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Are you feeling a bit down this winter?. Do you feel lack of energy, with no strength?. It’s ok, and it’s normal. It’s winter time!.

A group of us spent a great couple of hours listening to Tove, an expert in nutrition, talk about ways we can improve our mood and health in general by paying attention to what we eat and drink. There was some great discussion about different habits we had, as a very international group of women, some good, some bad. We shared tips with each other and had expert advice from Tove. Here are some of the keys things she said would work to improve your overall health and mental well-being especially during winter:

• Drink plenty of water, herb teas and diluted juices
• Limit sugar including honey
• Limit refined carbohydrates including white bread, cakes, white rice etc
• Limit coffee, tea and cigarettes and limit alcohol
• Eat rainbow every day – different coloured fruit and vegetables – eat 10 portions of fruit, vegetables, berries and herbs
• Eat more beans and pulses, nuts and whole-grains
• Eat fish and free range chicken and plant based protein (lentils, chickpeas etc) instead of red meat
• Avoid eating processed food and or food with any additives
• If you are a vegetarian make sure you are getting enough protein: lentils, beans, chickpeas, mushrooms, cottage cheese, milk products.
• Increase your Omega 3 intake by eating sardines, mackerel, salmon, avocado, walnuts, linseed oil, chia, pumpkin and hemp seeds – these are good for the brain and the immune system.
• Aim to have a healthy gut, eat live yoghurt and fibre and avoid any food you are allergic or intolerant to . 
• Exercise every day – get outside and take as much daylight as there is available. If your mood is low get checked out by your doctor and see if you need a vitamin D supplement. Buy yourself a full spectrum light to supplement the lack of daylight.
• Try and sit down with someone else for at least one meal a day and enjoy the time you spend at table – do not rush it!

Lack of Vitamin D, an inadequate balanced diet, lack of sunlight, being more inside than outside and allergies, are to the ones to blame about your winter blues!.

Tove Schränkler

At the end of the session, we all received guidance and prepared our personal nutrition plan, to cope with winter blues: drinking much more water, coping with the lack of sun, dealing with allergies, and cravings, etc.

If you are interested in having an individual eating plan, get help to address health problems, or getting more information on how you can use food and nutrients to achieve optimum health please contact Tove on info@scandinavian-health.de. You can also find more information about her and her services on her website.

Thank you to Tove for such an interesting session!