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Toxins – 5 Ways To Reduce Them In Your Home

October 16, 2016 By admin

So you’ve heard about detoxing your body to eliminate internal toxins but what about your home?

The common household and body-care products we use are increasingly being found to have negative health effects on the nervous, immune, reproductive systems, endocrine, cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

The average home contains 500-1,000 chemicals, many of which we are unable to see, smell or taste. Making your home healthier and greener doesn’t have to be expensive, or overwhelming.

Just a few changes can improve the health of your home and everyone in it.

Taking more care to reduce our exposure to external toxins, by detoxing our living space allows the body’s own detoxification to function more efficiently.

Strengthening your body’s resilience to the daily onslaught of toxins impacts your health.

Here are a few ways you can you cut down your exposure to these chemicals and other potential household risks.

Mistake ♯ 1. Plastic bottles, containers and wrap. Plastic releases chemicals that are hormone disruptors, according to many studies.

What to do instead: If you use a lot of bottled water consider this, they’re no good for the environment and bad for your health. Try replacing your plastic for glassware or heavy duty plastic water bottles which are designed to be safely used, again and again. Avoid putting hot or acidic food in plastic, and never microwave them.

Mistake ♯ 2. Even if you live in a place where drinking water is considered good the following contaminants are not usually removed – chlorine, E. coli, pesticides.

What to do instead: Filtered tap water is a better choice than tap water. Simply filtering your tap water can remove lots of these pollutants. A simple jug water filter system may be all you need for drinkable water. There are also filters that attach to a tap or to the plumbing system.

It’s a ‘better safe than sorry’ approach.” You’ll also cut down on waste in landfills by not buying – and then tossing – plastic bottles.

Mistake ♯ 3. Skip antibacterial soap, new research has also shown that triclosan, the main ingredient in antibacterial soap, has the potential to affect sex hormones and interfere with the nervous system.

Antibacterial products contain harsh chemicals like triclosan, which has been linked to liver toxicity and ends up in water sources.

What to do instead: Studies show washing your hands with plain soap is just as effective or try making your own antibacterial spray using tea tree and lavender essential oils they have powerful antibacterial and antiviral properties.

Some researchers believe that the quest for hyper-cleanliness may have led to weakened immune systems, and possibly to more cases of asthma and allergies.

Mistake ♯ 4. Indoor air quality can be worse than outdoors, let your home “breathe.” Open your windows as often as you can, open your curtains and let in the sunlight, a natural antibacterial agent.

Plants that remove toxins in your homeWhat to do instead: Use natures air purifiers – plants.

While most plants take away oxygen at night, the snake plant (or Mother-In-Laws Tongue) gives off oxygen at night, it is extremely low maintenance, tolerant of irregular watering and less lighting, and has the potential to absorb airborne chemicals.

Mistake ♯ 5. Wearing outdoor shoes around your home, particularly relevant if you have a lot of carpets or small children crawling on the floor.

What to do instead: Leave your shoes at the door so that you’re not spreading outdoor pollutants and additional toxins throughout the house. Go barefoot or wear slippers. Place floor mats vertically by your entryways to wipe your shoes. This way more dirt and residue from your shoes stays on the mat. This is the easiest thing you can do, and costs you nothing.

Something else to consider: Is your body trying to tell you something? Do you often look & feel tired, have dark circles under your eyes, or wake up feeling sluggish?

Because Toxins are unavoidable, maybe your body needs a cleanse. So every once in a while it’s a good idea remove them with the structure and support of a fresh food detox!

 


If you’re struggling with any kind of hormone imbalance, tiredness, low energy or wanting to lose your excess weight. I’ve  put together a FREE guide for you, so you can start to learn how and why specific foods, and drinks, can help you have more energy and lose weight naturally. 

You’ll find it is easy to add these ingredients into your diet on a daily basis – get your downloadable guide here

In fact, at the end, I’m going to share one simple recipe you can make in under five minutes that incorporates all of these foods.

5foods-loss-weight

Get your copy of the FREE guide:
5 Foods that will help boost Your Energy Levels and Lose Weight Naturally.

HERE

This Love Your Body Detox Program will take you step-by-step through a simple detox that will make a huge difference in how you feel and look – in just 14 days!

Find out more HERE

 

 

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: Anti-viral, cleanse, detox, detoxification, Liver, toxins, Womans health

Stress, Cortisol & Weight Gain

September 8, 2016 By admin

Do You Need To Flip Off The Cortisol – Stress Switch?

