The holidays are just around the corner and our calendars are quickly filling in with family commitments and holiday celebrations. The decorations are up and the carollers are singing, reminding us that it’s the most wonderful time of the year. But as our to-do list grows, our pressures mount, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed, both physically and spiritually, and lose sight of the magic of the season.
The holidays offer so many opportunities to overindulge in delicious foods, sweets, and alcohol. It can be a challenging time for our anxieties as we try to create the perfect holiday for our children and our families. As our wellbeing fades into eggnog and sugary treats, our stress increases. It’s hard to enjoy the holidays when you’re tired and not feeling well. Here are some tips to enjoy (survive!) the holidays while maintaining your good health and preserving your sanity 😉
- Breath! Remembering to breathe might sound silly, but when stress or anxiety takes hold, breathing is one of the first things to go. Being mindful of your breath can help keep you centred and calm. Breathe your way through the holidays with deep, nourishing, belly breaths.
- Focus on the love! It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the gifts, the menu, the decorations, and all of the ‘stuff’ that defines the holidays. When you start to feel your stress levels climb, focus on your loved ones. Remind yourself of what IS important –it’s not the perfect gift for your mother-in-law, it really is the time we spend together. The other ‘stuff’ is just the trimmings.
- Sleep! We all need stamina to make it through the holidays, and sleep helps us build it. Sleep is essential for good health, and there is a strong relationship between sleep and mood. Ensuring you and your family get enough sleep throughout the holidays will go a long way in ensuring good health and wellbeing throughout the holidays.
- Stay Hydrated! Staying well hydrated can help fight off the effects of overindulgence and keep your system fighting strong. Drink lots of water and don’t forget to add your greens!
- Digest! Our tummy’s good health is essential to the holidays. Digestive enzymes can help counter the effects of a rich diet. When taken before meals, bitters and supplemental enzymes can ensure proper digestion. Eat slowly, limit your alcohol and sugar intake and avoid eating late at night. Ensure that you have a lot of healthy snacks — nuts and seeds, fresh fruit, and raw veggies — readily available. This can help ensure that you are getting the nutrients your body needs and can help reduce your trips to the desert table.
Balance! Trying to maintain balance can be tricky during the holidays, but with some thought and a little planning, you can make smart choices to help ensure that you more than survive the holidays, you enjoy them!
Wishing you all a very happy, healthy holiday!
Be Happy, Be Well, BHealthy]]>Thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays, bringing together delicious food and family – the perfect combination! There are many ways to make sure your family has a healthy holiday.
To ensure your table is filled with tasty food that is good for you, start with the perfect turkey! Look for a turkey that has been humanely and sustainably raised –a “free-range” turkey means it has spent its days outside grazing. Organic is always a good choice, it tastes better, and has been raised on organic feed, which means less exposure to pesticides, herbicides, hormones, and antibiotics.
You can also consider going meatless and offering a Torfurky! There are a lot of great vegetarian and vegan dishes that can be served for Thanksgiving that are delicious and provide some different options for your guests.
Many elements of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner provide some great health benefits. Cranberry sauce is a mainstay of the Thanksgiving table and the antioxidant rich cranberry is so good for you. The polyphenols found in cranberries have been found to promote a healthy urinary tract and help protect against cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions.
Pumpkins have so many impressive health benefits that they are often considered a super food. Pumpkins are rich in vitamin A, which can help with eye sight, they are naturally rich in phytosterols that have been shown to help reduce cholesterol, beta –carotene can help protect against cancers, vitamin C can help boost your immune system, the list of the pumpkins virtues goes on!
Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of the year to visit your local farmers market. It’s the harvest season and markets offer a variety of fresh veggies and other wonderful treats that are perfect for your Thanksgiving table. We are so lucky to live in an area that offers so many opportunities to visit local farm markets and bring home the goodness of fresh, locally grown food. This year, fill your table with nutritious and delicious food that is grown in your community and celebrate the season with your loved ones. When you buy local, you are supporting our farmers and you are ensuring your family eats quality, nutritious, food, while enjoying the very best of the harvest season.
Here’s to very happy and healthy thanksgiving!
Be Happy, Be Well, BHealthy
]]>As a Mom, I can tell you how important sleep is for my wellbeing and how much more time I would like to sleep every morning. My kids on the other hand, aren’t as convinced about the benefits of sleep and in the summertime –who can blame them!
Longer daylight hours mean more relaxed evenings in our home. We stay outside a little longer, staying up a little later. It’s such a great time to spend as a family, enjoying the outdoors and catching up with friends and neighbours. As summer moves on and the long hot evenings of July give way to the cooler evenings of August, I start to panic when it’s 8:00pm and I notice that my children are still outside playing catch with their Dad. If you are anything like our family, the rules tend to slip in the summertime and we aren’t as fussy about bedtime routines and sleep schedules. As summer slowly slips away, I am reminded of the importance of sleep for my kids’ wellbeing and development and I know it’s time to ease them back into a sleep schedule.
