Spring Into Better Health

I love Spring. The sun has more warmth in it, the days are getting longer and the air is filled with the sweetness of new growth and flowers. I also love Spring because it not only inspires me to clean and freshen my house after a long, cold Winter; it also inspires me to take a moment to reflect upon and refresh my own health.

Spring cleaning is not just for your home and is a great way to kick start some new and healthy habits for your body and mind. Check out some of the ways you can spring clean your health and find your way back to a re-energised and re-vitalised you!

Soak Up Some Sun

With lockdown, restricted exercise hours and the long, dreary Winter days our bodies, brains and immune systems are in desperate need of a boost; and what better way to do it than to soak up some sunshine and some all important Vitamin D while you're at it.

Vitamin D is essential in supporting a healthy immue system, boosting mood and energy levels, as well as helping with the absorption of calclium to keep your bones and teeth strong and healthy. The best way to maximise your vitamin D intake from sunshine to spend between 10 to 15 minutes outside at least 2 or 3 times per week. However, be careful not to get sun burnt as this not only causes damage to your skin and increase your risk of skin cancers, but does not allow the body to effectively convert the sun's energy to vitamin D.

Exercise

This always goes without saying. We all know that exercise is essential to maintaining our health and wellbeing, however it doesn't have to be rigorous and intense. The idea is that we move more and sit less, to simply get our bodies moving in order to help improve our mobility, increase lymphatic drainage (which helps to remove toxins from our body) and boost our immune system, mood and energy levels.

As a minimum we need at least 20 to 30 minutes of moderate exercise each day. This means you need to do something that increases your heart rate, which can include one or two 10 to 15 minute brisk walks each day. For those who haven't done any form of exercise for a while, it is completely okay to work up to a brisk walk and the amount of time you spend exercising. Now the days are getting longer, take the family out for a walk around the neighborhood after dinner, or if you need some alone time, put on your earphones and head out for some fresh air and sunshine (boosting your vitamin D while you're at it).

Nutrition

You are not alone if you have found yourself putting on a few extra 'COVID' kilos, and combined with the typical Winter diet, we emerge into Spring feeling heavy and slow (energetically and literally). With Spring comes the lighter and brighter fruits and vegetables and it is the perfect time to start cleaning up out diet (and cleaning out the pantry).

Start by swapping out some of those simple carbs (breads, pastas and biscuits) for more complex carbs (sweet potato, buckwheat and most fruits and veg). There are some great options for pasta alternatives these days and most are easy to cook and taste just as delicious. The idea is to lighten the load on our digestive system and support it to do its job effectively, which means we want to include plenty of variety, sufficient amounts of fibre and cut back on the processed foods we habitually find ourselves munching on. Combine this is cutting back on caffiene and increasing water consumption, we improve our body's ability to flush out those nasty toxins and make sure we remain healthy and hydrated.

If you're looking for some help with doing a spring clean on your health, book in an appointment today