is absorbed and digested much more slowly, so it may be a suitable option if you are lactose intolerant.

Egg protein is a great option for those who need to avoid dairy but are still looking for an animal-based protein source. Of all whole foods, eggs have been shown in studies to contain the greatest protein digestibility-corrected amino acids.⁸

Pea protein is great for people with allergies or sensitivities to eggs or dairy, and for those following a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.

Hemp protein is an easily-digested source of plant-based protein that is rich in several amino acids – although it only has low levels of the amino acids lysine and leucine.

Brown rice protein contains all the essential amino acids but is not considered a complete protein as it is too low in lysine. 

Mixed plant proteins can be a great option for those looking to avoid meat-based products but wanting to get high amounts of all the amino acids. Protein powders commonly blend plant sources so there are different options to suit your tastes and needs.

Whey protein and exercise

Whey protein is one of the most popular types of protein, especially when it comes to being used for sporting or fitness performance. Whey protein comes from milk and is the liquid that separates from the curds during the cheesemaking process. It’s a high source of protein that studies have shown can lead to the largest decrease in appetite for those trying to manage their weight.⁹

Whey protein has been shown in studies to improve exercise performance, as well as help to improve body composition through increasing muscle weight. In addition, it has shown to increase physical endurance and also slightly increase physical strength.¹⁰

Not all protein is created equal

When it comes to protein supplements, such as protein powders, the quality can vary. Not all whey proteins are the same, and not all of them will provide the same benefits. The key thing to look for is whether the protein has been denatured. When this happens, it’s the biochemical process in which proteins lose their structure, and it no longer performs its functions as well. When it comes to denatured protein powder, it means that the structure of the amino acids has been broken down by the exposure of whey protein to acids, oxidation of the amino acids or high heat during the pasteurisation process.

Due to this, it’s always better to look for non-denatured, or undernatured protein, as that will provide the most benefits by avoiding the breakdown of the vital immune-boosting proteins that make whey so beneficial. The best non denatured whey proteins are made with minimal processing and a cold filtration process.

Protein and your diet

While protein is extremely important, it’s not something you need to be overwhelmed by. You don’t need to consume your full daily recommended amount of protein in one sitting, as it’s more important to balance it over the course of the day.

Whatever your dietary preferences or health goals, there are plenty of protein-rich foods to keep you in top health while letting you enjoy and delight in what you eat.

1. Why Is Protein Important In Your Diet [↩]
2. Protein in diet: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia [↩]
3. The effects of consuming frequent, higher protein meals on appetite [↩]
4. The effects of high protein diets on thermogenesis, satiety and weight loss: a critical review [↩]
5. Increased protein intake reduces lean body mass loss during weight loss in athletes [↩]
6. Protein – British Nutrition Foundation [↩]
7. Protein – British Nutrition Foundation [↩]
8. The protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score – PubMed [↩]
9. The acute effects of four protein meals on insulin, glucose, appetite and energy intake in lean men [↩]
10. Whey Protein Improves Exercise Performance and Biochemical Profiles in Trained Mice [↩]

How much exercise is too much?

Anyone actively training to increase their performance can be at risk of overtraining – especially when using high training loads to achieve your fitness goals and improve performance. As studies have shown these can only be tolerated by your body through periods of rest and recovery.¹

When considering how much exercise is too much, it’s advisable to match your individual fitness level with your fitness goals. Form realistic plans to reach those goals one-by-one, instead of trying to achieve everything at once and risking potential damage.

What is overtraining syndrome (OTS)?

Too much training can be classified into two types: overreaching and overtraining.² Unusual muscle soreness can be indicative of overreaching. This occurs when an athlete does not allow enough recovery time between hard workouts – it often presents after several consecutive days of excessive exercise. Overtraining goes a step beyond this and is the result of extreme overreaching.¹

The body cannot handle an imbalance between stress and recovery. This is true for – not only professional athletes but athletes of all fitness levels. In fact, some of the worst offenders are those who are new to any form of exercise!

