‘One step at a time’

Wimmera naturopaths believe implementing a ‘balanced diet’ will boost motivation levels to navigate life’s most difficult challenges.

Des Lardner’s Organic naturopaths Emily Grieger and Ebony Jordan say taking ‘small steps’ to improve diet will ultimately bolster people’s overall mental wellbeing to help achieve long and short-term goals.

Mrs Jordan said the added stress associated with COVID-19 restrictions was likely to cause imbalances in people’s health and wellbeing.

“A common theme we have noticed in the unusual circumstances of the past months is that it has thrown people out of whack with their normal routines and health goals,” she said.

“It is important to re-establish your daily routine now and plan activities that interest you and you find enjoyable.”

Mrs Jordan said making small adjustments to lifestyle and starting with minor dietary changes was an effective way to ‘reset your mind to participate in your own health and wellbeing again’.

“Taking it back to basics, making sure we’re getting a good quality sleep of between seven and nine hours, is important,” she said.

“Getting in physical activity and movement every day, going outside into the sunshine, drinking at least two litres of water a day and making sure we are eating more whole foods is key.”

Mrs Jordan said additional nutrients could be gained from incorporating as much colour in the diet as possible, which could be sourced from whole, natural and unrefined foods.

“The rainbow diet we use is a really simple concept. We encourage our patients to incorporate every single food colour, every day, into their diet when they’re looking at fruits and vegetables,” she said.

“We always tend to refer to the JERF meaning Just Eat Real Food.” diet,

Mrs Jordan said there were several foods people could easily add to their diets to help boost their moods.

“A recent study shows there is a significant association between high motivation and eating a healthy diet,” she said.

“Those who eat a healthy diet are more likely to be physically active, to make healthier lifestyle choices and to rate their mood higher.

“We focus on foods that contain tryptohpan, which is a protein that’s converted into serotonin in the body, a neurotransmitter in the body – tryptophan is found in oats, soy, protein, brown rice, eggs, bananas, avocadoes, cheese, turkey, fish, nuts and seeds.”

Sugar consumption

Mrs Grieger said to balance mood levels it was crucial to also manage sugar consumption.

“The key thing we talk about is sugar intake. Your normal blood sugar can go up and down quite readily in response to food,” she said.

“If you’ve got a diet that’s high in processed and sugary foods what will happen is, you’ll get a lot of spikes in your blood sugar levels. The more fluctuations you have, the more your mood will swing up and down.

“When it’s down you have that lack of motivation and tend to crave more sugar, so it perpetuates the cycle of going up and down again.”

Mrs Grieger said small steps were key achieving big goals.

“Sometimes it’s just changing one thing to get you back on the right track,” she said.

“Often experts talk about exercise as a ‘gateway behaviour’, because if you are getting yourself active and moving again it opens up the pathway to feeling that little bit better. An added effect is, you’ll naturally get thirstier when you’re exercising more so you’re drinking more.

“One thing leads to the other, but don’t put on too much pressure to do everything at once.” in