Over the last 40 years rates of depression, anxiety, stress and insomnia have soared and the World Health Organisation is saying that these problems are the biggest threat to our health.

Stress releases cortisol in your body, and of course cortisol has both a positive and negative effect on your body.  We wouldn’t survive if it wasn’t for the positive effect of cortisol.Reduce stress

Cortisol is the main stress hormone that is made in your adrenal glands and it’s designed to get you out of danger, you feel the positive vibe of cortisol and adrenalin– releasing extra energy, getting you focused, it raises blood sugar (to feed muscles fight or flight), raises blood pressure, and modulates your immune function.

Unfortunately many of us live with chronic daily stresses and so live with constantly high cortisol levels and your body ceases to experience the positive aspects of cortisol and if these high levels are sustained this is when the problems start occurring.

Stress is triggered by a huge range of psychological factors and external events. We can become stressed by relationships, by work, by finances, and by our thoughts of what we think may or may not have happened.

Daily stress of any sort sends your bodies into the “fight or flight” mode, releasing adrenaline and cortisol.

Cortisol releases extra energy for us to deal efficiently with the physical effort involved in fighting or fleeing, but when that effort doesn’t come, the extra energy (in the form of glucose and fat) just gets re-deposited as fat – around the middle.

Why there?  It’s close to the liver where it can quickly be converted back into energy when needed.

A lean man or woman of normal weight can even have to much fat around the centre of their bodies as a result of the stress hormone – cortisol.

Fat cells in the belly have four times more cortisol receptors compared to fat cells elsewhere.

A study done by Nuffield Health found that women with thicker waists are at higher risk of various cancers as well as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

If you have a high level of stress then you will be particularly at risk of the dreaded muffin top and stress keeps feeding the muffin top as your cortisol stays high.How-To-Get-Rid-Of-Muffin-Top-In-2-Weeks

Increased abdominal fat, is associated with more health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body.

There’s another hormone that is released due to stress. High levels of blood sugar released by cortisol, trigger the pancreas to release the hormone insulin.

This tells your body to store fat and triggers a craving for something sweet and fatty like chocolate.  So rest assured that it is
not just weakness that draws you towards the fridge – it’s physical urge.

Abdominal fat cells have many receptors for cortisol, if you’re very stressed and have high levels of cortisol, your abdominal fat cells will be calling out for it, encouraging your body to store more fat there, which explains why fat accumulates so readily in that part of the body.

For a start you can control your blood sugar roller coaster and this will help reduce the amount of stress hormones that are being released and helping you feel calmer in yourself.

High or Excessive cortisol levels can create a broad range of undesirable side effects:

Physical Signs

Emotional 
Signs

Additional

Signs

-Muscle weakness

-Chronic fatigue

-Obesity

–Digestive problems

-Excess belly fat

– Nervousness
– Anxiety
– Depression
– Irritability
– Craving carbs
– Insomnia
– Difficulty falling asleep

= Emotional over-eaters

– Illness after completing a project
– Sick on vacation
– Mental preoccupation with a  stressful event

6 things you can do straight away to support yourself and balance your cortisol levels

Stress relieving food
1) Eat fresh, healthy food as close as possible to the original source. Loads of veggies. Avoid refined carbs and sugar.

2) Find out which supplements can support you –

Certain nutrients such as the B vitamins, vitamin C, magnesium and essential fatty acids can be extremely helpful if stress is a problem as they will help boost the functioning of your adrenal glands.

You should be getting these nutrients from your healthy diet but if you are under stress you might want to add in more B vitamins, found in nuts and whole grains, essential fats found in oily fish, nuts and seeds, and plenty of vitamin C found in vimages-15eggies & fruit.

When you’re stressed you use more vitamin C and magnesium than at any other time, and it is vital for keeping your immune system strong.  Women who are deficient in the antioxidant mineral selenium, also experience feelings of depression and anxiety.  Selenium if found in fish and shellfish, whole grains, avocados.

3) Use natures’ own plant medicine –  nervine and adaptogen herbs like Scuttelaria, Passiflora, Ginseng or Rhodiola.

4) Get your cortisol levels tested. Know your levels and measure – where are they to high or to low? These can easily be addressed with the proper support.

5) Exercise –  is good and changes the levels of hormones in the blood and it can elevate the mood, affecting brain chemicals. Find time to do simple exercise daily.

6) Deep, long  and restful sleep is essential for recharging your energy levels. A proper sleep relaxes both your body and the mind. It will improve your mood and give you the ability to deal with daily stress.

