Discover Wellness Issue 29 June/July/August 2016

ISSUE 29 JUNE / JULY / AUGUST 2016

INSPIRING A HEALTHY YOU

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WELLNESS 4 Ways to Combat

Fatigue & Exhaustion

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WELLNESS Published monthly by Jennifer Reed, R.H.N. Discover Wellness is a monthly newsletter published in Quesnel, B.C., featuring various health and wellness articles from local (B.C.) professionals and enthusiasts, delicious recipes from holistic nutritionists and a professional directory showcasing our many local health and wellness leaders.

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The opinions expressed within are those of the writer and not necessarily those of Spiral Health. Those with health concerns should seek professional advice from a healthcare provider as all content found in Discover Wellness is for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for professional healthcare advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

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4 to Combat FATIGUE & EXHAUSTION By Sherry Akef, R.H.N. Do you have an energy bar crammed in your bag at any given time? Do you wish you did? You are not alone. Many people, from all ages, seem to be suffering from low energy levels these days.

Ever wonder why this is so? There are many reasons why you may be feeling fatigue or exhaustion, of course there may be a medical reason (such as thyroid disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome, sleeping disorders) so it’s always a good idea to talk to a healthcare provider you trust first, but most people who don’t have medical conditions can successfully increase and sustain their energy levels. So don’t give up just yet! You can always make a difference when it comes to your health. When your body is telling you it’s tired, suppressing and ignoring the signals can actually do more harm than good. When you are tired and you reach for that cup of coffee, tea, or energy drink, what you are really doing is over-riding your body’s queues in telling you what it needs - rest.

Your body is tired because you are overworked, because you are doing too much, and you are stressed. The more you ignore the queues the more your body becomes fatigued. Suppressing your body’s signals causes each organ system to become over burdened causing an excess of hormone secretions by your adrenals, an over heightened nervous system, stress on the liver and immune system which can make your body weaker and even more fatigued. And the cycle continues until you get ill or a migraine forcing you to rest. Sound familiar? I’d like to invite you to think differently when it comes to your body, think deeper, think long term. Honour the important signals your body is constantly giving you. I say, if you slowly incorporate these 4 ways into your life in the next 3 months, I promise you will feel positive changes and even become healthier! Lets look at what they are: Lessen Your Toxicity Load I’ve talked so much about toxicity that by now I’m sure you already know what I’m going to say. What is toxicity anyway? It is a substance that acts like a poison in our body causing a bodily response which, if not eliminated and if accumulated, causes disease. When our eliminatory organs are too overwhelmed, they can’t eliminate the accumulated toxins properly. Pollution in the air and in our environments are toxins. Chemical cleaning agents we use in our homes, cars, and on our bodies are toxins.

The pesticides and herbicides on (and in) our foods are toxins. The stress our body experiences causes hormones to excrete which if accumulated are toxins. The truly best way to start your healing process physiologically AND emotionally is to reduce your toxic load. Otherwise, no matter what you do, your body will not efficiently deal with anything.

Increase Nutrient-Dense Foods After lessening your toxic load, what you want to do is help support your eliminatory organs excrete all the bad accumulated junk by eating the proper food to help with this process. We want to make sure that every cell is given the proper nutrients it needs to work as optimally as possible. The key here is having nutrient-dense foods with as much variety as possible while limiting your intake of processed foods. Green-leafy vegetables, bone broths, chia seeds, sea weeds, and other superfoods like spirulina or chlorella are amazing additions.

Keeping blood sugar balanced is so important in keeping your energy balanced. When you eat a sweet food, you get a spike in blood sugar, which gives you an initial burst of energy, but that's always followed by a rapid drop in blood sugar, which can leave you feeling wiped out. I always advise to not eat sweets on an empty stomach, this can put stress on the liver and pancreas, and allowing your blood sugar levels to spike and fall even just a couple of times a day can cause you to feel exhausted in no time.

