Style: January 13, 2021

Style | Wellbeing 65
How should we be eating for optimal health?
Make sure you’re eating a well-balanced diet that
includes non-starchy and colourful vegetables. For
optimum health, aim for eight servings of vegetables a
day. Consider various ways of doing this. For instance,
if you start the day with a savoury breakfast, try
adding a handful of spinach. If you’re making overnight
oats, why not grate in a carrot? If you’re whipping up
a smoothie, add in some courgette and spinach (you
won’t be able to taste them), and add vegetables like
carrots and beetroot to muffins and cakes. If you aim
for eight handfuls of vegetables a day, you should be
getting all the main nutrients and fibre you need.
Remember to also incorporate protein into your
meal at the start of the day. If you don’t get enough,
you might find you’re craving that scone at 9am.
Protein is what keeps us fuller for longer, so aim for a
really good protein hit at breakfast by adding a serving
of yoghurt, eggs, oats, or cottage cheese.
What role does a restful night’s sleep play in
our health and wellbeing?
Sleeping well is important for our overall health and
wellbeing. To help achieve a restful night’s sleep, try
and include wholegrain or high-fibre carbohydrates
in your evening meal, such as brown rice, quinoa,
kumara, lentils or chickpeas.
Ensuring we get the right amount of sunlight
exposure is also important as it’s how we make
melatonin, the hormone we need to fall asleep.
Always remember to be sun smart – slip, slop, slap
and wrap, and then head outdoors and eat lunch
in the sunshine.
Also, be aware of how long caffeine stays in your
system. It has a half-life of eight hours, so if you
have a caffeinated drink after midday, it will still be
in your system when you’re trying to wind down
and affects your ability to have a deep, restful sleep.
Alcohol has a similar impact to caffeine, and will also
disrupt sleep patterns.
I also talk with clients about the importance of
sleep hygiene, or a bedtime routine. Humans fall
asleep easier with a lower core body temperature,
so avoid having a hot shower before bed, make
sure the room’s cool, avoid a really big meal just
before bed, and make sure you limit screen time
an hour before bedtime.
How do we add more exercise into our day?
I encourage clients to ‘graze’ or ‘snack’ on exercise
throughout the day. For a lot of people who are
time-poor, if they can’t find an hour or 30 minutes
in their day to move, they say they don’t have
the time to exercise. But we know that our risk
of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease is
reduced by small, more frequent movements. So,
instead of trying to find 30 minutes at the end of
the day, break it into three 10 minute lots. You
could introduce a stretch session into your morning
routine, take a 10-minute walk at lunchtime, and
then walk to your car when you finish work. This
will also help to improve sleep quality.
What impact does stress have on the body?
You can eat well and exercise every day, but if you’re
not managing stress levels and are not aware of time
boundaries in your life, then health outcomes can
still be poor. Often, when we’re stressed or feeling
overwhelmed, our sleep quality is affected and that
changes the choices we make the following day. For
example, most people will acknowledge it’s harder to
get up a little bit earlier and make your lunch to take
to work, if you’re not feeling rested. Or we’re more
likely to reach for the second or third coffee, which
will impact on sleep the next night. We also know
human brains crave high carbohydrate sugary foods
when they’re tired, because it’s a quick energy source,
so then we make poorer food choices as well. When
we’re stressed, the three things we tend to give up
first are quality nutrition, quality sleep, and movement.
Those are three things we need the most to feel well
at the end of a stressful patch in our lives.
At Oxford Women’s Health, we want you to leave every
appointment feeling better than when you arrived.
We understand it can be difficult living with health problems but
sometimes finding sympathetic expert help can feel even harder.
Our staff are friendly, respectful and professional, so you can feel
comfortable while receiving the very best advice and treatment.
We have 15 health professionals who are highly-respected leaders
in their fields of gynaecology, obstetrics, oncoplastic breast and
general surgery, physiotherapy, nutrition and endocrinology.
Women of all ages come to us for advice and treatment, including
those with endometriosis, menstrual problems, pelvic pain,
prolapse, incontinence, fibroids, menopause and hormone issues.
Call us today on 03 379 0555.
Level 1, Forté Health,
132 Peterborough Street, Christchurch
oxfordwomenshealth.co.nz