Your immune system works hard to protect you from injury, illness, and disease. This process usually involves inflammation, a natural response to stress, tissue damage, and harmful stimuli like viruses, bacteria, and toxins. Inflammation functions similarly to an engine warning light, alerting you to the presence of a problem through symptoms such as heat, pain, redness, swelling, and/or loss of function. 85% of the immune system is located in our gut. An anti-inflammatory diet rich in vitamins A, C, and E and the mineral selenium provides your gut with the ingredients it needs to bolster immunity and achieve optimal mental and physical health.
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The Secret to a Successful Resolution
Change is hard. But creating deep, lasting change is less about willpower and more about designing smart, effective goals. Instead of making a statement, such as I’m going to lose weight, try asking a question instead. “What would it take for me to lose weight?” By posing your resolution in the form of a question rather than a statement, you begin to engage with it. Your brain goes to work, breaking down the problem, sequencing next steps, and creating a path to success. Questions offer greater possibilities, whereas statements keep energy stuck.
Inactivity
There may not be a lot going on right now, and under a lockdown it’s never been easier to be a couch potato. However, it’s still as important as ever to keep moving. Health experts say “sitting is the new smoking” and health guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every week to stay in good physical condition, add years to your lifespan, and ensure good quality of life in those later years. Any movement is better than no movement, even if it just means walking around your own home, climbing your stairs, or doing exercise with just your own bodyweight.
Staying Healthy After Menopause
Two major health conditions that can affect women after menopause are osteoporosis and heart disease. To protect yourself against osteoporosis, take 1,200 mg of calcium per day, along with 800 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily if you are over 50 years old (be sure to talk to your doctor). Stay active, specifically with weight-bearing exercises, stop smoking, avoid caffeine, and eat a well-balanced diet. Smoking cessation, healthy eating, and exercise can all help to protect you against heart disease as well. Monitoring your blood pressure, reducing stress, and watching your weight are also important.
Have a Smoke-Free 2021
Something about leaving an old year behind and looking ahead at the clean slate of a new one inspires most of us to try. We think about making lasting positive changes in our lives, and we do it with hope and enthusiasm. If you’re planning to start the new year without a cigarette in your hand, but have had no luck sticking with past New Year’s resolutions, consider laser therapy. Laser therapy can help to control cravings and withdrawal symptoms. In clinical studies, patients report a noticeable reduction in cravings, and have a higher chance of success in quitting.
4 Tips to Ease Stress
Learn to say no – both on a professional and personal level. You should never take on more than you can handle. Cut down your to-do list – Analyse your schedule and prioritise your tasks by level of urgency. Limit the time you spend with people who stress you out – If someone causes stress in your life, limit the amount of time you spend with them and be more aware of your reaction to them.
Take control of the situation – Identify how you can limit stress in a particular situation e.g., if shopping makes you stressed do your shopping at a less busy time or make a list.
Enriching the Life of Your Pet
Keeping your pet in good physical shape is an important part of their wellness, but it’s crucial to provide mental stimulation and enrichment for them as well. Depending on the breed and personality of your dog, a walk doesn’t always provide enough stimulation. Drop-in visits from a pet sitter give your dog the opportunity for an extra play session during the day. For high energy dogs, or those needing more socialization, daycare is a great option. Even if it’s not every day, it gives your dog something to look forward to during the week. There are also many cognitive enrichment toys and puzzles you can purchase for your dogs, cats and birds to keep their minds sharp.
Avoid Overdoing It
If you’re starting to work out for the first time in a while, not only can it be easy to lose motivation, but it’s also easy to suffer an injury if you rush back too quickly. Listen to your body. There’s a difference between feeling sore after a good workout and being in pain. If something feels weird, gives you pain, or hurts more than you feel it should, take a break and slow down. Include a warm-up and cool-down. A good warm-up prepares your body for activity and a cool-down helps you recover. Both are important. Don’t skip them because you want to rush into things. Increase gradually
Why Pea Protein?
A lactose-free protein source, Pea protein powder is loved for its taste, texture and protein content. Unlike many other plant-based protein powders, you can get a smooth texture with pea protein powder. Plus, it’s pretty taste-neutral, so you do not taste split peas in your smoothie. The pea ingredients are also a great gluten free option. Check out our selection for Vega Protein powders which are pea protein/plant based and taste great!
Fight Colds & Flus & Viruses
Your immune system needs a strong thymus and spleen to produce antibodies and specialized white blood cells that help prevent disease. Do you know how yours are functioning? Nutritional testing is a great way to find out if there is a weakness or imbalance in these immune organs. If a weakness or imbalance is identified, specific nutrient formulations designed to naturally support and strengthen the thymus, spleen and immune system can be taken. This will help you to better fight against influenza, rhinovirus (common cold), pneumonia, and COVID. Remember the old saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Electro-magnetic Fields (EMFs)
Low-level radiation is one type of EMF exposure and is emitted from cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, Bluetooth devices, computers, and even power lines. Some scientists report that this type of EMF exposure can cause sleep disturbances, including insomnia; headache; depression and depressive symptoms; changes in memory; and lack of concentration. You can reduce the risk by using the speakerphone function on your cell phone instead of holding it to your ear. Charge your phone in a different room at night, or put it on airplane/flight mode while you sleep. Products are also available that counteract harmful frequencies using healthy ones.