There are various triggers/stressors of overtraining syndrome¹ :

• Increased training load without adequate recovery
• Monotony of training – not varying between muscle groups
• Participating in an excessive number of competitions (depending on the sport)
• Having trouble sleeping
• Stressors including personal life

Am I working out too much? Six signs of overtraining

Wondering if you are training too hard? The following are training-related and lifestyle-related signs of overtraining that, if observed, should be taken seriously:

Physical pain in muscles and joints

Heavy, sore, and stiff muscles are all signs of excessive exercise. But there is a difference between normal soreness from exercise and being overly sore from too much exercise.³ Soreness after exercise usually lasts up to 24-48 hours. So, if you are feeling discomfort that lasts for more than 72 hours it’s a sign that you have done too much. Soreness causing pain which prevents you from carrying out daily activities, associated with living or working, is also not normal.

There are certain injuries, known as overuse injuries, which are also clear indicators that you have done too much. Strained joints that come from training injuries⁴ are a type of muscle or joint injury caused by repetitive trauma and are often a result of overexercising.

Decline in performance

Overexercising can actually have the reverse effect of the one you had been hoping for, where your performance slowly becomes worse the longer you train. This is a direct effect of your body reaching its limits.¹

Decline in concentration

Athletes can experience symptoms of overtraining in areas of life other than just the physical. Studies have shown that a lack of mental concentration and restlessness are some of the possible symptoms of overexercising.¹

Constant fatigue⁵

Persistent fatigue and feeling washed-out are warning signs that you may be overexercising. Being tired or even exhausted after an intense workout is normal. But you need to give your body enough rest afterwards to avoid a fatigue that continues long after you have recovered.

Experiencing insomnia

Sleep disturbances can occur as a result of exercising too much. A study by BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation found that poor sleep quality was evident in 100% of those analyzed who had overtrained.⁶

Loss of appetite and weight loss

Are you usually hungry after working out? You will have used your stored calories – so you should be! This is why losing appetite and weight are further possible symptoms of exercising too much, as demonstrated in a study by Sports Health into Overtraining Syndrome.¹

Listen to your body – how to prevent overtraining syndrome

There are a number of preventative measures you can take to limit your risk of overtraining syndrome:¹

• Take time to rest in between any exercises you perform in a day – whether you work out at the gym, outside or at home
• Schedule full rest days and give your body the time it needs to recover
• Adjust your training volume and intensity based on your individual performance and mood
• Ensure that your food contains enough calories for your individual training load
• Drink enough and stay hydrated
• Try to get enough sleep
• Vary between workouts and muscle groups

Nutrition can help you recover from training

Ensuring you have a healthy diet is as much an act of self-care as allowing your body to rest is. Reaching your fitness goals in a healthy way can be supported by the appropriate sports nutrition and by following the key principles of staying hydrated, focusing on a diet with a balanced ratio of complex carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins and essential nutrients after training – and refilling your energy balance with carbohydrates. Studies have shown that amino acids⁷ and proteins are also needed for muscle recovery, with protein contributing to the growth and maintenance of muscle mass. The amount of protein required varies and depends very much on the individual athlete and also the amount of exercise performed.

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3435910/ [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩]
2. https://www.hss.edu/conditions_overtraining.asp [↩]
3. https://www.kidney.org/content/understanding-muscle-soreness-%E2%80%93-how-much-too-much [↩]
4. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/overuse-injury/art-20045875 [↩]
5. https://journals.lww.com/acsm-healthfitness/fulltext/2015/03000/overreaching_overtraining__more_is_not_always.4.aspx [↩]
6. https://bmcsportsscimedrehabil.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13102-019-0132-x [↩]
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6212987/ [↩]

What are omega 3 fatty acids?

Omega 3 fatty acids are single or polyunsaturated fatty acids. You may be more familiar with them as “good fats”. They are also called essential fatty acids because they are essential for human life. The three most important omega 3 fatty acids are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). As our body does not produce the fats itself, these unsaturated fatty acids must be consumed through food.

What is the difference between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids?

Fatty acids differ, among other things, in their degree of saturation. People frequently use the expressions of “bad” saturated fatty acids and “good” unsaturated fatty acids. But where does this distinction between “good” and “bad” come from?

