Have you ever wondered what simple things you can do to improve your health and wellness and how, if you make changes, they will actually impact your life?
Nora Tobin, performance enhancement and executive coach, nutrition specialist and CEO of Nora’s Naturals Coffee, shares how implementing these 4 pillars of sustainable and actionable wellness into our lives can turn them around:
Pillar #1: Make Small, Yet Impactful Nutritional Upgrades
There are a number of factors that could limit our daily energy, but a few of the most influential ones include insulin response, mold toxins and artificial oils/sprays on our foods. Insulin is a chemical process in the body that helps to control blood sugar after eating/drinking. When we ingest too much sugar and processed foods, there is too much insulin release in the bloodstream which results in weight gain and imbalance of energy.
Mold toxins and sprays can be found in foods that are grown in an industrial setting where there is a need to make a lot all at once, such as processed meats, some wheat products, and processed dairy. This leads to inflammation in the body, depletion of energy, and brain fog.
Quick ways to upgrade your daily routine to avoid the above:
- Swap processed snacks with nuts, olives, berries, avocado, hard organic cheeses
- Swap soda for green tea, coffee, club soda with citrus
- Cut out all foods that contain corn, sunflower, and safflower oils
- If you drink coffee, make sure you are getting healthy coffee!
Pillar #2: Set Yourself Up For Quality Sleep
Sleep is one of the most powerful tools for recovery, fat burning and clarity of thought. While we sleep, leptin and ghrelin hormones of hunger balance, cellular repair takes place and insulin levels come down. The glymphatic turns out, which sends cerebral spinal fluid through the brain, flushing out plaque and toxins. Sleep is a master when it comes to cognitive cleaning, muscle repair and hormonal balance.
Quick ways to upgrade sleep:
- Set room temperature to 68 degrees or below
- Turn off screens or shift to night mode at least 30-minutes before bedtime
- Include natural sleep supplements in your diet: cava, magnesium, and reishi
Pillar #3: Incorporate 20-Minutes of Movement
Any type of exercise will have a number of physical and mental benefits. This includes slowing down the release of stress hormones, elevating metabolism to burn fat more efficiently, improving deeper stages of sleep, and boosting the production of hormones responsible for mental wellbeing.
As exercise specifically relates to immunity, there are a few additional ways this practice can greatly improve your wellbeing. Exercise immunology focuses on the ability to regulate the immune system through exercise, and slow down the effects of aging. Recent studies conducted by the Journal of Sport and Health Science show that immunity can be remodeled during the aging process. Daily exercise has resulted in a lower inflammatory response to bacterial change, longer telomere lengths.
Quick ways to upgrade your workout regime:
- Interval training- pick any movement like squats or jumping jacks- apply speed to it (30 seconds as fast as possible, 30 seconds off- repeat for 10 rounds). Add coffee before exercise to increase fat burning.
- Listen to a podcast while taking a fast 20-minute walk
- Perform one minute of movement at the top of each hour during the workday
- Add in heavy weights to any fitness routine to accelerate the body’s natural fat-burning power
Pillar #4: Improve Gut Health
The gut microbiome is genetic material made up of bacteria, fungi and other elements that aid in digestion, regulation of the immune system and protection of pathogens. A staggering 90% of our serotonin (satisfaction hormone) is made in our gut! Once the serotonin is made it is transferred directly to the brain through the vagus nerve that runs along the spinal cord. There are a few things that occur, which hinders this process:
1. The lack of healthy bacteria and high inflammation in the gut makes it more difficult to process enough serotonin.
2. Environmental toxins and physical/mental stress create blockages in the pathway of the vagus nerve. The more stress and toxins in our daily life, the less likely enough serotonin will be delivered to the brain. If the vagus nerve is not transferring the crucial hormone for happiness to the brain, we are not going to feel good (no matter how many ice cream sundaes we eat).
Quick ways to upgrade gut health:
- Incorporate probiotics into the diet: sweet potatoes, plantains, leeks, onions, asparagus and fermented foods (sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt, kefir)
- Again, make sure that the coffee you’re drinking is healthy and sustainable
- Reduce the use of processed sugar (very inflammatory to the gut)
- Lower stress with any type of daily meditation, yoga, deep breathing or technology-free walks
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