MANAGING HEALTH AND WELLNESS DURING THE HOLDAYS

We’re still in the midst of the holiday season even though a number of the holiday have passed us. With New Years Eve, New Years Day and additional holidays that incorporate gift exchanges and other festivities, we sat down with Terra Wellington to find out how we can optimize this time so that we can still be good to our physical bodies as well as enjoying being with our friends, family and colleagues!

ATHLEISURE MAG: What is it about the holiday season that puts us at risk, in your opinion, from being focused on our health and even over doing things when we’re just trying to have a good time and trying to get into the holiday spirit?

TERRA WELLINGTON: Well yes, I’m here on behalf of iHerb.com and yes we can get stressed, we can lose our energy and also become susceptible to the cold and flu. So I have two prevention tips for that. One is to make sure that you wash your hands on a regular basis and not touch your face. Those two things will really helped with reducing the transmission of germs and also reduce your stress. This will help to boost your immunity and one thing that you can do to make that happen is to make sure that you’re hydrated. If you’re hydrated, that will help you flush those toxins out of your body.

AM: That’s good to know. A lot of our readers debate whether we should wash our hands or is it ok to use the different types of antibacterial products? Are they both ok or is one better than the other?

TW: There is a lot of controversy on those hand sanitizers, let’s say. Just be careful with reading those labels and make sure that you’re teaching your children that they are washing their hands correctly. I’d say that they should be doing it 20 seconds for all surfaces of your hands.

Of course, keeping up your energy is a big thing this time of year and reducing your sugar content is really important. It’s tough as there is a lot of sugar out there this time of year. From the time that you eat that holiday sugar, you will get a tiny spike of energy – but then you get that crash.

So one of the things that you can do according to the studies at the National Institute of Health is that you can look to apple cider vinegar to help you with this. It looks to control that blood sugar and to maintain your energy. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like really drinking apple cider vinegar! But Gummiology has apple cider vinegar gummies and it’s a lot more tasty!

AM: We have to admit that drinking apple cider vinegar straight is not something we enjoy doing so having that as an alternative is good to know. Are there certain nutrients that can assist us in naturally boost our immunity?

TW: According to the Mayo Clinic and other studies, Vitamin D can help to boost our immunity which can be very helpful. You can go outside directly into the sunshine and that can help your body to produce its own Vitamin D. Of course, during the wintertime it may be a bit more difficult because of the shorter days. So Vitamin D supplements can help with that. I suggest Lake Avenue Nutrition Vitamin D3 – it’s available at iHerb.com. I like how this trusted retail site is really great with helping you research the kinds of products that you want, they’re transparent with the products that they have with their labeling and they keep track with the best buy and expiration dates. It’s just like if you went to a traditional store if you were going there to see what the products were about.

AM: That’s good to know. Do you have any tips on how we can make sure that we are not overindulging as it’s so tough with so many events going on!

TW: Yes! There are so many temptations and I feel for everybody on that! Three tips on that:

• When you do go to that holiday party, try to stick to water if you can. The high-calorie drinks and the alcohol will really add to that overindulgence.

• Keep up with your exercise. 15 minutes a day off of your fitness app is a great way to start.

• When you do go to those holiday parties, beforehand try to eat a healthy snack which will take the edge off. You can try carrots and nuts or bananas and yogurt.

For those who are adults, if you have overindulged, you can try probiotics to help you. According to research, at the Medical University of Warsaw that probiotics can help the digestion and can move things along. I suggest the California Gold Nutrition LactoBif 100 Probiotics that has 8 active and clinical probiotic strains. A tip for probiotics is to check the expiration dates which is something that iHerb does really well. They closely monitor those best buy and expiration dates. They also have air-conditioned warehouses to keep the products fresh and to maintain high-quality standards.

AM: This is year-round, but during this time of year with increased activities, how important is it to get good sleep for your health?

TW: It can reduce your stress and increase your energy which are two great benefits to being mindful of this. A quick tip is to wind down each evening which means that you should turn down the lights and turn off all of your electronics. Maybe you should do some yoga and meditation – or you can read a book. There is a wellness trend that you can use essential oils for relaxation. An example of an oil, is NOW Peppermint Essential Oil. You can research which essential oil works best for you and you can search and find which ones are best on iHerb.com. They’re focused on quality and they make it easy to order and find products. They have state of the art distribution facilities that are GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) certified and all of that means that they are going to maintain the product quality!

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