With a diet rich in green leafy vegetables, complex carbohydrates, and healthy proteins and fats, you will provide a slow and steady release of fuel and your energy will remain consistent and balanced throughout the day. Whole grains help increase the body's sensitivity to insulin which allows for that slow and steady release that we want. Healthy snacks throughout the day are important, but the key is to not let yourself get to a point of starvation, where you feel “hangry”. Combine protein, some fibre, and a little fat with each snack. Protein keeps your energy up, the fibre allows the slow release of sugar, and the fat makes the energy last. Nutrients like Omega 3’s, iron, zinc, magnesium, Vitamin D and B’s are very important. They especially help restore energy and reduce fatigue. It’s easier to take supplements, but food sources are always more superior due to the synergistic value they contain as well as high antioxidants and cofactors like enzymes and phytonutrients that maximize absorption and efficiency. Foods such as seeds, whole grains, nuts, fresh fruit and veggies, dips likes hummus or bean pastes are great ways to keep your energy levels sustained and your body healthy.

Another thing you can try when feeling exhausted, fatigued or stressed is adaptogenic herbs. These are healing plants that balance and restore the body’s natural ability to handle stress by regulating the nervous system, which is responsible for controlling the way hormones respond to stress. Adaptogens don’t target a specific body part, they help the entire body gently cope with stress, anxiety, and fatigue. Some of the best adaptogen herbs are ashwagandha, rhodiola, holy basil, and liquorice root. Incorporating adaptogenic herbs into your routine will help you feel calmer, less exhausted, and more focused. Next time you are at a health store, ask about these.

Hydrate Your Body One of the first signs of dehydration is feeling tired or exhausted, even a slight dehydration can affect your metabolism and leave you feeling tired and lethargic. We can sometimes, and without knowing, confuse signals of hunger with thirst and eat food instead of drinking water. This is why it’s so important to know your body and what it is trying to tell you. When our body becomes dehydrated, it can make you feel exhausted, so one of the best ways to boost your energy levels is to drink water slowly throughout the day, up to 2 litres. A quick way to check if you’re dehydrated is to look at your urine, if it’s a dark yellow, you most likely need

to drink more water. Drink water until your urine is more of a pale yellow. Remember, drinking coffee and caffeinated teas or energy drinks don’t do much for you or your hydration, they provide empty calories that your body doesn’t need. Caffeine gives us a false burst of energy and in some people it can slightly contribute to dehydration. It stimulates the production of stress hormones which gives a temporary boost in energy, but in some it can also contribute to anxiety, irritability, muscle tension, insomnia, and compromise the immune system. If you’re feeling fatigued even after a good night’s sleep, take a look at what you are putting into your body. Perhaps cut down on the alcohol in the evening hours, cut back on the amount of caffeine during the days, and even take a look at other contributing factors like processed foods in your diet.

Make your own vitamin water - add crushed fruit and herbs like mint to your water, or drink real coconut water. Try herbal teas, or treat your body to specialty coffee replacements like roasted dandelion root and chicory. If you’re not sure how much water is right for you, divide your body weight in half, then drink that many ounces per day. If you workout, are active, pregnant, nursing, or fighting an illness or disease, you will need to drink even more.

But trust me, you will notice a huge difference once you do!

Stress Management We don’t often think that stress can make us tired but stress is actually one of the biggest energy suckers. Stress, anxiety, fear, worry, and anger all use a lot of our energy and can leave us mentally and physically exhausted and drained. Sometimes your body can still be stressed even if you spend the whole day in bed.

When I first started working with my naturopath I didn’t think I was stressed, I mean I have a great family, a loving husband, a great job, what do I have to be stressed about? But I soon realized that our central nervous system responds to every little thought and that response causes a reaction in my body. Worrying about bills, anxiety about a meeting, fearful about my aspirations, angry at myself or someone who wronged me, all unknowingly actually cause a stress response causing certain hormones to excrete. This keeps us in constant alert, which causes energy loss. Chronic levels of stress erode energy levels so over time you may find yourself doing less and feeling it more. You can counter this by adding relaxation activities, more ‘me time’ into your day. Even just sitting still and doing belly breaths can make a huge difference. Whatever you decide to incorporate into your relaxation regiment, remember the key is to reduce tension and pay attention to yourself. By adding these 4 ways to your life over a period of a few months, you will start to notice amazing changes, and it’s safe to say you will increase energy levels and feel great. Happy summer everyone! Whatever you do, enjoy every moment.

