Eat Your Way to Wellness
Unless you’re a professional athlete, you really don’t need to beat yourself up for indulging in a few treats here and there; instead, be mindful about what you put into your body, and intentional when it comes to dietary decisions.
And if you’re not sure what any of that means, read on.
The food (and drink) we put into our bodies has a colossal impact on our mental, physical and emotional form. When we’re not properly fuelled, we risk poor mental health, reduced cognitive function, obesity, heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, a worsening of chronic health conditions, and even some types of cancer.
In sharp contrast, consuming the right nutrients – at the right levels – not only arms us with energy, focus, mental clarity and patience; it also helps to slow the natural cognitive decline that comes with ageing.
Nutrition plays a really big role in brain health, but because of our gut-brain axis (the link between our gut and our brain), it also affects how resilient we are to stress, how strong our immune systems are, and how happy we feel – because our digestive system is actually responsible for producing 90% of the body’s serotonin. There’s even a proven link between IBS and depression! It really is that powerful.
But what nutrients matter the most? And what foods are they found in?
Dietary Must-Haves for Maximum Wellbeing
According to High-Performance Sport Dietician Dr Dana Lis, the most important vitamins and minerals for our overall health and wellbeing include:
Vitamin B – found in dairy, meat, fish, shellfish and dark green vegetables
Vitamin C – found in citrus fruits, peppers, strawberries, potatoes, broccoli and blackcurrants
Vitamin D – found in oily fish, liver, egg yolks, red meat and fortified foods
Vitamin E – found in sunflower seeds, almonds, olive oil, spinach and squash
Omega 3 – found in oily fish, nuts, seeds, nut butters and avocados
Calcium – found in dairy, green leafy vegetables and fish bones (sardines and pilchards)
Iron – found in liver, red meat, beans, nuts, dried fruit and fortified breakfast cereals
Zinc – found in meat, shellfish, legumes, seeds, nuts, dairy and eggs
Selenium – found in Brazil nuts, poultry, brown rice, tofu and wholemeal bread
Probiotics – found in fermented foods (kimchi and sauerkraut) and dairy (yoghurt)
Why They Matter
Throughout the pandemic, healthy levels of Vitamin D were reported to reduce the risk of Covid. But being outside on a few sunny days isn’t enough to give you the boost your body needs, so it’s really important to supplement during the winter months.
B-Vitamins are essential for memory; so much so that Dr Dana Lis carries them in her professional athlete concussion kit! If you’re concerned that you’re not getting enough B-Vitamins through your diet, consider supplementing with a B-Vitamin Complex.
Selenium helps to slow cognitive decline, while iron guards against fatigue. Sub-optimal iron levels are most notably found in women, and can have a monumental impact on energy levels. Dr Lis recommends getting your levels checked. Stat.
Vitamins C and E are fairly easy to get into our systems through diet alone, but in cases where time is short and making meals from scratch is low on the priority list? Supplement, supplement, supplement.
But not without a little forethought.
Give Your Diet an MOT
An online diet assessment can help you to figure out which nutrients you could be lacking in, cleverly based on the foods you enter over a set period of time. Here in the UK, the MyFitnessPal app is ideal for this! If it’s something you can easily incorporate into your diet, great; if not, start investing in some good supplements.
But it’s not food alone that determines our wellness: hydration is just as important.
When we’re dehydrated, it’s not just thirst we have to worry about. Dehydration can lead to troublesome headaches, and slows our cognitive recall and reaction time, makes it harder to process information, and impacts our skill execution.
Oh, and according to Dr Dana Lis, that old wives’ tale about coffee dehydrating you just isn’t true! Coffee absolutely counts towards your daily fluid goal (just make sure you’re not having too much caffeine if you’re an anxiety sufferer, as it can make your symptoms a whole lot worse!)
Be Intentional with Your Booze
While we’re on the subject of drinking, we should probably tackle booze. Now, drinking is part of our culture, and we’re never going to tell you to cut it out altogether (you wouldn’t listen to us if we did) – but it’s a good idea to really start to notice the impact that alcohol has on your mental and physical health.
When does it start to affect your sleep? Does more than one beer or glass of wine make you anxious? How do you feel the next morning? This brings us back to what we mentioned at the start: drink if you want to, but be intentional. Only drink to a degree that makes you feel good, not totally rubbish after a few hours.
Your body may not be (quite) a temple, but if you look after it, it’ll serve you well.
Article by Emma Attenborough-Sergeant, The Wellness Writer. Helping leaders to improve culture with relatable mental health and wellness content.
