Make the Holidays Happier and Healthier!
Posted by Jen Conroy on
If the holiday season makes you feel more stressed than merry, you’re not alone. The World Health Organization estimates that stress alone costs American businesses up to $300 billion annually.
Here’s a look at 5 amazingly simple and efficient ways to calm your stress level this season, according to WebMD, an online health resource.
To help you feel merry and bright (not uptight) this season...
Trade holiday treats for berries (when possible)
Go ahead and indulge your sweet tooth—just try to do it with berries, not the ganache-coated yule log! Loaded with antioxidants, berries help protect your cells from stress. Cookies and cakes, on the other hand, are loaded with sugar, which has the opposite effect—spiking your body’s level of the stress hormones epinephrine and cortisol.
Go outside
The great outdoors can also help reduce stress by lowering your blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and stress hormones. The next best thing to communing with nature is getting a plant for your desk or home.
Aromatherapy
We bet you didn’t know that lavender oil is one of the most studied essential oils for its relaxation benefits. According to a study reported in Psychology Today, lavender oil aromatherapy calms the nervous system, lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and skin temperature, as well as changing brain waves to a more relaxed state.
Mind your minerals
Did you know that magnesium is a calming mineral? According to research, a low-magnesium diet is linked to increased levels of anxiety. Magnesium can also help relieve premenstrual syndrome when combined with vitamin B6, prevent or help migraines, and improve your heart health. You can find this powerhouse nutrient in spinach or any leafy green, including kale, collard greens, or Swiss chard.
Eat chocolate
Two studies from Loma Linda University reveal that high-cacao dark chocolate helps relieve stress by improving mood, inflammation, memory, and immunity. Not just any chocolate bar will do, however. You need to consume chocolate with at least 70 percent cocoa content, which is much lower in sugar than a typical chocolate bar. It is scientifically shown that Cocoa is high in antioxidants, which may slow oxidative stress and halt free radical activity, lowering the effects of stress on your body.
Don’t forget that any effort is better than none, and there’s no such thing as perfection! To find an Environ stockist near you, please call 877.337.6227 today.