7) Spending time in fun, positive environments to boost your ‘feel good’ hormones – with your family and friends, spend some time close to nature.

8) You need to get out of the sympathetic mode (fight or flight and stress) and as often as you can into the parasympathetic mode (rest and digest i.e. calm, relaxed). Try breathing exercises, meditation, pilates, walking in nature, yoga and prayer. There are several scientific studies that provide solid information about the physical and psychological health benefits of meditation and prayer.

Stress and relaxation

Dr. Herbert Benson, a cardiovascular specialist at Harvard Medical School and a pioneer in the field of mind/ body medicine discovered what he calls “the relaxation response,” which occurs during periods of prayer and meditation. At such times, the body’s metabolism decreases, the heart rate slows, blood pressure goes down, and our breath becomes calmer and more regular.

The body responds with slower brain waves, and feelings of control, tranquil alertness and peace of mind. This is significant because Benson estimates that over half of all doctor visits in the U.S. are prompted by illnesses, like depression, high blood pressure, ulcers and migraine headaches, that are caused at least in part by elevated levels of stress and anxiety.

If you are still scratching your head, don’t let it discourage you!!! It can take time to learn and get in the swing of things.

 


If you’re struggling with any kind of hormone imbalance, tiredness, low energy or wanting to lose your excess weight. I’ve  put together a FREE guide for you, so you can start to learn how and why specific foods, and drinks, can help you have more energy and lose weight naturally. 

You’ll find it is easy to add these ingredients into your diet on a daily basis – get your downloadable guide here

In fact, at the end, I’m going to share one simple recipe you can make in under five minutes that incorporates all of these foods.

5foods-loss-weight

Get your copy of the FREE guide:
5 Foods that will help boost Your Energy Levels and Lose Weight Naturally.

HERE

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: Balanced diet, belly fat, cortisol, emotions, fatigue, Herbs, hormones, insomnia, Liver, muffin top, Stress lowering, sugar, weight gain

Are you taking good care of yourself?

July 26, 2016 By admin

My question for you today:- Are you taking good care of yourself and where are you on your to-do list?

We all need gentle reminders about prioritising some aspect of our well-being – it might be something we’ve let slip, forgotten about or something important has come up diverting our attention elsewhere.

The analogy below isn’t a new one but I do believe it’s exactly what we need reminding of from time to time.

When they run through the safety drill on the airplane the crew usually say something along these lines – ‘In the event that there is a change in air pressure for any reason, when the oxygen mask light goes on put the mask on yourself first, then help others’.

This way you will be stronger, breathing of course and more capable of helping others, especially those closest to you. This analogy can be applied to our daily lives too. You need to take care of yourself so you take care of those around you – your family, your friends, your home, your business – all in the best possible way.

Too often we let ourselves get to the point where we are stressed, tired, irritable, unfit, ill and neglecting the most important thing in the world – YOURSELF.

With the busy lives we lead, taking care of yourself is more important than ever – yet it’s often the last thing on our to do lists.

Ask yourself these questions to see how well you are taking care of yourself?

1. If I need help in any area of my life, I ask for it.

2. Every day I do something physical even if it’s just a walk around the block or a 15-minute workout.

3. I eat healthily & mindfully and take the time to enjoy my meals. I eat when I eat.

4. I think positively. I talk positively to myself first and foremost.

5. I’m learning to say no when I need or want to.

6. I remember to breathe. Take a few slow deep breaths now.

7. If I’m experiencing physical symptoms, I go to the appropriate health care professional. I don’t ignore them.

8. I get enough sleep most nights.

9. I value my personal relationships and give them the time and energy they need and deserve.

10. I choose healthy ways to relieve stress like breathing, meditation, yoga, outdoors, pilates, tai chi or whatever takes you away from stress and gives you time out. I spend time outdoors.

11. I recognize the importance of breaks during the day, as well as vacations.

12. I listen to and respect my feelings.

13. Have you smiled or laughed today – it is the best medicine!

If you answered no to some of these, you may want to take an honest look at the impact your personal choices may be having on your health and causing you this extra stress. The key to self care is keeping things balanced and ensuring you’re not too heavily weighted towards one thing more than another whether it’s relationships, your health, your business or work.

A great place to get a jumpstart your health and you’ll have all your meal plans,  weekly shopping lists and quick & easy recipes, along with simple steps to prep and store for the week. On this 14-day detox you get all the tools for eating healthy, without any deprivation.