Sherry is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, specializing in toxicity and drainage, preventative medicine, and bio-energetics to assess imbalances, as well as empower and educate so that you can make sustainable healthy choices. www.seedednutrition.com

incentives to

GET OUTSIDE! Getting out in nature has many health benefits for children and adults. Sometimes it is hard to get children outside. Here are some incentives to get our children outside and exploring. These activities can be used on a walk with just one child or a whole class of students. They can be easily adapted to any age as well.

Sometimes it is best to start small and getting kids outside in the backyard is a great start. Our family has an “outside jar” that has open-ended activities to get the imagination going. Some of the prompts are: find a stick and fight a dragon, pretend to be your favorite animal, make a sculpture with rocks, look for pictures in the clouds just to name a few. Sometimes this is all that happens and they go through the whole jar, other times one idea takes them off on an adventure. Another great backyard activity is gardening or making fairy gardens.

Some days my girls are not into going for a hike, they fight it, they cry, they pout, but eventually they come around. Here is a list of hiking incentives that our family has used and I have used for the Eco-Sprouts program. When taking children out for walks remember to bring a first aid kit, water, plenty of snacks, a bear bell, and bear spray!! Other items that you may want in your pack are guide books for trees or birds and a pair of binoculars. If you want to save weight in your pack look into downloading some nature guides on your phone. The Audubon Society has many helpful field guide apps. Hiking with children can be a challenge, but going at their pace, and being flexible can make a big difference between success and fail; it is not about the destination, but the journey!!

Nature Detectives I will admit my girls came up with this one on their own. They packed their own backpacks, notebooks and pencils and pretended to be going on a field trip and they had to take notes of what they saw. They had to take good notes and draw pictures because when they got back to “class” they had to report their findings.

If this sounds familiar, I am pretty sure they got their ideas from watching the Magic School Bus. Our walk was long and we did not go very far, but they were engaged and excited to be out.

Sweetie Fairy This one requires an adult to sneak out ahead every now and then to hide sweets on the route such as placing items on a post, tree stump or rocks, or hang them on twigs. This helps keeping children moving forward and moving forward is always good. This one is helpful when you are heading back to the vehicle and everyone is tired.

Following a Trail Again an adult goes along a route to lay arrows on the ground using flour or natural items such as branches or stones. While

looking for the arrows on the ground, youngsters may spot other things such as animal tracks or scat!

Hide-and Seek I call this game Mantracker. It is pretty easy and I have played it with grade 7 students and preschool children and they all loved it. Mantracker is “it”, and Mantracker hides his or her eyes and counts to 20. While Mantractker is counting, the prey are taking off to hide, but when they hide they have to be able to see Mantrakcer from their hiding place for the duration of the game. When Mantracker opens their eyes the individual has to stand in one place and try to find the prey without moving around. Mantracker can squat down, go up on tippy toes and turn around but cannot walk around to find the prey. Creating a circle for Mantracker to stay in helps. Once Mantractker has spotted a prey, they prey is out. If Mantracker cannot find any more prey, he/she closes their eyes again and the prey take 4 big step towards Mantracker. The game continues until all the prey are found. The last prey found is Mantracker for the next round.

Collecting/ Scavenger Games While walking on the trail get children to look for cones, rocks, slugs, butterflies, different sizes and shapes of leaves etc. Depending where you are hiking you could collect items for a craft for later on down the trail or take the items home. Collected items are good for leaf rubbings and forest mobiles. Just remember that in Provincial and National Parks it is against the law to pick anything or take anything. In that case you can collect things with your eyes, see Alphabet Game below.

Alphabet Games or Bingo Spotting natural things beginning with each letter of the alphabet can be a challenge for mom and dad as well and is a great activity when in a National or Provincial Park. Nature bingo is another easy activity and there are many nature bingo templates that can be found on nature based websites.

Role-Play Encourage children to make the walk more interesting by using ideas from whatever their favourite book, movie, computer game or TV show might be. Some children may pretend the path is a railway track and they are Thomas the Tank Engine. Older children could be travelling hobbits. My girls have created their own Wild Kratt’s characters. They have been Allashua from Robert Munsch’s book A Promise is a Promise, and dad is usually the Qallupilluit.

