Say goodbye to winter, and hello to spring! Here are five ways you can give your health and mental wellbeing a ‘seasonal makeover’ ✨
1. Eat in-season fruit and veg
Spring is a great opportunity to add more fresh, in-season fruit and veg to your diet. By choosing ingredients that are naturally in season, you’ll get perfectly ripe produce that tastes better. In-season fruits and vegetables spend less time from farm to table, so they maintain much of their nutrition and flavour. Not to mention they’ll likely be cheaper too!
Pop the following into your trolley during this week’s food shop:
- Spring greens
- Asparagus
- Radishes
- New potatoes
- Purple sprouting broccoli
- Rhubarb
- Spring onions
2. Reset your sleep schedule
Have dark winter days thrown your sleep schedule off track? Use spring as a time to reset! Sleep and general health are strongly linked; neuroscientists consider sleep as one of the pillars of health and wellbeing.1https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28159089/ According to the mental health charity, Mind, a lack of quality snooze-time increases your chances of anxiety and depression.2https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/sleep-problems/about-sleep-and-mental-health/
Clean up your pre-sleep routine and create a relaxing bedtime experience – avoid screentime, alcohol and caffeine before bed, keep the temperature between 18-24oC and go to bed/wake up at the same time every day (yes, even on weekends!). Check out more natural ways to improve your nighttime sleep here.
3. Do a digital detox
Scientific reviews show that social media and blue light can negatively affect your sleep,3https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40675-019-00148-9 increase feelings of anxiety and depression4https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4853817/ and promote cyber-bullying.5https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/cyber.2019.0146
If you find yourself spending more time on social media than connecting with ‘real-world’ people, experiencing cyberbullying, or feeling increasing symptoms of anxiety and depression, it might be time to unplug! If a complete detox feels unrealistic, take the opportunity to develop a healthier relationship with your phone and social media. Find out how here.
4. Get that spring-fresh glow
Spring clean your bathroom cabinet and remove the chemical-heavy products from your skincare routine! Your skin is home to millions of bacterial ecosystems. Some of these microbes reinforce your skin’s natural barrier against bad bacteria, balance your skin’s pH levels and help prevent premature skin ageing.6https://www.forbes.com/sites/nomanazish/2019/03/30/why-probiotic-skin-care-is-worth-the-hype-according-to-experts/?sh=4a4db5611aa1 So it’s important you maintain a healthy level of these ‘good’ microbes and keep the ‘bad’ to a minimum. Using probiotics topically creates an optimal environment for the good bugs, swinging the balance in your favour against the bad bugs.7https://www.forbes.com/sites/nomanazish/2019/03/30/why-probiotic-skin-care-is-worth-the-hype-according-to-experts/?sh=4a4db5611aa1
Choose a probiotic soap and lotion that suits you and your skin type here and here.
To further improve dry skin and reduce wrinkles, we recommend anyone aged 30+ take collagen. You can read more about the benefits of collagen and what it can do for you here.
5. Show your gut some love!
Seasonal colds and winter infections that required antibiotics may have left your gut in need of a little extra TLC. Replenish your friendly gut bugs and take a synbiotic approach with Probiotic Kefir and Complete Prebiotic. Chuckling Goat Kefir contains 27 different beneficial bacteria while the Complete Prebiotic feeds these bacteria 18 different types of fibres – the perfect, natural way to support your gut health, ready for whatever spring brings!
For a taste of what spring looks like here on the farm, check out last year’s video!
Questions? Get in touch with one of our Nutritional Therapists on live chat, weekdays from 8 am to 8 pm.
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