Hi, there
This article was e-mailed to me yesterday and I found it very interesting. There is nothing worse than coming through the holidays feeling worse than you did before and still feeling like you need to rest, because of all the partying and food and sleeping that happened during the holidays. I’m sure these 10 tips will help make this holiday season a little easier and aid you feeling more rested.
The article is by Patrick Holford, world renowned nutritionist (I get his newsletter e-mailed to me every now and then and they really are very interesting with useful tips on how to stay healthy through what you eat.
Happy reading.
Regards,
M.
The Christmas health survival guide
Top ten tips to remain healthy this Christmas
Don’t let ill health ruin your Christmas. What should be a wonderful time of year is easily ruined by aches and pains, allergies, indigestion or migraines. It is so easy to over-indulge when everyone is letting their hair down, but often your body will make it all too obvious that it is not enjoying the effects of your excesses. Most of us will recognise that awful sloth-like feeling of lethargy and general malaise that hits after a few days of full-on Christmas festivities. Too much food, or too much of the wrong food, extra alcohol, no exercise and less sleep all take their toll. If you want to feel and look your best this year, follow my Top Ten Tips for a happy, healthy Christmas:
1. Have yourself a low GL Christmas - follow these golden rules and try some of my low GL Christmas recipes including my Christmas pudding recipe.
2. Exercise restraint – don’t go mad on food and drink you wouldn’t normally eat. Ask yourself if it is really worth the after effects (such as headaches, weight gain, poor sleep)
3. Snack on fruit and nuts rather than crisps and chocolate. If you want a treat, choose Brazil nuts coated in dark chocolate, as the nuts provide plenty of antioxidants and selenium, while good quality dark chocolate (around 70% cocoa solids) is low in sugar and high in magnesium and iron
4. Alcohol – minimise the damage. Drinking too much taxes both the liver and your digestive tract. You can minimise the damage, and any hangover symptoms, by simply supplementing an extra 2,000mg of vitamin C and a heaped teaspoon of glutamine powder, last thing at night with water.Try and also match each alcoholic drink with a glass of water to stay hydrated
5. Don’t stop exercising just because it’s party time. It may be cold and dark in the mornings, but the endorphins released after you go for a run or to the gym more than make up for the rude awakening. Plus, exercise not only helps you control your blood sugar, it also boosts the immune system
6. Follow the Rainbow Rule – make sure your plate is piled high with different coloured fruits and/or vegetables, so that you eat a full spectrum of colours each day. Brightly coloured fruit and veg contain phyto- or plant nutrients that are incredibly important for fighting disease and keeping you looking your best. Satsumas, Brussel sprouts, purple cabbage, cranberries are all classic Christmas foods that offer a range of colours to help keep you healthy
7. Christmas can be inflammatory in more ways than one. Not only can relatives drive you mad, but you are more likely to eat foods that cause inflammation than at other times of the year. Meat, dairy products such as ice cream and brandy butter and milk chocolate, and sugar all produce inflammation in the body, which exacerbates any inflammatory conditions like asthma, eczema and arthritis. Make sure you eat plenty of anti-inflammatory foods like fruit, vegetables, whole grains, oily fish, nuts and seeds to help restore balance
8. Don’t ignore allergies – if you have an IgG intolerance to a food or foods I’m afraid that your immune system doesn’t know that it is Christmas and won’t give you a rest for a few days. The only way to eliminate IgG intolerances is to avoid the allergen for at least 3 months to give your body a chance to repair any damage to the digestive tract and allow your immune system to restore a natural response to the offending food. Don’t undo any good work by ‘having a break’ from avoiding dairy products, or whatever food you have found to cause you problems.
9. Fight infection by upping your intake of superfoods – garlic, ginger, turmeric, shiitake mushrooms and berries are all foods rich in antioxidants that help to keep the immune system functioning to fight off infections
10. Eat cinnamon – not only is the flavour of this spice perfectly suited to seasonal foods like stewed apple and mince meat, a teaspoon of ground cinnamon a day has been shown to help your body deal restore blood sugar balance, to help you cope with any sugary treats
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Quote for Today.
"Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well." - Mahatma Gandhi
Friday, December 7, 2007
Inner Quality: Tech Support
I came across this article on stress – I hope you enjoy it. Getting rid of stress and enjoying the end of the year (holidays – woo hoo).
Ever wonder what’s behind all the increasing stress we experience today? I believe one source is increased bandwidth. In this wireless era of high speed internet, Bluetooth and 24/7 accessibility, a lot of the stress we experience today comes from feeling caught in the middle of an expanding whirlwind of information and the belief that we need to do something about every single bit of it, NOW. Back in the day I managed a multi-million dollar sales territory without voice mail, email or a cell phone. How did we ever get the job done without technology? Well, maybe the smart question is how do we survive with it? I remember a former colleague of mine who would wait 24 hours before responding to the 'urgent' messages he from received from his direct reports. More often than not, he told me, the 'problems' are neither important nor urgent and either get resolved or just go away without his intervention.