Sleep has so many benefits for children’s development. It promotes growth, helps with their immunity, helps reduce injury, and can help keep them focused and attentive during the school day so they are engaged and ready to learn.
Getting them back on track for September is easy if you’re committed! Experts agree that it’s better to start early so you have time to adjust their bedtime gradually. It’s recommended to move their bedtime up by 15 minutes every couple of days until you reach the desired bedtime. It’s key to remember to move up their bedtime routine as well. Bathing, reading and cuddling should be adjusted to ensure you meet your new time for light’s out. Avoid stimulation before bedtime and limit television and video games, caffeine and sugar, in the hours approaching light’s out. An organized bedroom with toys put away can help create a calm environment for sleep with fewer distractions. Keep bedroom temperatures cooler and for older kids remove all electronics from the room. It can be a challenge when the sound of older kids playing keeps your child up and fighting to be out playing too. A fan, or a white –noise machine with sound settings of rain falling gently, ocean waves, or even a campfire can help provide a soothing soundscape for your child.
Sleep, along with exercise and healthy eating, provides the foundation for all of our good health. It is important for all of our wellbeing, but particularly our children whose development depends on it. Enjoy the last few weeks of our precious summer and sleep easy knowing that you’ll be back on track for September!
Be Happy, Sleep Well, BHealthy
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It’s been hot, so very hot. It’s that sticky, uncomfortable heat that as the temperature soars it becomes increasingly hard to escape it. It’s unbearable outside and becoming a little too warm inside your home too. The air conditioner is running overtime, your lights are out and the curtains are drawn at the peak of the afternoon sun. You are doing everything to keep cool, but the thermostat is still inching upwards and dinnertime is just around the corner. The thought of cooking is making you sweat. So put away the pots and pans and consider a no-cook dinner that is easy on your thermostat and easy on you.
For a simple, no –cook meal, the sandwich is an obvious go-to. There are so many options to choose –from simple breads and fillings to the decadent.
Deli slices, a staple of many of our childhoods, should be consumed sparingly, if at all. A 2015 report from the World Health Organization classifies processed meat — including bacon, hot dogs and deli meats — as carcinogenic. Nitrates, and high levels of saturated fat and sodium definitely do not offer the healthy punch you are looking for. ‘Natural’ cold cuts are often not a better choice. While the nitrates might be naturally occurring, they are still nitrates and some ‘natural’ meat contains similar levels of nitrates as the regular processed meats.
There are many healthy and delicious alternatives to deli meat slices– tuna, hummus with veggies, cheese with arugula, cucumber, and tomato, or left –over grilled chicken tossed with some apples, onions, and mayonnaise. So good and good for you!
Serve your sandwich with a smoothie for some extra protein. Or a simple fruit salad where you choose your own combination of fruit. We like bananas, strawberries, black berries and cantaloupe, cut into small and medium size pieces, arranged in a bowl and topped with a generous scoop of cottage cheese.
Green salads provide endless options as well. Mixed greens or spinach with cucumbers and beets or strawberries, or both, and tossed with almonds and a balsamic vinaigrette. Watermelon and Feta is a great combination and a delicious addition to any salad. Tomatoes, onions, peppers, and cucumber tossed with feta and black pepper is one of our favourites, but when it comes to salads, the ideas really are endless.
When the temperature soars and you’re not up for cooking, embrace it! Use your imagination, flip through some cookbooks, or turn to the Internet to look for some delicious, and nutritious no-cook meals that will nourish your heat stressed body, and will help keep you cool.
Be Happy, Be Well, BHealthy,
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Over the last few decades there has been a shift towards understanding how our health and development are affected by our lifestyle choices. Consumers are increasingly concerned with what is in the everyday products that we use on our children and ourselves, but it can be a challenge understanding the chemical list of ingredients found in our children’s favourite bubble bath. Both parabens and phthalates are ingredients that can be found listed on any number of grooming products in your bathroom. Both have been used for decades and were once considered safe and effective and are now considered potentially dangerous to human health.
Parabens are widely used preservatives found in cosmetics and other personal grooming products like our shampoo, conditioner, body lotions and facial scrubs. They are typically used to limit bacteria growth in products and to increase their shelf life. Phthalates are a group of chemicals that are used to make plastic products softer and more flexible and can be found in a variety of products, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, children’s toys and some cosmetics like nail polish and perfumes. Phthalates can also be used in the plastics used in food preparation and packaging. Both parabens and phthalates have been widely used for decades, but growing health concerns have highlighted the need for more research into their use.
