Health Update: 8 Wellness Tips for a Healthier Year – What Experts Say

Bridgette Becker, nutrition expert at We Care Spa (Desert Hot Springs, CA), shares eight tips to help you and your clients live a healthier lifestyle this year:

1. Spend time in nature – Time in nature, whether hiking, skiing, sitting by the shore, or a walk in a park all supports the immune system, and shifts the nervous system out of fight or flight sympathetic nervous system mode and back into a relaxed, parasympathetic state. This means less stress hormones, and a better ability to respond rather than react to life.

2. Limit screen time – Devices are incredible tools that are depended on and needed to work and move through life. They also can separate you from connecting with others, and from noticing your own self-care cues. Take some time to determine what the right relationship is for you with technology and schedule windows of time in your day with no screen time. In the beginning, there might be some restlessness, but leave a little space for creativity to come in.

3. Move more – The human body is designed to be in motion. Regular exercise and movement are cancer preventative, help with mood and mental health, lengthen life span, improve cognitive function, support the immune system and cardiovascular health. Try taking a walk after a meal every day or join a group fitness class.

4. Eat more green vegetables – Most people tend to eat the same 10 foods at the majority of their meals. Try adding a dark green vegetable every time you eat. This will increase your consumption of fiber, phytochemicals, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. By eating more green vegetables, you may notice improvements to your skin, digestion, and energy.
5. Drink more water – The baseline for hydration is half your body weight in ounces of water per day. If that is not where you are, just try to move 8 ounces closer with each week. Hydration is of key importance for all your body’s detox pathways, elimination of toxins, cardiovascular function, and energy.
6. Prioritize sleep – Human beings are diurnal as opposed to nocturnal, which means your body functions best if you get at least a little sleep before midnight. Unhealthy sleep patterns have been linked to weight management and body composition challenges, insulin resistance, mood changes, slower recovery, reduced cognitive ability, and increased irritability.
7. Nurture healthy relationships – Growing research has shown the profound link between the health of your relationships, lifespan as well as the quality of health you may have as you age. Cultivate relationships with friends that share interests, and hobbies, and who you trust with sharing both good days and bad. Quality is better than quantity here.
8. Eat at least one meal per day in a relaxed state – This might sound odd, but you absorb much more of the nutrients from your food if you eat while relaxed. Your digestive system is connected to the nervous system, and you produce more digestive secretions (HCL and enzymes), when you are relaxed. Carve out time for a self-care appointment with yourself every day for at least one meal. This means, sitting down, slowing down, disconnecting from devices and encouraging your body to take in the nourishment. It is actually more productive for your body to eat while relaxed than to multitask and eat because you will be able to use the nutrients you are taking in.