By Michelle Tonkin ND
The holiday season can be a wonderful time filled with holiday activities, fun times with family and friends and of course lots of great food! However, this season can be one filled with stress or even emotions such as depression, grief, or anxiety. To get the most out of your holidays it’s important to spend some time with self-care as well as implementing some great tips for staying healthy!
TIP 1: Balanced meals.
With all the wonderful meals and treats, it can be tempting to skip meals and wait for the big upcoming feast. However, dieticians suggest that instead of waiting till one is ready to eat the entire kitchen sink, that individuals instead eat regular meals every four to five hours to keep blood sugar levels stable and to prevent overeating. This will help prevent unfortunate side effects such as bloating, gas, and indigestion.
TIP 2: Stay Active. It’s important to stay active not only to help maintain a healthy weight, but also to keep your immune system strong. Exercise also helps to regulate our hormones and weight bearing exercises also help to maintain and strengthen our bones. This is especially important as we age. Simply take a walk around the block, take the stairs, join in on a fun outdoor activity, or incorporate some type of activity at least a few times a week.
TIP 3: Stay Hydrated. With the winter season, sometimes we can forget that our bodies need proper hydration. However, even in cooler weather our body still needs at least half of our body’s weight in water on daily basis. For a lot of individuals this can be around at least 64 oz of water per day. Our body needs water for transporting nutrients, detoxification, digestion, and so much more! You can also include some electrolytes in your water to increase hydration and improve overall wellness. Depending on where you live, you may also want to include a humidifier in your room at night in order to help prevent dryness especially in your sinus and nasal passages.
TIP 4 Sleep. With all of the busyness of the season, it can sometimes be hard to get to bed at a decent hour or stay asleep. Proper diet, exercise, hydration, moderating caffeine and alcohol can also be helpful. Certain supplements like melatonin can be helpful for short term issues of insomnia. However, melatonin supplements should not be taken over long periods of time as the body will reduce its own melatonin production. Other supplements like calcium/magnesium or even phototherapy can also be helpful.
TIP 5 Supplements. Certain supplements can help support our body during this time of year and keep our immune system functioning at its best.
Some supplements to keep on hand and use are:
Vitamin C: This is a great antioxidant and supports immune function, collagen production, and helps the body to fight against viruses and bacteria.
Vitamin D: Another important nutrient, the best source is sunlight. However, with less hours of sunlight, especially in more northern areas, it is important to supplement. It’s not only essential for immunity, but also can help boost our mood.
Digestive Enzymes: These are normally present in foods before they are cooked. However, due to modern farming practices the enzymes naturally found in foods are depleted. Therefore, its essential to supplement, especially with cooked meals. Digestive enzymes can help with digestion and break things down so that we are not dealing with gas, bloating, indigestion etc. later.
Probiotics: A balance of good/bad bacteria is essential for both our immune and gut health. As 80% of the immunity lies in our gut health, its essential to maintain a healthy balance. Probiotics can get depleted or imbalanced due to stress, antibiotic over usage, poor diet, etc. For those with chronic digestive issues, testing of your microbiome is a good idea to give you an idea of the imbalances you may have and how to correct them.
Bovine Colostrum: This is a superhero for our immune system as it contains all of the elements necessary for life. Colostrum is the mother’s milk produced 72 hours after giving birth and bovine colostrum is the only type that closely mimics human colostrum and is suitable for supplemental use. Bovine colostrum supports not only immunity, but also gut health, bones, jones, and collagen production.
The above tips can help to keep you and your loved ones healthy during this holiday season.
May the Lord richly bless you and your loved ones this Christmas and New Years season!
Many Blessings!
Michelle<><
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