Five Gold Rings...

The 5 gold rings apparently referred to the 5 books of the old testament. We thought we’d offer our 5 golden nuggets for health!
 
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
― Hippocrates

1. Food and Nutrition simply have to be number one. However, food does not always imply nutrition these days as the explosion of processed foods and meals misses the mark big time and is leaving an entire generation of us compromised. It’s well known that the soil in which we grow our food is depleted of much needed minerals including selenium. Animals are often not pastured, fish are farmed and processed food is deplete in so many nutrients, due to processing and heating. Then to make it taste good, tons of sugars and sweeteners are added along with loads of unpronounceable ingredients which further compromise the food and our health! So, my first golden nugget is to eat as nature intended. Buy ingredients as whole foods, grass fed meat, wild fish if possible, organic chicken and eggs. Of course, organic veg and fruit are better nutritionally. More on this from Newcastle University. The good news is we can prioritise our shopping around avoiding pesticides by being aware of the foods with the highest residues. Then simply cook from scratch, batch cook for the freezer, cook for your families if you are retired. Whatever we do, we all need to live by the motto that if our granny wouldn’t recognise it as food, we shouldn’t either! We are living at a time when we are literally being medicated for our food and lifestyle choices. Hippocrates would turn in his grave!
2. Movement is number two. I use the word movement in place of exercise as there was a time when we simply moved more and carried heavy bags of shopping and children! We walked because we didn’t have cars and we got off the bus early not to lose a few pounds off our waistline so much as to save a few pounds for our purses! We didn’t have personal trainers because we just didn’t need them. Also, emails hadn’t been invented and people actually moved across a room or even up a floor or two to speak to someone face to face instead of sending a dreaded email! Movement was just part of life. So, my second nugget is simply to move more. Also, find ways that fit naturally and smoothly into our everyday lives and routines as the more we move without thinking about it the better. Sitting is now widely regarded as the new smoking when it comes to health risks. If you have a staircase at work, use it. If you can get a walk at lunchtime even for 10 minutes, that’s ten minutes per day which makes 50 minutes a week. You could take a train or bus knowing that there is a short walk at the other end or instead of parking the car 2 minutes away, park a bit further. Take up something fun, like dancing or a sport you enjoy. If we enjoy the activity we will be more likely to do it. Or do what I do and turn the music up loud in the kitchen and dance to your favourites!
3. Sleep is next up. Increasingly this is something that eludes many of us and prescription meds are going up and up for the sleep deprived. Our risk factors for so many conditions including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer go up when we don’t get quality sleep. So, how do we improve the situation? Take a look at our blog on this for more information. But simply reducing caffeine and of course going to bed earlier can make a big difference to our overall health. Avoiding the blue light effect of TV and computers 2 hours before bed is also important for this one. Epsom salt baths and supplementing with magnesium can be hugely beneficial. Whatever you do, get this one cracked and you've just removed a major risk factor for chronic disease.
4. Managing stress is the next important goal for optimal health. One things for sure, we can’t always avoid stress. If certain situations/people are causing you stress, make a list of what/who they are and then make a list of realistic options. We can’t always change our job, family, teacher, school, husband but what we can do with some certainty is to change the way we think about these challenges. There are many therapists available to support us as we find our way, from EFT to Trauma therapy to CBT.  Meditation, mindfulness and breathing exercises are also excellent tools to incorporate into our daily lives. The evidence base for these is huge and growing.  If you are new to meditation, try apps like headspace.com
5. Last but not least is hydration! Our bodies are made up of water and we need to keep them hydrated for so many health benefits. We need hydration for energy, to flush out toxins through our kidneys and for regular and robust bowel function. We also need for maintaining our weight as often when we find ourselves reaching for undesirables we are actually thirsty! We also need as a natural pain reliever for headaches often resulting from dehydration. Joint and muscle pain also improve when we are hydrated properly. If all of that doesn’t motivate you, then vanity just might as we all know how our skin improves when we are properly hydrated. Sleep improves too as more water by default means less caffeine!

 
 
Whatever changes you make in the new year, make sure you include these 5 golden nuggets and step into the new you… as nature intended.