The connection between nutrition and stress

Written by Kavneet Kaur Registered Nutritionist, Feel Fresh Nutrition

With all the added worries and concerns that COVID-19 has brought to our everyday lives, taking good care of our mental health has never been more important. Some NZ scientists have already predicted a rise in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as an aftermath of the virus1. Stress and diet have a complex interplay with each other and it’s evident that someone eating a healthy, balanced diet is going to have far less impact on their health under stressful situations than someone eating a poor diet. As is the case with other health concerns, the right kind of food choices can have a healing impact on our bodies in these challenging and difficult times as well.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN WRITTEN FOR OUR FRIENDS AT SOUTHERN CROSS.

THE FULL VERSION CAN BE FOUND ON THEIR SITE, STAYINGWELL.

STAYINGWELL IS A FREE SOUTHERN CROSS WELLNESS GUIDE TO STAYING STRONG, ACTIVE AND ABOVE ALL HEALTHY.

Shopping and meal planning for your household

Written by Danijela Unkovich, Registered Nutritionist, Feel Fresh Nutrition

Over the last few months, the world has changed dramatically. Our lives, often entrenched in routine and habit, have, for many, flipped on their heads.

This flip may be impacting eating habits too - if so, you’re not alone! With changes to the daily routine, little ones at home 24/7, a recommendation to shop less, understandable stress and anxiety, and possibly a busier household; we might be struggling to find a routine and our usual kitchen groove.

In difficult times that are outside of the norm, it’s important to meet ourselves where we’re at, go easy and try our best to adapt accordingly where possible. Your day-to-day has likely changed - this may call for flexibility on how things are usually done.

Here are some ideas for shopping and meal planning for your household, which might help things work a bit easier on the kitchen front. Not all may be relevant to your situation - so take what’s needed:

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN WRITTEN FOR OUR FRIENDS AT SOUTHERN CROSS.

THE FULL VERSION CAN BE FOUND ON THEIR SITE, STAYINGWELL.

STAYINGWELL IS A FREE SOUTHERN CROSS WELLNESS GUIDE TO STAYING STRONG, ACTIVE AND ABOVE ALL HEALTHY.

Nutritional tips when we’re homebound

Written by Michaela Johnstone, Nutritionist, Feel Fresh Nutrition

Moving into heightened alert levels brought many different challenges for New Zealanders, not least how to maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle. The rapid change of pace we’ve all experienced is bound to impact on our physical and emotional health. Nutritionally speaking, isolation brought a great opportunity for those of us wanting to improve our health and work on our relationship with food. Why? Because it gave many of us more time to spend planning, preparing and enjoying our meals and snacks each day! So we decided to have our nutrition experts at Feel Fresh Nutrition compile their top tips for eating well – and offer up some healthy habits which can be incorporated into your lockdown routine – and beyond.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN WRITTEN FOR OUR FRIENDS AT SOUTHERN CROSS.

THE FULL VERSION CAN BE FOUND ON THEIR SITE, STAYINGWELL.

STAYINGWELL IS A FREE SOUTHERN CROSS WELLNESS GUIDE TO STAYING STRONG, ACTIVE AND ABOVE ALL HEALTHY.

Eating to strengthen your immune system

Written by Julianne Taylor, Registered Nutritionist, Feel Fresh Nutrition

Our extended summer of spectacular sunny days appears to be finally coming to a close. And as if the chillier weather alone wasn’t enough to signal it’s time to shore up our immune systems – switching from salads to comfort food like soups and casseroles – the massive global changes we’ve seen recently would seem to seal the deal.

Yes, we’re all in the same boat to some extent, dealing with uncertainty and adapting to a very different world. Which also makes now a great time to give some thought to how we each support our own personal wellbeing. After all, taking control and taking action is a great way to curb the anxiety and stress that inevitably comes with these troubled times.

Feeling on top of things mentally and being your best self physically will not only give you something to focus on over the next few weeks, it will also help your body to cope with the challenges that change brings. In other words, boost your immune system.

So in order to understand how important the role food plays in supporting our wellness, let’s first take a look at how our immune system protects our body.

This article has been written for our friends at Southern Cross.

The full version can be found on their site, StayingWell.

StayingWell is a free Southern Cross Wellness guide to staying strong, active and above all healthy.

Is your workplace making you unhealthy?

Monday morning. Your alarm goes off! You bound out of bed, barely able to contain your excitement that it’s the start of another working week.

Sound familiar?

Didn’t think so.

For the vast majority of us, our alarms go off a couple of hours ahead of our brains, which were probably just settling into weekend life before they were jolted back to reality. We drag ourselves out of bed, barely even registering the motions we go through as we arrive at our places of work -  honestly, do you even remember your trip to work? - and don’t even get us started on work. 

According to the Southern Cross’s Wellness in the Workplace survey that hit the news in August 2015, New Zealand’s workforce lost an estimated 6.7 MILLION days to absence in 2014. This is a number that is increasing, with absenteeism up on average from 4.5 days per person in 2012 to 4.7 days in 2014. 

That’s a heck of a lot of food poisoning excuses!

Significant factors affecting kiwi absenteeism or presenteeism are:

• Personal illness or injury

• The injury or illness of a person in the employee’s care

• Stress - with a whopping 28.6% of businesses surveyed reporting an increase, with reasons given including increased workloads, financial pressures, and long hours.

So that’s a lot of people away from their workplace. The ironic thing though is that it is frequently the workplace that is the key contributor to absenteeism. The key is to acknowledge that we all have a certain workplace culture, which needs to be accepted and cultivated in a positive way. We have found that small tweaks here and there to behaviour and understanding of our approach to the day can see massive improvements that are mutually beneficial for both employees, and employers.

Things to consider:

• Does your work place have a bar in it?

• Would you describe your workplace as ‘fast paced’?

• Is there a coffee machine in the kitchen and chocolate that is so accessible you groan every afternoon that you indulge?

• Do you have a mini celebration in your head when you hear the tinkering of the drinks trolley being pushed around?

WELL, we can talk to you about how to incorporate sugar, alcohol and coffee in the most effective way so it does not wreak havoc on your concentration, digestion, weight or blood sugar levels. Let’s be honest, in certain workplaces, alcohol, coffee and sugar are cemented in the company culture so we need to work WITH it, not against it and have an achievable plan for the day. 

Just a few considerations: 

• Are you fitness focussed, have a busy job and intend on eating healthily to compliment both but not sure where to start due to the barrage of conflicting nutritional information?

• How do you apply healthy eating to work AND home?

• Do you have a family you need to consider?

• What should you be eating after you have trained at the company gym at lunchtime?

There’s a huge difference between showing up to work, and actually being present. 

If you are an employee or employer and know that focusing on health and wellness is absolutely paramount to workplace success, then give us a call on 0221537890 to discuss how our range of services can help your workplace. Also, check out the Corporate Wellness section of our website to see what our clients say about us. 

Thanks, from Team Feel Fresh Nutrition.

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