health insider: HOW TO STAY WELL THIS WINTER

IT’S THE TIME OF THE YEAR WHEN THE COMMON COLD CAN LEAVE YOU {LOOKING AND} FEELING BLERGH.
Dietician, Simone Austin, shares her wellness tips to keep you feeling happy & healthy this winter…

1. Load up on Vitamin C. Vitamin C is a heavy lifter in fighting symptoms of cold and important for the immune system and should be consumed daily. Look beyond an orange – lemons, capsicums, berries, kiwifruit, parsley and persimmons are all high in vitamin C. Squeeze lemon over green veggies or your salad, cut parsley into your chicken soup and enjoy some cherry tomatoes for a snack.

2. Your winter coat. In the cooler months we stay indoors more and therefore we move less. We crave comfort foods and more of them and this combination can see the kilograms stack on. Keeping this in mind, here are a few strategies that might help prevent unwanted weight gain:
* EAT NUDE – leave your clothes on, but have food without packaging. Most food without packaging is unprocessed and usually fruit and vegetables based. This cuts out high fat, high sugar, low nutrient food, like biscuits, chips and takeaway foods.
* MAKE HEALTHY COMFORT FOODS like stews, soups and casseroles with lean meats, loads of vegetables and maybe some legumes.

3. Herbs and spice and all things nice. Herbs and spices are packed with a range of antioxidants, which help prevent the risk of disease and maintain overall health. One super-spice is ginger and it can easily be added raw, sliced or grated to vegetable dishes, vegetable juices or in powder form in sweet foods. It may help improve digestion.

4. Sleep deep. Sufficient sleep is much more important than we realise – sleep helps the body rejuvenate and repair. You can improve your sleep quality by watching your diet and remembering that alcohol, caffeine and late night large volume eating can make getting to sleep more difficult. Spread your food intake out evenly throughout the day and minimise the alcohol and late night caffeine.

{Pic: Pinterest}