Find out more HERE

love-your-body-detox-square-postIf we haven’t met, I’m Sue Hardman, a Naturopath & Health Coach and founder of Nourish & Rejuvenate  where I coach my clients to create a happy, healthy, balanced life in a way that is fun, flexible and free of deprivation and denial.

I developed this 14-Day simple detox to revolutionise the way you think about food, and reshape your body from the inside out!

This program will explore what foods work best (and which don’t) to give you optimum energy, kickstart changes in your body, and reduce your waistline.

This Love Your Body Detox Program will take you step-by-step through a simple detox that will make a huge difference in how you feel and look – in just 14 days!

Find out more HERE

 

 

Filed Under: blog

Simple, Essential Advice For A Healthy Life

June 30, 2016 By admin

With all the different advice out there it can get confusing sometimes – what to eat, what to drink, what exercise and which supplements to take?

I love digging into information, learning and staying up to date on new findings about what will help us feel and age well.  I’ve also realised how complicated we can make it and with the information overload we end up never actually making any of the changes. We end up stuck, despite what we know is good for us.

Information changes lives and then there are the questions:

  • How can I add more good oils to my day, I know they’re good for my brain, skin and keeping my hormones balanced?
  • If I do add butter, olive or coconut oil to my diet, will I think better but put on weight?
  • How much exercise should I do and what kind?
  • Will I feel the effects of gluten and bread, and will I pay for the indulgence?
  • Will a glass of red wine every night help me live longer and healthier?

One of the world’s leading experts in aging, Dr. Bill Andrews says two things:

  1. Happiness is the key to healthy ageing i.e. longer telomeres
  2. He doesn’t drink alcohol (but he doesn’t discourage it)

Let’s go with his model – at least #1 – happiness and then #2 well…..even though studies show how drinking a glass of red wine every day can help with anything from heart health to preventing Alzheimer’s. My theory is this study was highly likely done on men, because like a lot of woman I know It can make me happy for a very short period of time and then the immediate negative effects start to outweigh the long term positives – like poor sleep, feeling cranky, stuffy head, achy joints and hot flashes.

So my advice to my clients is to keep it simple and follow these rules, laugh a lot – definitely …..and also notice what works for you.

The Simple Advice For You To Follow:-

  • Find what makes you happy and do that
  • Eat locally grown, real foods. The life in food gives us life – #foodismedicine
  • Eat the colours of the rainbow every day
  • Stick to the fresh produce aisle in the grocery store. Choose organic
  • Plan ahead. Be prepared. Carry food with you
  • Eat within an hour of waking and every 5 hours
  • Stop eating 3 hours before bed
  • Eat a protein, fat and carbohydrate together to balance hormones
  • Sit less, walk more and work on your flexibility
  • Eat 8-10 portions fruit & veg per day. 5 veggies: 3 fruit
  • Eat healthy protein at each meal: Grass fed meats, free range chicken, eggs, line caught oily fish
  • Eat healthy fats at each meal: nuts/seeds, coconut oil, olive oil, butter, ghee, avocado
  • Respect your own biochemical uniqueness
  • Make your meals yummy and delicious with herbs, spices, and good quality sea salt
  • Make stress reduction a daily priority
  • Get good quality sleep for at least 7- 8 hours a night
  • Drink clean flouride/chlorine free water – get a filter rather than drinking from plastic bottles

 

Take the time to notice how you feel and what makes you feel great and what doesn’t? Self awareness is also part of your journey and allows you to make better choices and slowly over time, you’ll figure out what makes you feel the way you want to feel, more of the time.

 

Filed Under: blog

Herbal Teas – kitchen healing essentials

May 17, 2016 By admin

FullSizeRender-3Nothing like a good cuppa tea to sort out the problems of the world. My grandmother loved her tea and it was the first thing we’d do when we visited her, I do miss being able to sit down and share a pot of tea with her.

Who meets for a cup of tea these days? It seems we’re all more likely to meet for a coffee. But, a cup of tea is so much more than just about the socialising. I wanted to share with you how ‘just’ a cup of tea could be one of THE most simple ‘healing’ tools that you could have in your kitchen. I know you might say, it’s only a cup of tea!

Research studies and ancient eastern traditions show that herbal teas can have the most positive effect on supporting you with illness, ailments and for ensuring optimum health.

As a herbalist and lover of simple, effective, quick and easy solutions there are some essential herbal teas in my kitchen for when first aid is needed – either to settle a sore or nervous tummy, insomnia, anxiety, cramps, heartaches, the beginnings of a cold or flu, bloating, indigestion and even PMT.

