Nutritionist Dr Libby Weaver. Photo / Supplied
A new year often sparks a desire to change aspects of your life you feel may not be serving you. We might begin with grandiose ideas of overhauling all aspects of our health and lifestyle. Yet, whatever the radical ideas for the new year may be, many people set themselves up with unsustainable and far from healthy plans and, instead of feeling inspired and invigorated, they drag themselves into the new year. Let's look at sustainable steps to improving your health and wellbeing or encouragement to keep up a way of life that already serves your health.
Detoxification
For some people, the word detoxification conjures images of eating rabbit food and feeling awful, but what is often forgotten is that detoxification is a process that goes on in our bodies every second of every day. The body is extremely efficient at detoxification; the liver and the kidneys detoxify and excrete many toxic substances constantly, including metabolic waste.
Detoxification is an essential process to the health of our cells and therefore the physical body, but our lifestyle choices determine how efficiently our liver is able to do this job. Detoxification is a transformation process where the liver takes substances - that if they were to accumulate would be harmful to you - and transforms them into less harmful substances that can then be excreted. It is a process that you want to occur efficiently.
Fresh leafy green offer many health benefits. Photo / Thinkstock
Also, as time passes the liver can become congested because of the regular, over-consumption of liver-loaders. One of the easiest ways to naturally support your detoxification processes is to take a break from coffee and alcohol. Supporting this change with green tea and a diet rich in fresh leafy green vegetables, such as watercress, rocket, spinach, dandelion leaves and Chinese greens, and you are well on your way to a more energised you. A challenge I often like to set people focusing on improving their detoxification processes is to avoid anything that comes in a packet for 10 days.
Detoxification can also be supported with the addition of herbs, most commonly St Mary's Thistle (Milk Thistle). In some studies this has been shown to help liver cells (hepatocytes) regenerate.
Lymphatic system
The lymphatic system is one of the unsung heroes of the body. It tirelessly works away, cleaning up the waste of virtually every other body system. The lymph supports our immune, digestive, nervous and detoxification systems. The lymph continuously bathes each cell, powered only by your breathing and movement. The lymph vessels serve nearly every cell in your body and the lymph nodes act like little filters. One crucial function of lymph tissue is generating and storing white blood cells, the cells that fight infection.
The lymphatic tissue is where much of our immunity originates. The best way to conceptualise how lymph works is to imagine that each cell in your body eats food and excretes waste, just like you do as a person. The cells excrete their waste into the lymph so you want it constantly moving and able to transport the rubbish away from the cells to be processed and excreted.
There are a number of ways you can support your lymphatic system. Muscular contraction and diaphragmatic breathing are considered the most effective. I encourage people to use rebounders to stimulate their lymphatic system. Even just bouncing for five minutes each morning can make a difference to lymphatic function and cellulite. Eating real food will also assist and supply your lymphatic tissue with the essential nutrients necessary for its function.
Skin
The way to achieve healthy and radiant skin is through nourishment. Your outsides reflect your insides. There are some amazing skincare companies around now with beautiful certified organic ingredients but even the most wonderful and active products will not replace or repair what optimal nourishment gives the skin.
Photo / Thinkstock
For healthy skin, keeping hydrated is essential. In the summer months drink plenty of water - isotonic drinks like coconut water can also be beneficial. To make drinking water more appealing, add fresh mint, lemon and lime to infuse the water. Skin also loves essential fats and good sources include oily fish, flaxseeds, walnuts and pecans. Eating avocado and coconut can also be beneficial due to their fat content. Vitamin C-rich foods such as citrus fruits, berries, kiwifruit and capsicum all help support optimal collagen formation and maintenance.
The other big factor for great skin and health in general, is gratitude. What you focus on is what you feel and when we are grateful, it is physically impossible to be stressed at the same time. When stress hormone levels drop, your body is better able to focus on what are considered to be non-essential (for life) processes such as skin regeneration. Additionally, sex hormones are more easily balanced when stress levels are low and this too, contributes to glowing skin.
Emotional connection
What does the New Year represent for you? When making a resolution, approach it from a constructive place. Aiming to improve your health is far more motivating and life-sustaining in the long-term than wanting to fit a particular clothes size. The pressure for some to achieve the perfect summer body can start a cycle of deprivation, disappointment and sadness and there is no joy in that.
When I asked audiences what happens when you go on a diet, ironically, most people answer that you gain weight. Diets don't resolve beliefs that aren't serving you. That requires you to look inwards. You're not demolishing everything in the pantry because you think you're doing something good for your health. Consider what it is you are trying to make up for or suppressing by over-eating or choosing poor-quality food. When people over-eat they are often looking for soul-food, not food-food. They are looking for food to give them a feeling that it never can. Identify the feelings you are seeking and fulfil this need more often with alternative activities (to over eating) that support your health.
Emotionally, a new year provides the ideal opportunity to put the past behind you. Letting go of old emotions that aren't serving you is one of the most positive things you can do for your health. Addressing the way you speak to yourself can also revitalise your health. Consider the way you speak to a dear friend, as this is the way I encourage you to speak to yourself. Happy New Year!
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1. Swap coffee for green or herbal tea for 4 weeks
2. Swap a high sugar breakfast cereal to eggs as a way to start the day
3. Swap a chocolate bar for afternoon tea with something you've prepared from Sweet Food Story on a Sunday afternoon
4. Swap all cold drinks for water and freshen it up with some lemon and lime
5. Swap a focus on your weight for a focus on your health... and watch your weight fall into place.
A live cook-off featured ox heart, wapiti, wild boar and plenty of edible wildlife.