Spring clean your health

The arrival of the new season is an ideal opportunity to reassess your health and wellbeing. From a gut healthy diet to physical activity and sleep habits.

• Eat more plants

  Increasing your fibre intake can improve the bacteria in your microbiome making it healthier and more diverse. Researchers at the American Gut Project found that people who ate more than 30 different plant foods each week had the most diverse microbiomes resulting in better overall health. Eating more plant fibre increases the production of short-chain fatty acids which help to strengthen our immune systems. Consume a healthy wholefood diet rich in vegetables, fruits, complex carbohydrates, whole grains, plant proteins and good fats to increase the health of your microbiome.

• Increase your energy levels naturally

  Once again eat more plants!

  Eating or combining foods with a low glycemic index, whose sugars are absorbed slowly help to avoid the crash in energy that can occur after eating simple sugars and refined starches. Foods with a low glycemic index include vegetables, whole grains and nuts. Avoid a restricted diet, natural carbohydrates found in plants are essential for health, remember the brain and central nervous system can only utilise digested carbohydrates ( which converts into glucose) as a source of energy as proteins and fats are chemically unrecognisable to the brain and central nervous system. The ability to reason well, think and learn are dependent on glucose. Exercise also helps us to feel more energised and encourages better sleep. Physical activity helps to energise us.

• Exercise

  The key to exercise’s effectiveness is consistency.

  Movement is essential, most importantly do something you like and try to spend time in nature whenever possible. Aim to do resistance and strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups on at least 2 days a week with some balance and flexibility exercises. Add at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week also.

• Sleep

  Routine is important for achieving good sleep habits. Aim to go to bed at the same time and wake up around the same time. The bedroom should be a TV/phone/computer free zone, using natural bed linen is great and keep the bedroom airy and cool. Invest in an air purifier and try sleep masks and blackout blinds, a white noise machine can be really helpful to fade out background noise. Remember don’t stress about it and persevere, often bad sleep habits have formed over long periods and it can take time to form new good ones.

NOTE: Vegans don’t forget to take a daily B12 supplement