FEED YOUR SOUL

Practising self-care means really caring about what you put into your body. After all, what you eat affects your immunity, your mood, your sleep patterns, and your weight. It can be tempting to indulge in processed, high-carb, sugary foods for comfort during the winter months, but if you choose deeply nourishing foods instead, they will fulfil you in every way, helping to alleviate the cravings and to avoid the pitfalls that come with a poor diet and lifestyle.

Eating healthily in winter can be tough, for a variety of reasons. The most obvious one is Christmas — and let’s face it, how many of us allow ourselves to overindulge during the holidays? The problem with this is that the overconsumption of sugar and alcohol leads to weight gain, wreaks havoc on the immune system, and puts extra stress on the adrenal glands.

So what do we need to do during the winter months? We need to eat more cooked and warming foods, include more soups and stews in our diets, use more spices, eat seasonal veggies and fruits, have more wholegrains and, of course, get more rest.

There is also one major reason for cravings and overeating that is outside of our control: we have less sunlight in winter. This can cause some people to suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD). It is said that up to 20pc of people can suffer from seasonal depression or mood changes, so let’s look at ways that we can help ourselves feel better naturally with diet and lifestyle choices.

GET OUTDOORS

Making sure you get some natural light during the day is really important during the winter months. A lot of people leave for work when it’s dark, and return when it’s dark. If you work in an environment with artificial light, you might go all day in winter with no natural light of any kind. For this reason, it’s really important that you get outside during your breaks for a short walk. Wrap up warm and take a short walk at lunchtime when the sun (if we have it) is brightest.

PICK THE RIGHT CARBS

Less sun means a drop in your feel-good hormone, serotonin, which can cause depression and food cravings. To help combat this, you can boost your serotonin with healthy complex carbs such as wholegrain breads, brown rice; veggies such as peas, sweet potato, corn and pumpkin; and beans and lentils.

Your children will probably be craving carbs too, so try and steer them away from the bad carbs such as white breads, white rice and sugar. These foods have little or no nutrients, and they actually wipe your energy levels. They can also contribute to SAD and mood swings, and can be a factor in brain fog and your ability to concentrate.

The amino acid tryptophan coverts to the neurotransmitter serotonin, so increasing foods such as eggs, nuts, turkey, bananas, seeds and spirulina in your diet may improve depression symptoms.

SPICE UP YOUR LIFE

You can thank the Far East for the sensory delight that spices bring. Spices not only introduce vibrancy and colour into your diet, but they also boost immunity and circulation during the winter months. Cook with onions, turmeric, cinnamon, chili peppers, cardamom, curry, cayenne pepper, ginger and garlic to add a little warmth to your meals and to help ‘winter proof ’ your body from the inside out.

EAT FOR IMMUNITY

The guys you need on your team here are vitamin C, zinc and probiotics. Yes, you heard me — probiotics. Not all bacteria are bad — in fact, we have millions of bacteria in our gut that help us to stay healthy by stimulating the immune system and helping with the absorption of essential nutrients. To help these guys grow in numbers and keep your digestive system healthy, feed them with foods such as kimchi, live yogurt, kefir and kombucha. Or you can supplement — Terranova probiotics are great.

Another tip to help families boost their immune systems is to eat foods that are rich in antioxidants such as vitamin C and beta-carotene (vitamin A). So citrus fruits are fab, as well as broccoli, sweet potato, spinach and cabbage, green leafy veg and frozen peas. I find frozen peas great for kids, and they can be added to most meals.

These foods are a front-line defence against colds and infections. Zinc is important too, so green leafy veg, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds, lentils, tofu, almonds and wholegrains are key. Chicken, eggs, fish and dairy products also contain zinc. Zinc is responsible for hundreds of biochemical functions in the body and, because of nutrient losses in the soil and in food processing, deficiency or depletion can be common.

Among zinc’s many important functions is that it helps the liver detoxify alcohols. So just think Christmas, mood and zinc!

OMEGA-3 AND VITAMIN D

Recent research demonstrates that the consumption of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D can play a role in reducing depression. Studies have found that people who consume fish frequently exhibit fewer depressive qualities than those who didn’t consume fish.

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are a crucial part of a healthy diet, because our bodies cannot make them. When the word ‘essential’ is used in a nutritional context, it means that the body cannot synthesise it itself and it must therefore be obtained from the diet. If you eat oily fish twice a week, it will provide a healthy dose of omega 3. However, a massive 89pc of Irish people are not consuming sufficient oily fish in their diet, so there is often a need to take a good-quality supplement such as Eskimo Brain 369, which combines the unique stable fish oil Eskimo-3, which is high in DHA, along with plant oils omega-6 and omega-9, as well as Co-Q10 and vitamin D3.

Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin, so no prizes for guessing why we don’t get enough in Ireland. This sunshine vitamin is gaining a lot of attention recently (see vitamindcouncil.org) and may be the most important “missing vitamin” for your brain and mood. It regulates the conversion of tryptophan into serotonin, so as you can see, nothing works in isolation in our bodies. It’s a team sport internally, and for all our systems to function correctly, they need each other, which is why a varied diet is important.

You can get your level of vitamin D checked by your doctor. Irish people have been shown to be quite low, especially during the winter months. Low levels of vitamin D have been connected with SAD, and therefore supplementing can help ease symptoms and improve your mood.

B-COMPLEX VITAMINS

B-complex vitamins help your body convert proteins from your diet into the neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, etc) needed for mood and energy. B-complex vitamins also support heart health and improve your response to stress and help boost energy levels. Most B vitamins have some benefits for mental health, but in terms of depression, the most important B vitamins include

vitamins B6, B9 (folic acid) and B12. If you are looking to supplement, check out Terranova B Complex.

HYDRATE

Did you know that it is as easy to get dehydrated in the winter as it is in summer? Staying hydrated is so important because we lose water all the time, even through breathing. Just think of your breath in those frigid temperatures! Some of the effects of dehydration are a slower metabolism, fatigue, muscle pain and dizziness. By the time you are thirsty, your body is well on its way to being dehydrated. Here are my top tips:

Start each day with warm lemon water to get your digestive system moving and rehydrate after a night’s sleep.

Always carry a bottle of water in your bag, and have one on your desk and in the car.

Set reminders on your phone three times a day. This is just a gentle nudge.

During the winter months, hug a mug of soothing, calming herbal tea, hot cocoa, warm apple cider and my winter warmer — see page 14;

During exercise, sweating releases potassium, sodium and calcium. These electrolytes are not found in water, so you need to replace these in winter months too: coconut water or a quarter teaspoon of Himalayan salt in pre-workout smoothies or juices is a good idea

Eat your water in soups, stews, and hydrating fruits and veggies, such as cucumber, celery and pears.