Be sure to stock up on chamomile, rose, peppermint, cinnamon and ginger teas for your home and then you’ll be covered with the basics. Of course you05_05_10_01_12_chamomile-bsp-150x150 need to know which one to use when and you may have be unaware of some of the other things these common herbal teas can be useful for. Chamomile is calming but so much more, peppermint for wind and so much more, ginger for nausea and so much more…..

Fresh grated ginger is one of my personal favourites, it has an amazing taste and is more than a treatment for nausea, which many pregnant women can attest to. It’s one of the foundation herbs used in Ayurvedic and TCM and it’s brilliant for balancing your digestion, great to have before a meal to boost the ‘fire in your tummy’ to help digest your food and get the nutrients you need.  I would say most of us would benefit from drinking warming ginger, daily.

I love having a flask of ginger tea ready to drink at anytime, during the day. Ginger is one of the most researched herbs (along with turmeric) and it has many uses, it’s anti-viral too – so brilliant for colds or flu. Herbalists consider it a universal medicine with multi-healing properties that benefits everybody and all diseases. With ginger think – digestion, lungs and circulation.

Chamomile is most commonly considered a calming tea, but herbalists call it the ‘Mother of the gut’. I found this tea to be particularly useful when ever we have tummy upsets because it works on the nervous system found in your gut or as we like to call it the – ‘second brain’. Think tummy aches from unknown causes, IBS and when someone is nervous about something and have that tight feeling in their tummy. Chamomile excels at treating what is commonly known as a “nervous stomach”, which generally implies digestive upset alongside anxiety, nervous tension.

That aromatic component from Chamomile’s high essential oil content, has a specific relaxing, calming effect on your nervous system and can be helpful for insomnia, cough, bronchitis, cold or fever, gas, gut cramping and mild constipation. .

iStock_heart_of_rosesxSmallRose – heals the heart, balances hormones and is uplifting. It’s a bitter, cooling herb so it can help with headaches and inflammation. Used in combination with other herbs it adds beauty and colour to a blend.

I often recommend rose tea for PMT, periods that are painful, excessive or irregular and if there is an underlying nervousness, sadness or grief the role of rose is nourishing on the nervous system. It has a calming effect on the emotions and as it has an affinity for the heart. It’s often used in times of sadness and grief.

Peppermint – a great pick-me up if you ever need an alternative to coffee. It’s full of aroma that awakens the senses helpful in congestion in the head, use as a hot tea to cause sweating with colds and flu. Useful when there is a lot of mucous. It can lift feelings of emotional ‘heaviness’ and relieves the symptoms of abdominal gas, bloating, muscle spasms and nausea (without vomiting).  Peppermint tea can also be made using fresh herbs from the garden’and it’s one of the easiest herbs to grow.

Researchers from the University’s Department of Psychology have found that drinking peppermint tea improves alertness, while chamomile tea has a calming effect. These findings were presented at the annual British Psychological Society Conference in Nottingham this week (26-28 April 2016).

Cinnamon – useful for poor circulation, colds, flu and a bout of diarrhoea but among this spice’s most impressive health benefits is its ability to cinnamonreduce your sugar cravings. By controlling blood sugar levels you can prevent spikes after meals, normalise your blood sugar levels and improve glucose control.

Cinnamon has more antioxidants than many so-called antioxidant foods, like-for-like. For example, one teaspoon of cinnamon has as much antioxidant capacity as a full cup of pomegranate juice or a half-cup of blueberries. Two of the main types of cinnamon, are Cassia and Ceylon. A better option for taste and health is Ceylon cinnamon (also called Sri Lanka cinnamon or “true cinnamon”).

I recommend that you drink herbal teas because it’s a fantastic and safe way to maintain your health over time. Consistent tea drinking gives your body what it needs in doses that it can handle.

Teas are a really wonderful way to boost your body’s hydration, and because we’re made of 65-80 percent water, the constituents that hot (and cold) water pulls out of the herbs are really absorbable for us. Each herb has a myriad of actions so it isn’t hard to come up with a tasty blend that does a lot of good in your body.

Don’t miss any future blog posts, be sure to sign up here  or HERE – in the sign-up boxes. 

 

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: anti-inflammatory, Anti-viral, antioxidant, ayurveda, Blood sugar, Bronchitis, chamomile, Cinnamon, Colds, Cough, Digestion, emotions, Flu, ginger, Headache, Herbal First Aid, herbal tea, Herbs, hormone balancing, IBS, immune system, insomnia, Natural Medicine, peppermint, Plant medicine, Plant Medicine 101, rose, sugar cravings

Boost Your Immunity and Keep Healthy All Year Round

April 8, 2016 By admin

Prevent Colds, Flu’s or Any Other Bugs

They say the average adult gets 2 to 3 colds each year. If you want to avoid being the average adopt some of these simple strategies and you can reduce your susceptibility, protect yourself and your family.