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Using Natural Materials Give your child some long leaves and presto they have rabbit ears and are hopping along the trail, or some twigs and they are a deer bounding away. Provide a lagging child with wings of leaves, and they are a bird swooping and flapping along the trail.

Playing with Sticks Sticks can be flags, walking sticks, or magic wands. Some children just like hitting things, and that is ok as long they are hitting trees or shrubs not mom, dad, or siblings!!

Painting and Sketching For the artistic child, pack some paper, paints, and pencils in your bag; some children like to stop in a special place to make a painting or drawing. It helps them to see wild places in different ways, looking more carefully at colours and shapes.

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Leading the Way Let your child lead the way, for a change mom and dad complain of being tired. Hopefully it doesn’t back fire on you!! I will admit this does not work with our youngest daughter, if she is not into walking there is not much we can do. Luckily, she keeps moving forward, even if she seems she is not enjoying herself.

Nature Memory I have done this activity a couple of times and it seems to go well.

Collect about ten natural objects such as rocks, seeds, conifer cones, and plant parts while you are walking. This is handy when everyone needs a break. Get your children to close their eyes, while their eyes are closed place the items you collected on the ground and place a jacket or bandana over them. Get everyone to open their eyes, show them the object you have placed on the ground, tell them they have 25 seconds to study them. After they have had a good look, cover the objects back up and tell them to go find all the objects. This can be a good individual game or cooperative game. I have also asked older children to find the objects as well try to arrange them the same way as they are under the bandana.

Roots and/or Rocks This is a simple little game that usually leads to avoiding lava. Get your children to only walk on roots or rocks or both depending on the terrain. This has them hopping along the trail, and usually the spots that they are not supposed to touch end up being lava. This game is great to help improve a child’s balance, agility and perception of their surroundings.

Like I mentioned before, sometimes your child or students are not buying into the incentive you are trying and that is alright. Sometimes it is better to let them be in their own space and participate when and if they are ready. They are getting outside and getting fresh air and that is better than being inside in front of a screen.

I will admit I pack a lot of snacks that we do not normally have in the house. Now I know I am not supposed to use food as a reward, but when I am hiking I do. There are two reasons why I do. The first reason is I saw a mother robin bribe her little fledgling with a worm to get it to fly and it worked. The other reason why I use food to help my children along when they are hiking, is I honestly believe they get hungrier faster when we are on the trail. They are burning more calories than when they are playing in the backyard or walking back and forth to school. Walking on trails is hard work and the smaller your child is the harder it is for them.

Laurie Bare works part time at the Baker Creek Enhancement Society as a Program Educator and is the facilitator of the Eco-Sprouts program. Laurie tries to get her family and herself as much Vitamin N as possible.

recipe

BOX

Quinoa Black Bean & Yam Burgers Recipe created by Hillary Shearing Certified Holistic Nutritionist My Awesome Foods www.myawesomefoods.com

Ingredients 2 cups of cooked quinoa 3/4 cup of baked yam (softer the better and previously cooked) 1 cup of smashed black beans 1 medium onion (red or yellow) 1/2 cup parsley (chopped super fine) 1/2 cup kale (chopped super fine) 1 cup of gluten free or organic/sprouted bread crumbs (i made my own out of organic tortilla chips in my blender) 2 cloves of garlic (minced fine) 1 tbs of Bragg's Soy Sauce/Tamari (or reduced sodium soy sauce) 2 eggs 2 tbs of Dijon Mustard 1 tsp of garlic powder/salt free spice For The Sauce: 3/4 cup of organic plain 0% greek yoghurt 1 tbs of Dijon Mustard 1/2 tbs of melted honey MIX! Instructions Preheat oven to 375 Degrees. Quinoa Burgers are dainty little buggers.

You can fry them, but i don’t recommend it as they will NOT hold like they do in the oven - plus it’s a way healthier option to bake them.

Place all of your ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.

Let stand for 10 min so the crumbs get a chance to bathe in the love.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup scoop some out into your (CLEAN) hands. Form a nice little patty and place onto a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Bake for approx 20 min (until firm) Wrap these bad boys into iceberg lettuce and stuff them with tomato’s, fried mushrooms, onion and pickles - and don’t forget a TBS of that Sauce!

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