Eat Your Way To Better Health
Do you struggle with low energy, sleepless nights, brain-fog, frequent bloating and breakouts. Whelp, we’ve been there and what we can tell you, is that your diet might be to blame.
The good news is that a few small but impactful habit tweaks might just be the key to helping you reap the long-term rewards of healthy living.
Eating real, fresh, whole foods is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and our overall health. Focusing on what feels good or bad while you eating it, and shortly thereafter, it is one of the easiest ways to tune into your body. Finding that mind-gut connection can help you avoid foods that are causing you to crash, bloat or even breakout.
Mind-Gut Connection – It’s Easier Than You Think
So, how do you do find that mind-gut connection? It’s pretty simple, you just have to listen!
Listen to your gut and really feel how the food is moving through your body – feel how it’s digesting. Take note of bloating, indigestion or constipation, cramping, excessive thirst and your energy following all meals for a few days. This might sound strange to do but after you tune in a few times, it comes naturally. Take note of what seems to disagree with your gut and make minor tweaks to see if any noticeable changes occur when you remove certain foods. You might notice less red pigmentation in your skin, that you don’t toss and turn as often at night, or that your bowel movements become more regular. The changes will probably be minor in the beginning but trust us, the overall results from having more energy and your clothes fitting better will help keep you going and might just encourage you to make other healthy changes in your life.
Improve Your Mood
Growing evidence suggest that what we eat and drink can and does influence our moods. Vital nutrients, or the lack thereof, plays a dramatic role in our overall health and well-being. For example, individuals who have low levels of folate, niacin and magnesium may experience depression-like symptoms more often than those without these deficiencies. On the other hand, antioxidants such as vitamin C from citrus and strawberries, vitamin E from nuts and seeds, and flavonoids found in dark leafy greens and blueberries neutralize free radicals, helping protect your brain and your mood!
Better Sleep and Digestion
Shaking up your food choices not only helps improve mood but might also help improve your quality of sleep. Vitamin C and E, serotonin and folate have all been linked to better sleep. Additionally foods rich in fiber such as kale, beans, artichokes and quinoa have been associated with more restorative sleep. If you are tossing and turning all night long, or struggling with bloat and constipation, try changing up your diet and focus on adding more variety, it might be just be the key to your best healthy yet!
Upping your fiber intake is often the best first move to improve digestion as well. “A diet that contains the same amount of fiber from but from a wide variety of sources produces a far greater abundance of bacterial diversity, which has been associated with the best health and best digestion.” FREUMAN, TAMARA DUKER. BLOATED BELLY WHISPERER: See Results within a Week and Tame Digestive Distress Once and for All. GRIFFIN, 2020.
Enrich Your Diet, Enrich Your Life
Foods high in antioxidants and fiber aren’t just great for mood and sleep – they are ideal for long-lasting energy! Doesn’t that sound nice? I think it is safe to say that we all want to feel more energized and happier throughout the day. The difficulty in getting long-lasting energy from food is that energy doesn’t come solely from what you eat – it also depends on when and how you eat. Getting that long-lasting energy is a balancing act between what, when and how much you’re eating. However, finding this balance is hardly a “one-size” fits all method. A balanced diet for you will probably look very different than a balanced diet for your children or even your significant other.
When it comes to a balanced diet we still believe that eating real, fresh, whole foods is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and our overall health. Focus on variety! What you can add into your repertoire to bring more balance and improve the quality of what you eat?
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