Saturated fatty acids are not essential for humans since the body also manufactures them from other food ingredients such as glucose or protein.¹ We consume saturated fats mainly through food: through animal foods such as meat and sausage, but also through vegetable foods such as coconut, coconut oil and palm oil.²

Unsaturated fatty acids are called “good fats” because they have a more favourable effect on cholesterol levels. Reducing the consumption of saturated fatty acids helps maintain normal blood cholesterol levels. Marine and plant-based sources of good unsaturated fatty acids include high-fat fish, vegetable oils and nuts.²

What types of omega 3 fatty acids are there?

The three essential fatty acids of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenic acid (DHA) are again divided into plant and marine-based omega 3 fatty acids. Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is a plant-based omega 3 fatty acid, and eicosapentaenic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenic acid (DHA) belong to marine-based unsaturated fatty acids.

Where is plant-based omega 3 found?

The most important sources of ALA omega 3 include:³

• Vegetable oils such as linseed oil, rapeseed oil and soya oil
• Nuts and seeds such as walnuts, linseed and chia seeds

Where is marine-based omega 3 found?

Marine-based omega 3 sources (EPA and DHA) include:³

• Fish and seafood, especially high-fat cold water fish such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring and sardines

Another essential: omega-6 fatty acids

In addition to omega 3 fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids are among the unsaturated fatty acids. They are also essential for our body. The polyunsaturated fatty acid linoleic acid (LA) belongs to the family of omega 6 fatty acids.

Where is omega 6 found?

The most important sources of omega 6 include:⁴

• Vegetable oils such as sunflower oil, safflower oil, corn oil and soya oil
• Cereals and seeds such as walnuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds

Consumption of omega 3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids via food

The German Society for Nutrition (DGE) recommends that young people and adults consume omega-6 fatty acids and omega 3 fatty acids at a ratio of 5:1. More precisely, it is recommended that 2.5 percent of the daily energy supply comes from the omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid (LA) and 0.5 percent comes from the omega 3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).⁵

How can we maintain a healthy diet, while keeping a balance between omega 3 and omega-6 fatty acids? Healthy nutrition means diversity: To keep the essential fatty acids in balance, small changes in diet can help:

• According to the recommendation of the German Society for Nutrition (DGE), people who eat fish are advised to serve fish on their plates once or twice a week.⁶ High-fat fish are great sources of omega 3.
• As an alternative to or as well as eating fish, fish oil can also be used more frequently during cooking.
• Vegetarians who do not eat fish can add linseed oil to their meals.
• Try to replace fatty foods with vegetables, fruit and fibre as much as possible. Reducing the consumption of saturated fatty acids helps maintain normal blood cholesterol levels.
• Fats of animal origin (butter, meat, eggs) can often also be replaced by vegetable fats found in nuts, seeds and vegetable spreads.

What effect do omega 3 fatty acids have on the body?

Omega 3 fatty acids can affect the cardiovascular system, our eyes and our vision. During pregnancy and up to the 12th month of life, omega 3 fatty acids can be important for the development of the child. Learn how omega 3 helps our body.

Effect on the cardiovascular system

Some omega 3 fatty acids support the function of our cardiovascular system as well as having other benefits. The essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) helps maintain normal blood cholesterol levels. Consuming the marine-based omega 3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) also contributes to the normal function of the heart and helps maintain normal blood pressure. Omega 3 fatty acids also have a positive effect on blood fat levels: EPA and DHA help maintain normal blood triglycerides.

Effect on the eyes & vision

Some omega 3 fatty acids also have a positive effect on the eyes and vision. Docosahexaenic acid (DHA) helps to maintain normal vision.

The consumption of some sources of omega 3 not only has a positive effect on the eyes and vision, but also helps their normal development in infants and foetuses. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a valuable source of omega 3 for foetuses and growing children. When the mother consumes docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), this contributes to the normal development of the brain and eyes in the foetus or breast-fed infant.

Development of the brain

An adequate supply of some omega 3 fatty acids can also be important for the development of the child during pregnancy. When the mother consumes the essential fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), this contributes to the normal brain development of the foetus or breast-fed infant.

