Feeling inspired by the new season? If you’re ready to focus on your wellness, our list of healthy habits for Spring should help you get started.
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January is traditionally the time when we set goals for our health and wellness. But the cold, dark days of Winter can quickly send us back to snoozing on the sofa in front of Netflix, despite our best intentions.
Once Spring arrives, with its warmer weather and longer days, many of us find we’re suddenly inspired to take action again and are ready to re-commit to the healthy goals we abandoned a couple of days into the New Year.
So, if you are feeling energised by the transition into Spring and are keen to bring some new healthy habits into your life, we’ve got you covered.
Our list of healthy habits for Spring should give you all the inspiration you need to make your health and wellbeing a priority this season.
1. Delay That First Coffee
When it comes to a healthy morning routine, few people are better informed than Dr Andrew Huberman. A neuroscientist and professor at Stanford University, Huberman has gained many followers with his science-based routine designed to maximise your health and productivity.
And one of Huberman’s top tips is to delay your first cup of morning coffee (or caffeinated tea) for 90 minutes to two hours after you wake up.
The reason for this is that drinking caffeine first thing blocks our adenosine receptors. Adenosine is linked with feeling sleepy and builds up in our systems as the day goes on.
Of course, when we first drink a coffee or caffeinated tea, we feel more alert, which is partly because the caffeine is blocking our adenosine receptors. However, when the caffeine wears off in the afternoon, the adenosine in our systems has a stronger effect, causing that caffeine crash so many of us will be familiar with.
By delaying our first caffeinated drink, we postpone that crash into the evening, when we’re getting ready to wind down for sleep anyway.
If, like us, you find it difficult not to have something hot to drink in the mornings, switch to a non-caffeinated herbal tea instead.
We particularly like zingy Lemongrass & Ginger for a natural, caffeine-free lift to start our days.
2. Embrace the Lighter Mornings
One of the best things about Spring is the increased hours of daylight, which help us to shrug off our Winter hibernation and feel more energised.
If you’ve gotten into the routine of hitting the snooze button during the darker mornings of Winter, now is the time to break that habit and put a new morning routine in place that takes advantage of the lighter mornings.
This might not be the most popular bit of advice, but we have good reason for suggesting it. Exposure to daylight is strongly linked to our mental (and physical) health. The amount of sunlight we get can influence everything from our mood, to our vitamin D levels, to how well we sleep at night.
Ideally, try to get outdoors first thing so that you can expose yourself to daylight early in the day, which will help to regulate your circadian rhythms and lift your mood.
If you can, combine getting outside with some physical movement. Whether you prefer a quick jog around the block, an early morning wild swimming session, or an outdoor yoga practice, moving your body first thing is also great for boosting your energy levels and mood.
3. Refresh with Spring Herbs
It’s no secret that we love herbs here at NutraTea. The natural world offers so much to support our health and help us live more in tune with the seasons.
So, one of our favourite healthy habits for Spring is to explore the best that the herbal world offers to nourish our bodies at this time of year. We love to mark the changing seasons by enjoying herbs like dandelion, nettle, and burdock.
These traditional Spring tonics support our digestive systems and help us rid ourselves of unwanted toxins. Packed with antioxidants, they also give us a much-needed boost as we look to restore our strength and energy after the long Winter months.
We prefer to enjoy the best of Spring’s herbs in a refreshing herbal tea blend. You can find nettle, dandelion root, and burdock root in our NutraCleanse blend, which is designed to support the digestive system and help your body detoxify.