Celebrating Nutrition and Hydration Week: Simple Ways to Nourish Your Body EVERY Week
As we navigate through life's busy schedules and endless to-do lists, it's easy to overlook the fundamental importance of proper nutrition and hydration. At JUNIUS, we are passionate about the power of SIMPLE, easy to achieve healthy habits and Nutrition and Hydration Week, running from 11th to 17th March 2024, serves as a timely reminder to prioritise these essential elements of our well-being. This annual event, celebrated worldwide, aims to raise awareness about the significance of maintaining a balanced diet and staying adequately hydrated for overall health and vitality.
Why Does Nutrition and Hydration Matter?
Nutrition and hydration are the cornerstones of good health. Proper nutrition fuels our body systems and cells to carry out vital functions that support wellbeing and prevent a myriad of health issues. A balanced diet provides the essential nutrients our bodies need to thrive, including vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, and healthy fats.
Meanwhile, staying hydrated ensures proper hydration of our cells, supports digestion, regulates body temperature, and aids in the transportation of nutrients and waste products. Even mild dehydration can cause a number of symptoms and health problems, including feelings of fatigue, weakness, sluggishness, headaches, migraines, or dizziness, constipation, dry skin, and even confusion and impaired cognitive function
How do you know if you are hydrated?
A simple way to know your level of hydration is to pay attention to the colour of your urine, which should be a pale straw colour at all times with the exception of your first urination of the day.
4 Simple Tips For Staying Hydrated
1) Drink clean water
Drinking plain water is the most effective and straightforward way to hydrate. You can spruce up plain water by squeezing in some fresh lemon or lime juice or crushing some raspberries and mint leaves into it.
2) Eat water-containing foods
Fruits - watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe, grapes, and citrus fruits. Chop into salads, add to natural yoghurt, or have a handful after lunch or dinner for ‘dessert’.
Vegetables - lettuce, cucumber, spinach, courgette, and celery. Have a salad once at least once a day, either as a main meal or a side.
Soups or broths - preferably homemade.
3) Drink herbal teas
Herbal teas such as chamomile, mint and green tea are a source of hydration (water) as well as having other benefits related to the herb/s involved. Pukka Teas have a really great range of herbal blends to choose from.
4) Include a daily cold-pressed juice
JUNIUS’s award winning cold-pressed drinks are a great way to add to your daily hydration needs whilst ALSO supplying your body with a significant dose of phytonutrients and other hero ingredients. Our current 4 top pillars (ZEN, ZAP, ZIP and SPA) are all great choices but today we are giving a special mention to our SPA juice for its particularly hydrating ingredients such as celery, lemon and lime juice, aloe vera, apple, spinach, kale and parsley.
5 Simple Tips for Maintaining Good Nutrition
1) Add protein to ALL meals
Protein is the number one nutrient for healthy blood sugar regulation, which is the foundation of good health, energy, focus, mood, sleep, weight and more! Many people still do not get enough protein into their meals. Aim to get a minimum of 30 grams of pure protein with all of your meals, especially breakfast. Great choices include chicken, turkey, eggs, fish, beef, lamb, tempeh, tofu, beans, lentils and quality cheese, if you tolerate dairy.
2) Use QUALITY Carbohydrates only
Switching your carbohydrate sources to ones that break down slowly into glucose, versus ones that break down very quickly, is another key way to better manage blood sugar levels. Carbohydrate is the body and brain’s preferred fuel source, therefore it’s important to include a portion of carbs with meals. However, many people rely on refined sources of carbohydrates such as white breads, wraps, bagels, rolls, and pasta. Instead, choose carbs that break down into less glucose and more slowly. Great choices include whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, wholewheat pasta, dark rye or spelt bread, and beans, lentils and starchy vegetables such as sweet potato, baby new potatoes, yam, parsnips and carrots.
3) Increase Healthy Fats
Good fats are another key element of good blood sugar regulation and a massively overlooked nutrient by many! Healthy fats, such as those listed below, provide key nutrition for the manufacture and communication of our hormones, our ability to absorb fat soluble vitamins A, D E and K, and for supporting the health and integrity of our body and brain cells. Include one or two portions of the following with all meals: Extra virgin olive oil, Olives, Nuts, Seeds, Homemade guacamole, Homemade hummus, Nut butters (almond, cashew), Butter (real, not margarine), Coconut milk.
4) Fill Half Your Plates With Colourful Plants
These can be cooked or raw, it doesn’t matter. Aim to eat 20-30 different plants everyday, which is actually easier than you might think! A typical serving of vegetables is half a cup of cooked vegetables, one cup of raw leafy greens, or a handful of berries. Herbs, whole grains, seeds, nuts, chillies, and spices also count. Aim to have about 5-10 servings of plant foods each meal and you’ve hit your goal!
Here’s an example of ten colourful plants in one meal: Salad base of watercress, rocket and spinach, with chopped red chilli, yellow bell pepper, basil, red onion, tomato, grated beetroot, and olives. Add in some chickpeas, lentils or quinoa and top with pumpkin seeds and you’ve got yourself another two plants, making it 12 in one meal!
5) Chew your food!
The healthiest diet in the world is no good to anyone unless they are chewing each mouthful fully before swallowing! The digestive process is a complex one and once your food reaches the stomach, it is much easier for your digestive enzymes to get to work on breaking down the various elements of your meal if the food has been fully chewed.
We hope these 9 tips will help you to improve your nutrition and hydration habits through the week.
Nutrition and Hydration Week serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of nourishing our bodies with real, whole foods and staying adequately hydrated. By making small, sustainable changes to our diet and lifestyle, we can cultivate habits that promote lifelong health and well-being. Let's seize this opportunity to celebrate and prioritise our health, not just for one week, but for every week of the year!
