June 18, 2019

Your Eye Health – Not To Be Overlooked

Vision is such an important part of our everyday life. It often seems that we only go to our eye doctor once something is wrong, whether it be impaired vision, blurriness or burst capillaries.

Once the eyes start to give symptoms, it’s often too late to fix the problem with diet and lifestyle, and more drastic procedures may need to be pursued.  This is why we believe that prevention is better than cure.

Prevention Is Better Than Cure

In order to maintain eye health, it is vital that we consume adequate vitamins through nutrition and supplementation. Healthy eyes need adequate circulation, antioxidants and essential fatty acids to maintain good function.

Consuming Omega 3 fatty acids is one of the best ways to care for your eyes. Omega 3 comes from avocado, nuts, seaweed and fatty fish. These good fats maintain good eye health and function. 

Without adequate Omega 3, our eyesight and eye health can be impaired.  Did you know, studies have proven that eating a diet high in Omega 3, or taking a good quality Fish oil, high in DHA, can actually improve our vision and reduce our glasses prescription!

Food

Listed below are foods that you can add to your meals to feed your precious eyes the nutrition they need to be healthy, bright and disease free:

  • Avocado – try eating 3 avocados a week.
  • Fish – go for oily fish such as salmon and mackerel, and try to eat fish at least four times a week.
  • Foods to improve blood circulation to the eyes include rosemary, chilli, ginger and garlic.
  • Foods high in lutein, beta carotene and vitamin A are excellent for eye health and include blueberries, carrots, beetroot, cod liver oil, capsicum, figs and coriander.

Supplements

We recommend Kissun Pharmaceuticals ‘Memory Power’ fish oil, and ‘EyeMax’.  

Both of these high quality supplements will support eye function and healthy vision, as well as  provide relief from eye strain and dry eyes.

What Impacts Eye Health?

Obesity and Diabetes

These health issues can have a huge impact on our eye health. Diabetic retinopathy occurs when the tiny blood vessels behind the eye are damaged due to diabetes. Almost one-third of diabetics in Australia have diabetic retinopathy.

It is so important that those with diabetes have a regular eye exam. 

It is also important that all of us maintain a healthy weight by consuming a diet high in whole fruits, vegetables and protein, and avoiding excess sugar and carbohydrates.  Doing so significantly decreases the risk of developing diabetes.

The Sun

Wearing sunglasses when outside, especially when driving, is important for maintaining healthy eyes. Strong sunlight can damage the eyes and may increase the risk of developing cataracts. Speak to your optometrist about the best sunglasses to suit your situation.

Exercise

Increasing blood flow to the eyes is a great way of improving eye health. Exercise is by far the best way to do this. 

Herbal medicines such as Gingko biloba and Rosemary can also do this but must be prescribed by a qualified natural health practitioner.

Age

Most of us expect our vision to get worse as we get older, but this does not need to be the case. Eating well, exercising and boosting your eye health using a good quality supplement can help slow down or halt age-related eye deterioration.

If you feel you might need more help with your eye health, visit your optometrist for a check up.  Having a regular eye examination and check up every two years can act to avoid many serious issues in the future. Eye checks are covered under Medicare.

May 17, 2019

Four Simple Tips To Improve Your Health

Have you ever wondered “What am I doing wrong?” when it comes to your health? If you are trying to lose excess fat around your mid section, keep your energy levels up through the work day or improve the appearance of your skin then you need to look at how you can improve your diet.


Follow these four tips below and you will feel happier, healthier and lighter!

Drink Up

Keeping some herbal tea in an insulated flask, or some lemon water in a glass bottle, is an easy and effective way of keeping hydrated.  If we don’t drink enough water it can easily cause dry skin, wrinkles, constipation, immunity issues, digestion problems, urinary tract infections and fatigue. 

We do not expect our car to function without petrol, so why do we allow our body to function without water?

How much should I drink?

For Females

Every 50kg of body weight requires 1.42 litres with sedentary daily activity. 

For Males 

1.72L of water is needed for every 50kg of body weight.:

This means that if you are a 76kg female, you will need a minimum of 2.2 litres a day. 

No matter what your health goal is, whether it be healthy skin, weight loss or more energy, water is a necessity.

Eat Half Your Dinner

We eat too much. Losing weight can be a lot easier than you think with some self control. 

An experiment conducted in a Queensland clinic showed that when a group of people were asked to eat exactly half the amount of dinner they would usually consume on four nights of the week for one month. In that one month, patients lost between 3-7 kilograms! They did not do anything else, no exercise program or tablet, they simply ate less on four nights a week (they were allowed an apple before bed if they really needed it).

Eating this way over one month trained their stomach to be happier with less food at night time. Food is energy, therefore we should eat well during the day, and reduce our intake at night because we don’t need extra energy before going to sleep.

In fact, aiming to stop eating 2-3 hours before going to bed will mean that instead of having to digest food whilst you’re asleep, your body can focus its energy on healing the cells of your body.  

