Feel better in 5

Big changes start with simple steps. Try these ideas to help improve your wellbeing.

1 Get involved with Women’s Health Week

Jean Hailes’ Women’s Health Week runs from 6-10 September this year. Held annually, it remains the biggest week in Australia focusing on good health and wellbeing for women and girls and is a timely reminder to make health a priority. “A little self-care can go a long way,” says Brenda Jones, Women’s Health Week campaign manager at Jean Hailes. “We hope our week inspires women to stop and think about their needs, not just the needs of others. We ask that they set aside some time to focus on their health. This could be arranging a health check, getting active, planning healthy meals, finding ways to manage stress or taking the first step to change any unhealthy habits.”

And if you register, you’ll receive free healthcare tips, including podcasts, quizzes, videos, recipes and practical health articles every day during Women’s Health Week. Head to womenshealthweek.com.au to sign up and get involved.

2

Shake it up

Feel like skipping breakfast now and then, or maybe more often than not? Trouble is, fresh research from the US links missing the first meal of the day to a higher risk of experiencing nutritional deficiencies. One solution can be grabbing a quick-and-easy shake, but when you have diabetes, it pays to be picky about the powdered shake products in your pantry. A good option to have on hand is IsoWhey’s Diabetic Formula. Available in chocolate and vanilla flavours, it’s a certified low-GI formula so it not only helps you feel fuller for longer, it’s designed to support people living with diabetes who can’t always get their full nutritional needs through diet alone. As well as delivering a hit of hunger-busting protein, it’s low in sugar and contains inositol and chromium to assist with carbohydrate metabolism and 22 vitamins and minerals, including 25 per cent of the recommended dietary intake of vitamin B12, iron, zinc, vitamin D and calcium.

3 Put fermented food on the menu

Until recently the jury remained firmly on the fence about the benefit of eating fermented foods like yoghurt, sauerkraut and kimchi for gut health, with solid evidence to prove their value a little thin on the ground. But a brand new study by researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine has shown that after 10 weeks of eating fermented foods regularly, people’s gut bacteria diversity improved significantly. And that’s good news, because while poor gut bacteria diversity is linked to an increased risk of being overweight and developing type 2 diabetes, having a bigger number of different bacteria residing in your gut is good for everything from sleep to mood and weight, and can help to lower your risk of a range of different diseases. To reap the rewards, be sure to choose foods that are naturally fermented rather than shelf-stable products that are usually preserved using vinegar rather than fermentation.

4 Log in to learn more

As the old saying goes knowledge is power and luckily learning more about how to live with and manage diabetes has never been simpler, whether you have type 1, type 2 or are pregnant and have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. A wide range of Diabetes Australia education programs are available for free online at the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) website, including ‘MyDESMOND’,

‘Type 2 Diabetes and Me’, ‘Carb Counting’ and ‘Baby Steps’. To check out the available programs, head to ndss.com.au/services/

support-programs/ where you can browse the options based on diabetes type or specific health concerns and learn more about signing up.

5 Eat your way to fewer migraines

For the one in five Australians who suffer from migraine headaches, help may be available on a plate. An intense type of headache that can be distressing and even disabling when they strike, new research shows that eating a diet rich in oilier types of fish, like sardines and salmon, but light in vegetable oils can reduce migraine frequency by as much as 40 per cent. Plus, study participants who stuck to the dietary advice also had lower levels of pain-related lipids in their blood, suggesting that even when migraines still occurred, their intensity may have been diminished. To learn more about migraines, including how to take part in Migraine & Headache Awareness Week (20-24 September), visit headacheaustralia.org.au. ■