I'm not sure if ignoring all incoming information is the best stress solution but I do believe that periodically we need to delete the less important stuff to give the high value, high priority ones more room and energy.
Here are two ways to help you sort, trim, filter, collect, combine or organize what's in front of you and better decide what to do about it.
1. When you're feeling information overload, take a minute to stop your inner dialogue and disengage from the stressful feeling often associated with urgency. Take a couple of deep breaths and then activate a positive feeling*. This will allow your calmer, more balanced self to discern what’s important and needs your attention.
2. Don't become the next link in an ever-growing information chain. Once you have a shorter, more focused list of what should take up your time, use these steps again to make sure you don't perpetuate the turbulence. Ask yourself, "What's the best way to communicate this?" Add value to what you communicate by letting your own common sense guide you as to what to pass on, how to deliver it and who should get it.
*HeartMath's Quick Coherence® technique:Heart focus Heart breathingHeart feeling
Take Care,
M.
Ever wonder what’s behind all the increasing stress we experience today? I believe one source is increased bandwidth. In this wireless era of high speed internet, Bluetooth and 24/7 accessibility, a lot of the stress we experience today comes from feeling caught in the middle of an expanding whirlwind of information and the belief that we need to do something about every single bit of it, NOW. Back in the day I managed a multi-million dollar sales territory without voice mail, email or a cell phone. How did we ever get the job done without technology? Well, maybe the smart question is how do we survive with it? I remember a former colleague of mine who would wait 24 hours before responding to the 'urgent' messages he from received from his direct reports. More often than not, he told me, the 'problems' are neither important nor urgent and either get resolved or just go away without his intervention.
I'm not sure if ignoring all incoming information is the best stress solution but I do believe that periodically we need to delete the less important stuff to give the high value, high priority ones more room and energy.
Here are two ways to help you sort, trim, filter, collect, combine or organize what's in front of you and better decide what to do about it.
1. When you're feeling information overload, take a minute to stop your inner dialogue and disengage from the stressful feeling often associated with urgency. Take a couple of deep breaths and then activate a positive feeling*. This will allow your calmer, more balanced self to discern what’s important and needs your attention.
2. Don't become the next link in an ever-growing information chain. Once you have a shorter, more focused list of what should take up your time, use these steps again to make sure you don't perpetuate the turbulence. Ask yourself, "What's the best way to communicate this?" Add value to what you communicate by letting your own common sense guide you as to what to pass on, how to deliver it and who should get it.
*HeartMath's Quick Coherence® technique:Heart focus Heart breathingHeart feeling
Take Care,
M.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
20 Days to Christmas...
... but even more importantly, 9 days to shut down!!! :-) Who's taking leave over December and who prefers, like me, to rather take leave in March/April when everything is a little quieter and the weather is still good?
Regards,
M.
Regards,
M.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Taking Religion out of Christmas!
Hi, there
Every year my friends and I debate this issue - taking religion out of Christmas. AS a Christian, I celebrate Christmas from a Christian perspective, i.e. the birth of Christ and the salvation of mankind. BUT, it seems to me, that it is rather unfair that the vast majority of our public holidays are Christian based and do not reflect the wider spectrum of our population. I personally feel that each person should be allocated five or six religious days that they can take at significant religious festivals pertinent to their own beliefs. So, in other words, as a Christian, I will use my religious days to celebrate Easter, Christmas, Day of Resurrection, etc. If I was Jewish, I'd use my religious days to celebrate Yom Kippur, etc and if I was a Muslim, I'd use my religious days to celebrate accordingly.
However, I think that Christmas has become so much more than just a Christian holiday, but a day of national celebrations for everyone at a time of year when it is holidays, relaxation and end-of-year shut-down.
After chatting to a few folk of other faiths, they said that if the above system had to be instituted, they'd probably take Christmas off anyway, because they don't see it as a purely Christian celebration.
What are your thoughts? I'd be very interested to hear (and help me win the debate with my friends...;)
Regards,
M.
Every year my friends and I debate this issue - taking religion out of Christmas. AS a Christian, I celebrate Christmas from a Christian perspective, i.e. the birth of Christ and the salvation of mankind. BUT, it seems to me, that it is rather unfair that the vast majority of our public holidays are Christian based and do not reflect the wider spectrum of our population. I personally feel that each person should be allocated five or six religious days that they can take at significant religious festivals pertinent to their own beliefs. So, in other words, as a Christian, I will use my religious days to celebrate Easter, Christmas, Day of Resurrection, etc. If I was Jewish, I'd use my religious days to celebrate Yom Kippur, etc and if I was a Muslim, I'd use my religious days to celebrate accordingly.
However, I think that Christmas has become so much more than just a Christian holiday, but a day of national celebrations for everyone at a time of year when it is holidays, relaxation and end-of-year shut-down.
After chatting to a few folk of other faiths, they said that if the above system had to be instituted, they'd probably take Christmas off anyway, because they don't see it as a purely Christian celebration.
What are your thoughts? I'd be very interested to hear (and help me win the debate with my friends...;)
Regards,
M.
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