One of the biggest concerns associated with both paraben and phthalate use is endocrine disruption. There is concern that both parabens and phthalates behave like specific hormones in our bodies and interfere with our normal hormonal activity. This disruption may lead to developmental issues like physical abnormalities and fertility problems. Both parabens and phthalates are considered a xenoestrogen – an agent that mimics estrogen in our bodies. Xenoestrogen has been linked to breast cancer and other reproductive issues.
Research into these chemicals and their effect on human development is on going, but consumer concerns have encouraged companies to look into alternatives. Increasingly, there are now options for you to make a safer choice when purchasing products for your family. You can avoid parabens by looking for “paraben-free” products and by looking over the list of ingredients in the products you are considering. Butylparaben, methylparaben and propylparaben are commonly used, but a good rule of thumb is to look for ingredients ending in –paraben.
You can minimize your exposure to phthalates by checking the ingredients on your cosmetic products and avoiding products that contain phthalates. Some foods can also have low levels of phthalates due to leeching from plastics. Using glass containers will help limit this exposure. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, Health Canada currently restricts the levels of DEHP, dibutylphthalate (DBP) and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) allowed in children’s toys. Health Canada also restricts the levels of DINP, diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP) allowed in children’s toys that are likely to be placed in a child’s mouth. Look for toys and children’s products that are made from materials other than plastics. If you aren’t sure what the product is made of, you can always ask the manufacturer. For a more detailed and comprehensive look at parabens, phthalates and other potentially harmful substances you can read more at www.cancer.ca.
Be happy, Be well, BHealthy!
]]>It’s hot and the sun is shining! Our Canadian summers are precious and like most of us you’re probably outside with your family enjoying the beautiful weather before the seasons change. We love spending time outside and with so much sunshine in the forecast, it’s important to practice sun safety.
Since the 1970’s, skin cancer rates have increased dramatically, melanoma rates have tripled over the past three decades. There is no debate that the risks are real and that we need to actively prevent sun exposure to help minimize the risks of sun damage. There are small changes we can make that will help minimize exposure, prevent sun damage and help protect you and your family.
Plan your day! Minimize your UV exposure by planning your day around the sun’s more harmful rays. Plan your outdoor activity with sun safety in mind. Take your family for a hike in the early morning. Go to the park in the late afternoon for a tea party picnic. A perfect schedule for planning an afternoon siesta!
Stay covered! Seek shade and invest in a portable sun umbrella for your family’s trips to the beach or your daughter’s baseball tournament. Wearing long, loose fitting clothing can help prevent sun damage. A wide brimmed hat is best for protecting your head, face and neck and sunglasses are important to help protect your eyes from harmful UV rays. The Environmental Working Group says simply by covering up and protecting your skin from the sun’s UV rays you can reduce your risk of sun damage by 27%. And when it comes to the sun, every little bit helps!
Wear sunscreen! Using sunscreen is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure adequate protection, but trying to determine which sunscreen to use can be confusing. Here are a few qualities to keep in mind:
- Consider mineral based sunscreens using zinc oxide and titanium dioxide — both are stable in sunlight and offer a good balance of protection from the two types of ultraviolet radiation (UVA and UVB).
- Consider sunscreen that don’t contain potentially harmful additives like oxybenzone, a hormone disruptor, or retinyl palmitate, a form of vitamin A that may harm skin when it interacts with the sun.
- Consider the SPF number and that higher isn’t always better. High SPF numbers may be misleading in that they don’t necessarily offer greater protection above SPF 50 and may lead you to spend more time in the sun than your SPF protection actually affords you.
- Consider broad-spectrum protection that will protect against sunburn from the sun’s UVB rays, but will also filter UVA rays that are now considered harmful as well.
A good resource for information regarding sunscreen is the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) annual Sunscreen Guide. First published in 2007, EWG’s consumer guide on sunscreen has helped inform consumers about the use of sunscreen and what to look for in a good one. Check it out!
I hope you enjoy the sunshine and practice sun safety!
Be happy, be well, BHealthy
]]>It’s a big world out there and even bigger in the green universe of natural health care. With so many green and natural products in the marketplace it can be overwhelming and a little intimidating to make confident choices. When purchasing natural health care products there is so much more to consider than just the price. Is it allergen free? Free from harsh chemicals? Is it Non-GMO, Certified Organic? Vegan? Is it safe? What does it all mean for my health, the environment, and my pocketbook? There are so many considerations that it sometimes might just be easier to move on to the next grocery shelf that is offering something you recognize in a language you understand. We want to change this. The BHealthy Blog wants to be your trusted source for information, guidance, and lifestyle tips on how to live naturally – a space where we can share thoughts and ideas and maybe even have a little fun! We want to start a conversation that can inspire and inform and create a forum where we can discover new ideas. We want to help you understand natural health care a little better to help you make your choices a little easier. Above all else, we want to help you be healthy and live well. Please join us on this journey!
Be happy, Be well, BHealthy!!
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