7 ways to start the new year healthy

1. Get moving

If the benefits of sports could somehow be turned into a pill, it would be the most commonly prescribed and most useful drug.

- Robert Butler, National Institute on Aging

2023 is the official year of movement! According to the latest survey conducted under the coordination of the Sport for All association, only about 40% of adults and 25% of children in Estonia are physically active enough. So it is definitely worth checking your movement habits. Exercise and sports are known to have a very positive effect on health, helping to lower the risk of disease, supporting weight loss and improving mood.

Choose a sport that you like and motivates you to move. One day could fit at least 30 minutes of active physical activity, which does not have to take place consecutively. If the pace of life is very fast, one smart way to get more steps is to get off the bus one stop earlier and walk to your destination. If you mainly drive, you can take longer walks in the evenings or on weekends. Sometimes movement is hindered by some previous trauma or joint pain, in which case we recommend trying the new dietary supplement with eggshell hydrolyzate Flexellent® .

2. Make your diet healthier

The promise to eat healthy is a recurring goal for many year after year. The problem often lies in the fact that the promise remains too general (eat more healthily) or the complete opposite, - the focus is on short-term goals (for example, to lose weight). In the first case, there are no specific steps to change your diet, in the second case, the results tend to be short-term.

A healthy diet generally means that the majority of whole foods (so-called whole foods) are on the table, and there are few processed foods, semi-finished products and foods rich in sugar. When choosing food, it is worth following the plate rule - at least half of the plate should be vegetables, a quarter protein-rich foods (meat, fish or legumes) and the remaining quarter carbohydrates (rice, buckwheat, potatoes).

Skilled planning helps to achieve success with healthy nutrition. It is worthwhile to stock up on enough different fruits and vegetables, low-fat meat products and fish at home and prepare wholesome food yourself. You don't always have to make everything from scratch, you can buy ready-made frozen vegetables for the freezer and vegetable mixes for making soup or stew.

A good trick to make salads more nutritious and filling is to add whole grains to them, such as whole grain rice. When preparing pasta dishes, macaroni could be mixed with vegetables and low-fat meat or fish - in this case, there is less macaroni in the pasta dish and the dish is overall healthier. If you feel that, despite your efforts, you are plagued by different appetites and a constant feeling of hunger, try Nordwise® dietary supplement Slimmida ® with fiber and probiotics .

3. Have healthy snacks

Adding healthy snacks to your menu will help you avoid overeating and keep your blood sugar levels steady throughout the day. In addition to the three main meals, it is recommended to consume two snacks. If you choose healthy foods as a snack, such as fruits, nuts, carrot sticks with hummus or a smoothie, you will not feel as hungry for the main meal, and in the end you will eat less at a time. Snacks can be prepared in a box, then it is good to take them during the day. A person with a fast lifestyle can already prepare a smoothie in the morning by adding fiber that promotes digestion and creates a feeling of fullness .

4. Support the gut microbiome

The microbiome is the ecosystem of all the microorganisms in the human body. There are many different microbes in our body - bacteria are found on the skin, mouth, respiratory tract and intestines. Approximately 100 billion bacteria inhabit the human intestine. The gut microbiome is important for humans not only to support digestion, but also to regulate appetite and weight, produce certain vitamins, support the immune system, and regulate communication on the gut-brain axis.

The gut microbiome can become unbalanced during antibiotic treatment, but also as a result of stress or changes in diet. Eating plant-based and fiber-rich food and adding acidified foods to your menu helps to increase the amount of beneficial bacteria in the gut. To support the microbiome, it is recommended to consume fermented foods on a daily basis. It is very useful to prepare your own sour milk or yogurt at home and to add fermented vegetables to your diet. To ensure a correct and stable fermentation process, we recommend using Nordwise® "Make it yourself" series starters .

5. Review your fluid intake

Sweet juices, soft drinks and morsels usually contain a lot of sugar and provide a lot of calories. Drink plain water instead - to make the taste more pleasant, you can make your own flavored water by adding berries, cucumber slices or lemon to the water. You can also drink the sweet juice diluted with water. It is certainly possible to give up sugary drinks from the beginning of the day, but an option is to reduce their consumption over time, first replacing one glass of juice a day with water and then gradually increasing the amount of water. Herbal teas can also be drunk in winter, but green and black tea and coffee should be limited due to their caffeine content.

6. Improve sleep

Sleep is very important for good health - lack of sleep can have serious consequences. Lack of sleep promotes weight gain , increases the risk of heart disease and depression . Insomnia has many different causes, so it's worth reviewing your daily schedule and lifestyle to determine how to improve your sleep quality.

It is definitely recommended to avoid watching screens 2 hours before sleep. The bedroom should be dim and cool, and the lamps should have a yellowish light - this contributes to the production of melatonin, which is necessary for falling asleep. The effects of caffeine can vary from person to person, but the general recommendation is to avoid drinking coffee in the second half of the day. To promote sleep, it is worth adding tryptophan-rich foods to your menu (for example, poultry, milk, oatmeal, and banana) and eating foods that contain enough magnesium, such as whole grains, nuts, seeds, and green vegetables. If you have difficulty falling asleep and the quality of your sleep leaves much to be desired, take the Nordwise® dietary supplement Unetegija® an hour before falling asleep.

7. Take time to relax

It is very important to take time for yourself and pay attention to your wants and needs. Take up hobbies, connect with friends and loved ones, or go out into nature to switch off and relax. Technology is a wonderful helper, but its use has its downsides. Constantly sitting on the phone, surfing the Internet and watching TV can be dull and eat up valuable free time. So it's a good idea to turn off the screens at least once a week and take time for yourself!