Top Tips For Staying Healthy During The Seasonal Shift

As the summer months fade and cooler weather begins to settle in, it’s crucial to adjust our health routines to stay balanced and energised during the seasonal shift. 

Kate Booker, nutritionist at Nutrition Geeks , offers her expert advice on how to support the body as we transition into autumn. 

Here are some key tips from Kate to maintain optimal health as the days get shorter and the temperatures drop.

• Prioritise Restful Sleep with Magnesium Support: magnesium promotes a restful sleep and supports energy production, which can be great as the days get shorter and colder weather. We ideally want to get 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night. We can optimise sleep by reducing blue light before bed (from screens) and keeping the lights down low. By reducing blue light exposure we can optimise our melatonin levels, which is a hormone that helps us sleep and acts like a potent antioxidant. Poor sleep can lead to blood sugar spikes and crashes the next day. The most nourishing sleep is from 10pm -2am so get to bed early to get the best hours in.

• Boost Brain Function with Lion’s Mane: Lion’s Mane is a medicinal mushroom known to boost brain function and energy. It supports neuron growth, enhances memory, and improves focus. Additionally, it helps combat mental fatigue, making it a great natural aid for cognitive health and vitality.

• Top Up Vitamin D: as the sun becomes less frequent in autumn, it’s important to ensure adequate Vitamin D levels. It’s great to include food forms of vitamin D like egg yolks and fatty fish. Some people can benefit from supplementing with vitamin D throughout the winter months to support their immunity and mood. 

• Embrace Warming Spices for Immune Support: warming spices like ginger, cayenne pepper and turmeric can support our immune defences and add warmth to meals like soups, curries and roasted vegetables. Ginger is great if you’re ill and can help with respiratory infections. Brew a ginger tea with grated fresh ginger, hot water and cover with a lid/ use a tea pot for 15 mins. Curcumin (in turmeric) is anti-inflammatory. You can also supplement turmeric for a more potent dose.

• Breathe Better to Stay Healthy: nasal breathing is the best way to breathe. It also supports your immune system as it filters and warms the air we breathe, reducing infection risk as the nasal passage can trap pathogens. Stress supresses the immune system, we want to keep stress to a minimum and use techniques like deep breathing into our bellies and nasal breathing to calm the nervous system. When we use our noses to breathe we communicate safety to our bodies through activation of the vagus nerve. We want to be in rest and digest (most of the time) not fight or flight and this can be one way to do that. Include things daily that help you to reduce your stress levels (mine include chatting to friends, nature, gratitude journaling, hugs and dancing to your favourite songs).

• Get Outdoors for Fresh Air and Natural Light: getting outside, fresh air, natural light which resets our circadian rhythm and promotes a good night’s sleep later that day. Walking is great exercise too. Wrap up and get outside, ideally sunglasses off to get the full spectrum light in your eyes for all the benefits.

• Nourish Your Immune System with Antioxidants: antioxidants support the immune system and are anti-inflammatory. Including organic coffee, berries, green tea and citrus fruit can support our immune system and benefit our gut bacteria.

• Don’t Forget Protein for Immune Defense: protein is key for immunity as amino acids (the building blocks of protein) help us make antibodies which fight off infection. Meat, fish, legumes, beans and eggs are all good sources of protein.

As we prepare for the seasonal shift from summer to autumn, it’s essential to support our bodies with the right nutrients and practices. By following these expert tips from Kate Booker, you can stay healthy, energized, and resilient throughout the colder months.

Website: https://www.nutritiongeeks.co/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nutritiongeeks/

Photo by Artem Polezhaev on Unsplash