*N.B. Seek medical help if you are diabetic before trying any diet.

Protein At Breakfast And Afternoon Tea

Breakfast is an important meal, but did you know that afternoon tea is just as important? If we do not eat a protein-rich, healthy afternoon tea it can leave us starving at night time.  This may lead to loss of self control and overeating. 

Healthy afternoon tea ideas:

  • hummus (chickpea dip) and rice crackers
  • a boiled egg
  • a can of tuna
  • a handful of almonds and cashews with a banana
  • protein shake

It is important that the snack you pick contains protein so that it takes time to digest and keeps you satisfied until dinner time.

People often forget to add protein to their breakfast. Eating a carbohydrate rich bowl of cornflakes or a piece of toast will digest too quickly. This is because they do not contain protein. To power up your cereal, you could add nuts, seeds and yoghurt which are all protein rich foods. To the toast you could add an egg or almond paste. 

These simple additions create a breakfast that will bring better energy and mental clarity to your day.

Ditch The Sugary Drinks

Are you a tea/coffee drinker?  Do you add sugar? Do the math and work out how many teaspoons of sugar you are consuming (just in your beverage alone) for the week.  Now multiply it for the month.  That is a lot of extra sugar you are consuming.  

When sugar is consumed it is turned into energy.  When we don’t use up all of that energy it is converted and stored in the body as fat for use at a later time.

If you are serious about losing weight or improving your health, sugar must be eliminated. The best way to start is by removing sugar from tea, coffee and substituting soft drink or juice with herbal tea, mineral/spring water or coconut water. 

If you feel like you need the sugar for energy, try following the above 4 tips for one week and see if you notice a difference in your energy levels.

A Little Help

To help you on your health journey, whether your goal is to lose some weight or maintain the shape that you’re in, increase your energy, control cravings, or lower stress then we recommend incorporating Nanolean Support For Stress, Energy and Satiety into the above tips.  

Remember, any day is a good day to start the journey of a healthier life!  You just have to start.

April 19, 2019

Give Yourself Limitless Energy

Top Tips For Limitless Energy

If you had limitless energy what would you do? How would your relationships be different? Home life? Business? Your physical body? With limitless energy, goals are a simple thing to achieve.

In regard to health, I strongly feel that if people had more energy in their day they would have more motivation to eat better, exercise and spend quality time with their loved ones. Here are my five top tips for boosting your energy levels in an incredible way.

Drink Enough Water

When you start feeling tired, chances are you are probably dehydrated. Our brain is 70% water, therefore how do you expect to feel energised and motivated to vacuum the floor, cook dinner, help the kids with their homework and enjoy quality time with your partner if your brain is dried up and dehydrated? Aim for 8-10 glasses a day. Go have a glass now! Start your day with some water.

Make Lists

A simple piece of paper or an app on your phone are both great ways to list what needs to be done today, in a week and for the next three months. A basketball game without goals is a boring game of people running around a rectangle bouncing a ball. Life is like that for a lot of people – running around, always feeling overwhelmed and busy without eyes on the goal.

Making a list and being solid about your goals creates clarity and helps you focus your energy.

Don’t forget, goals come in many forms. Financial, social, educational, spiritual and health goals should all be considered, written down and celebrated once completed.

Take A Powerful B Vitamin Supplement

I have been taking CardiOz by Kissun Pharmaceuticals for the past ten years and it has allowed me to power through long work days, weekly interstate travel, running my businesses, exercise, take my dog for runs – and now look after my baby!

B Vitamins are often depleted in busy people. When we lack B vitamins, it can increase feelings of anxiety, memory issues or a lack of mental clarity. Remember, energy is everything so I challenge you to try a good quality B Vitamin today.

Play Music

Studies have shown that certain music increases productivity, so why not use that to your advantage? Wake up to some upbeat music that makes you feel energised. While cooking, play music that makes you feel strong and motivated. You will be surprised… you may be more inclined to take more effort into creating a healthy meal, you might even feel like dancing!

If energy is everything, music is a beautiful way to tap into that energy and make the most of your day.

As I type this article, I have my inspirational playlist on Spotify rattling the walls of my home. And, yes, I feel energised and I’m typing faster!

As I type this article, I have my inspirational playlist on Spotify rattling the walls of my home. And, yes, I feel energised and I’m typing faster!

Eat Less

Shape your hand into a fist – this is the size of your stomach. That means your meals only need to be the size of your fist. Any more food will have you feeling sluggish and uncomfortable.

Most of us eat far too much. Energy does not come from food, it comes from our mindset first and foremost. Once you decide to eat less, you will find yourself to be more choosy about the foods you consume. Fresh vegetables, eggs, fish, avocado, nuts, lentils and fruit will be the star ingredients in your meals.

Try It Out…

I encourage you to try this list above for just three days. You will be pleasantly surprised at the amount of energy you have!