1. Keep your gut healthy

As about 80% of your immune system is in your ‘gut’, it’s essential to keep this healthy.

A healthy gut maintains a balance between beneficial and pathogenic bacteria of about 85 percent ‘good’ to 15 percent ‘bad’.

To maintain a healthy GUT eat mostly fresh, high fiber, raw fruits, nuts, and vegetables, especially greens. This promotes a slightly alkaline (pH 7.2 to 7.4) inner terrain that discourages pathogenic bacteria from thriving.

Focus on eating fermented foods like – sauerkraut or take a daily probiotic supplement which will provide your gut with beneficial bacteria to keep it healthy.

2. Load Up On Fruits and Vegetables
Ensure you fresh fruit & vegetables – at least 8-10 portions a day. Why? They contain loads of antioxidants that help your body fight off colds/flu and all other illnesses.

So for example sweet potatoes or carrots are loaded with carotene, which your body either turns into Vitamin A or uses as antioxidants. There are also plenty of other fruits and vegetables that will help bolster your immune system – anything with high antioxidants like beta-carotenes and vitamins C and E are going to help.

This table shows you which foods are high in which Vitamins for stronger immune systems:-

Vitamin C Beta-carotene Vitamin E
Foods Berries
Broccoli
Kiwi
Mangoes
Sweet potatoes
Snow peas
Peppers
Cauliflower
Apricots
Asparagus
Kale
Mangos
Broccoli
Grapefruit
Nectarines
Spinach
Sweet Potatoes
Carrots
Corn
Tomatoes
Peaches
Greens
Mustard and turnip greens
Broccoli
Carrots
Red peppers
Spinach
Chard
Nuts
Papaya
Pumpkin
Sunflower seeds

Every day, try to eat the following items:
· A large salad with lettuce and other greens, tomatoes and raw vegetables, or ensure that both lunch and dinner include a large salad or a cooked green vegetable and add mushrooms, garlic and onions.
· One serving of beans/legumes, try them in a soup.
· At least three pieces of fresh fruit (strawberries, pomegranate, cherries, plums, citrus e.g. oranges).
· A handful of nuts and seeds.
· Large serving of green vegetables.
· Eat more white protein (chicken, fish, turkey ) and oily fish and try to keep animal products to a minimum
– Avoid processed, cured or barbecued meats.

3. Avoid Sugar!!!
This is big one as sugar suppresses your immune system. This is because sugar limits the amount of bacteria your white blood cells can defend against. Though research supporting this theory has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. If you do struggle with a sweet tooth – use some simple tricks like eating more cinnamon. Literally dip your finger in some and do this every time. Plus cinnamon is as it happens loaded with antioxidants.

4. Avoid Stress
Stress weakens our immune systems, when you’re stressed your body releases stress hormones that suppress the effectiveness of the immune system. The more stressed you are, the more stress hormones are released, and the likelier you are to get sick. Do whatever you can to reduce your stress levels – get enough sleep, get enough exercise (which is itself a great way to reduce stress), meditate regularly to relax and still your thoughts, and reserve some time to have fun once in a while. Try adaptogen herbs, nature’s amazing answer to stress relief.


5. Keep moving (especially when your don’t have a cold)

Exercise can keep you from getting sick by stimulating the immune cells that target cold infections. A University of South Carolina study found that people who walked or did other moderate activity for 30 minutes most days averaged one cold per year, while less-active folks reported more than four colds per year.

Don’t overdo it: Heavy exertion—like marathon training—may increase your risk of catching seasonal bugs, perhaps because it can stress the body’s systems, allowing viruses to gain a foothold.

Final Word

Get into the habit and add these 5 steps to your routine because you can prevent illness or most definelty reduce your chances of getting ill.

I’ve really made a conscious effort of making sure I clean the shopping trolleys handles or my hands afterwards, as a simple thing like washing your hands regularly when you’re out can reduce your exposure. Of course, eating right and getting enough sleep really do make a difference. If you do one step further you can add herbal extracts and vitamins to your daily routine to help you avoid getting sick.

Because my husband and I are both self-employed, we don’t get days off sick. So, we have extra incentive to stay healthy.

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Filed Under: blog

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