Thriving in the Winter Season: Your Guide To Staying Healthy All Winter
What is the Best way to stay healthy in Winter?
During this time, our lives can feel cold, dark, depressed and isolated. We often look forward to the holidays as an escape from this cold darkness. We turn on all the Christmas lights, shop in bright, bustling stores, all of a sudden see everyone we haven’t seen for months, disrupt all of our normal routines, stay up late to watch silly holiday movies, drink too much wine and eat way too many cookies. While we are busy occupying ourselves to pass the winter away, the natural world around us is deep in hibernation.
In our winter habits, we often miss some of the biggest health benefits of winter: deep rest, nervous system & adrenal healing and profound cellular rejuvenation. If we choose to live in alignment with the energy of the winter season around us, we are not only able to feel better all winter, but also better prepare ourselves for everything else we will be doing in the year ahead.
In Chinese Medicine and many other ancient, indigenous medicine traditions, winter is seen as the season when we get to fully rest and surrender like a dormant field between fall's harvest and spring's planting. This time of rest and stillness was considered absolutely essential to replenish our bodies and minds. It is due time to give ourselves permission to rest in winter as our ancestors once did and the Earth still does, by releasing the expectation that we have to be productive year-round.
In this article we will share our top tips for winter including:
Important Nutrition and Hydration Advice for Winter
Key Vitamins and Dietary Supplements for Winter to Boost Your Immune System and Sleep Better
(GET A 20% DISCOUNT WITH THE LINK BELOW!)
Herbal Teas That Will Help You Stay Warm and Healthy This Winter
“There is no such thing as ‘cold & flu’ season... there’s only ‘living out of alignment with winter’ season.”
When we follow winter living principles, we also ensure that our immune systems remain strong, healthy and resilient. We culturally believe that winter is the 'cold & flu season', but obviously illnesses don't only happen in winter.
There really is no such things as ‘cold & flu’ season, there’s only living ‘out of alignment with winter’ season. When we begin to take responsibility for how we are living and create balance for ourselves during the winter months, we feel empowered to thrive throughout the holidays and forward into the year ahead!
Important Nutrition and Hydration Advice for the winter season
The conditions we, and our bodies, encounter in winter are very different then summer. This is both temperature as well as how active we are. So it is important that we adjust HOW we live our day-to-day lives to better adapt to these changing conditions.
Here are some important nutritional tips to help keep you healthy during the colder winter months:
Prioritize nourishing, slow cooked, nutrient dense foods. This is important because our digestion is slower and more slightly weaker during the colder months. Examples include: Lots of bone broth, soups, stews, slow-cooked meats and steamed veggies.
Avoid cold, frozen or iced foods.Yes, this means no ice cream and definitely no smoothies for breakfast!
Eat local and seasonal for winter. If its not growing right now around you, limit that food in your diet. Sprouts are the best option for continual fresh, nutrient-dense veggies in winter.
Incorporate ferments & pickles into every meal.Seasonally appropriate and so good for your immune system and microbiome!
Enjoy lots of good healthy fats to combat dryness. Good healthy fats include ghee, olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, tallow and lard. Avoid processed seed oils as much as possible like: canola, soy, safflower, corn and cottonseed.
Reduce dry, cripsy, crunchy snacks like crackers and chips. Substitute for moisturizing & nourishing snacks like bone broth miso soup, nuts, nut and seed butters, olives and ferments.
Reduce sweet treats. Moderation of all things! Healthy energy balance comes from balanced blood sugar. If you do consume something sweet, balance yourself out by eating sweets with fiber, fat or protein.
Stay hydrated, without cold liquids! No ice water or iced drinks!! Room temp should be the coldest it gets. Drink warm water and hot teas all day long to support your digestive health and inner warmth.
Choose your drinks wisely. If imbibing at holiday gatherings, choose red wine or mulled wine over cold beer or iced cocktails and always consume 1 glass of water between drinks.
What Key Vitamins and Dietary Supplements Are Important for Immune Health and Better Sleep During Winter?
(Order any of these vitamins or supplements with the link below and GET A 20% DISCOUNT!)
For Relaxation and Improved Deep Sleep:
Magnesium: Support relaxation, deep sleep and liver processing.
Trace Minerals: Get grounded & feel calm and centered.
For A Healthy Immune System: Keep your immune system healthy and vital.
Zinc
Vit C (food-sourced only!)
Vit D+K2
Elderberry Syrup- Elderberry is not only an excellent source of vitamin C but also effective at preventing cold/flu at the early stages of infection.
For A Healthy Digestion and Stimulating your Digestion Before Heavier Meals.
Digestive Bitters
Digestive Enzymes
To Get Key Nutrients You May Be Missing During the Winter Months
Fruit & Greens Powder
**You will need to create a Fullscript Login in our dispensary to receive the protocol.**
Our Herbal Teas That Will Keep You Warm and Healthy This Winter
Below is a short list of some of our favorite herbal teas to drink during the winter months. They are super easy to prepare and the ingredients can be found in most local herb shops or grocery stores. Give them a try!
Teas to Help Digestion:
Ginger, Peppermint, CCF tea (cumin, coriander & fennel seeds)
Teas for Relaxation:
Milky Oats, Chamomile, Lavender, Lemon Balm
A Festive Holiday Tea Blend:
Peppermint, Fennel, Cinnamon, Licorice
Wishing you a Healthy and Happy Winter Season from Embodied Wholeness!
How you can Learn More from us?
While we both have our Master’s degree in Classical Chinese Medicine, we each also have specialized in other modalities to better help different healthcare needs. We serve patients both in-person in Fort Collins, CO, as well as online.
JESSA SPECIALIZES IN: Menstrual cycle & womens pelvic health, period cramps, hormone Imbalances, irregular cycles, PMS, fertility, coming off IUDs, PCOS, endometriosis & much more. Information on her online courses and virtual care can be found here: www.jessarosewellness.com
JEFF SPECIALIZES IN: Complex Health Conditions such as chronic pain, autoimmunity, digestive issues, cancer care & prevention, sleep difficulties, anxiety/depression, and longevity.