Is it really almost mid August? While we’re still making tinto de veranos and stretching out the lighter days, the reality is, autumn starts next month – and so do school and uni as we all “get back to the office”. When the seasons change, this is the time to overhaul your beauty ritual and switch out products yet we often forget what’s going on “inside”.
So now, not September, is the time to boost your immune system, build your defences, get as much exercise (and Vitamin D!) in as you can to keep “topped up” and build your resilience and overall sense of wellbeing in preparation for the cooler months ahead.
We asked top Nutritional Therapist and co-founder of award-winning “Food State” Wild Nutrition supplements Henrietta Norton who has clinics at London’s Grace Belgravia and SP&Co in Chelsea for some key suggestions on how to fortify your system if you’re travelling this summer and how to stay optimally healthy when summer begins melting into autumn (clue: it’s all about good bacteria, Vitamin D and keeping your adrenals happy!)
VOGUE’s Calgary Avansino is a fan, and so are we – here’s what Henrietta recommends:
Be sensible about exposure, find that happy medium between getting enough sun for vitamin D and protecting your skin from sun damage and premature ageing. Topping up vitamin D on holiday is essential, since we are only able to get 10 % from our food and UK weather is unpredictable and liberal cloud cover can punctuate sunny days! Vitamin D is essential for the health of our bones, teeth, and immune system as well as mental well-being. Research has looked at links to vitamin D deficiency and specific female gynecological conditions and fertility.
TWO – A Healthy Gut:
Travelling in itself can be tiring and stressful and this is when we may be most vulnerable to picking up unwanted gut-based symptoms such as bloating, wind, nausea, diarrhoea and general sickness. Healthy gut flora will play a role in help your defence against infectious bacteria as well as reduce the bloat associated with low levels of the good bugs.
Use a good quality beneficial bacteria product before you embark on your travels, such as Wild Nutrition’s Multi- Strain Biotic. As this is also stable at room temperature it is great product to pack in your suitcase if you experience an upset tummy or constipation. Eat plenty of meals that include fermented foods such as sauerkraut (easily found in health stores), kimchi (Asian fermented cabbage and spices) and drinking coconut water kefir that will feed the growth of the good bugs in your digestive system. You may also want to try supplementing with herbs such as oregano, garlic, grapefruit seed extract (sometimes called citricidal) or olive leaf before you go away and during your stay. These powerful herbs and spices contain natural antibacterial and anti microbial compounds that will give bad bacteria their marching orders!
(Editor’s note – Citricidal is great, you can use it for everything from an antibacterial mouth wash to a remedy for internal infections, I keep it in my makeup bag along with oregano oil – be careful how you use both, they are powerful stuff and oregano oil burns if it’s not diluted in water, juice or oil!)
Wild Nutrition’s “Food State” supplements have up to 85% absorption rate
THREE – Build your Defences
Using B vitamins such as B12 and B6 help support a healthy immune system (which may become vulnerable if we have jet lag or from having closer contact with people) as well as helping us with good energy and recovery from tiredness and fatigue. Vitamin B1 has also used successfully by some people as a way to reduce pesky mosquito bites. I use Wild Nutrition’s B Complex Plus that contains all the B Vitamins with vitamin C, CoEnzymeQ10 and magnesium in a highly absorbable Food-Grown form.