Effect on infants after birth

Consuming the unsaturated fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) contributes to normal eye development in infants up to 12 months of age. Essential fatty acids, such as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA), are needed for the normal growth and development of children.

Essential fatty acids as a staple of a healthy diet

Even small changes in diet can help the body to absorb essential fatty acids naturally and to maintain the balance of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Try to make healthy sources of omega 3 and omega 6 part of your diet.

1. https://www.gesundheit.gv.at/leben/ernaehrung/info/fette [↩]
2. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/types-of-fat/ [↩] [↩]
3. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Omega3FattyAcids-Consumer/ [↩] [↩]
4. https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/no-need-to-avoid-healthy-omega-6-fats [↩]
5. https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/referenzwerte/fett/ [↩]
6. https://www.dge.de/ernaehrungspraxis/vollwertige-ernaehrung/10-regeln-der-dge/ [↩]

How can you achieve a more restful and restorative sleep?

Sleep is vital. We know that, because we all, at one point or another, will have failed to have enough and suffered as a result. Lack of sleep causes physical effects like grey eyes, dull skin and headaches, but the importance of sleep is also key to understanding mental health. Put simply, too little sleep will negatively impact our mental wellbeing. Deficits in daytime performance due to sleep loss are experienced universally and associated with a significant social, financial, and human cost. Sleep deprivation studies repeatedly show a variable (negative) impact on mood, cognitive performance, and motor function.¹

What are the different stages of sleep?

Sleep is not a constant, linear process, even if it feels like it. You might be one of the lucky ones whose head hits the pillow and then you wake up 8 hours later in the same position having ‘slept straight through’ but there are actually a number of different sleep stages that you have to go through in order to truly achieve restful sleep.

Sleepers pass through five stages: 1, 2, 3, 4 and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. These stages progress cyclically from 1 through REM then begin again with stage 1. A complete sleep cycle takes an average of 90 to 110 minutes, with each stage lasting between 5 to 15 minutes.²

While REM sleep is generally the most talked about, as this is the stage where we dream, it’s actually stages 3 and 4, known as deep NREM sleep, which are the most restorative sleep. These are the stages when it’s the most difficult to wake up and the stages where our body and mind are recovering and preparing for the next period of wakefulness.

Is it really important to get 8 hours sleep each night?

It is, and it isn’t. If you get a solid 8 hours that’s great, because you will have passed through the sleep cycle a number of times and experienced multiple periods of stage 3 and 4, restorative sleep. If, on the other hand, you achieve 8 hours but there are multiple periods of waking up in between, you may fail to reach the third sleep stage, or might not spend long enough in it. In which case you would technically have been asleep for the desired time, but would likely still be groggy and tired. The real key is getting to sleep, and staying asleep, so that you pass through all of the required stages.

How can you improve your sleep quality?

We all have an inbuilt body clock and if it gets out of sync, it will be harder to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up feeling refreshed. By sticking to a regular routine, our body gets used to ‘asleep’ and ‘awake’ times, making it easier to enter these when we need to. Bedtime should be a pleasant routine, so make your room as comfortable as possible and ensure there is fresh air and a steady temperature.

Your eating habits play a role in how well you sleep, especially in the hours before bedtime. Avoiding stimulants such as coffee and chocolate will help you achieve a better quality of sleep, as caffeine keeps your mind active and makes it harder to switch off. It’s also wise to avoid heavy meals before bedtime, which can sit on your stomach, causing discomfort, prevent you from falling asleep and make it more likely that you will wake up whilst trying to get comfortable.

Regular exercise also improves the symptoms of insomnia and increases the amount of time you spend in the deep, restorative stages of sleep. The more vigorously you exercise, the stronger the sleep benefits. But don’t let this put you off, even light exercise such as walking every day can improve sleep quality.

Finally, try to stay away from your phone! The blue light emitted by screens on mobile phones, computers, tablets, and televisions restrain the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep/wake cycle, making it harder to fall and stay asleep.³

1. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-reasons-why-good-sleep-is-important [↩]
2. http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/science/what/sleep-patterns-rem-nrem [↩]
3. https://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/technology-sleep.html# [↩]