Monday 21 February 2011

Is it Spring yet?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is getting very bored with the cold weather - for one I'm dying to be able to put all my winter clothes away and get into some spring fashion. Plus I'm getting bored of my winter food, but it's still too cold for me to enjoy salads.

This winter has felt colder and longer than previous ones, and it usually snows in February so there's a chance it might get even colder before the weather starts to warm up ... great!

This isn't just bad news in terms of my wardrobe. The low temperatures make it harder to lose weight as your body naturally stores more fat to stay warm ... which is why it's still too early in the year to be thinking about a detox.

It also means most people won't be getting sufficient sunlight exposure to make Vitamin D in their skin, an essential vitamin for immune health, bone density and also linked to mood (low vitamin D is one of the possible causes for SAD). You can store Vitamin D in the liver, so can build up suppliesover the summer, but of you haven't had a sunshine holiday since the summer it's likely your stored vitamin D will now be running low.

So whilst it's still wintery and you might not feel like venturing out make sure you still get outside for at least 30 minutes fresh air (so ideally not next to a road!), not only to see some sun but also to get some more oxygen into your lungs (office air con air isn't quite the same)!

Unfortunately our winter sun also isn't particularly strong so I've been taking Vitamin D drops throughout the winter to make sure I don't get deficient. Fish and eggs are also good sources of Vitamin D, so make sure you're eating these regularly ... at least until the sun starts shining!
------------------

No comments:

Post a Comment