By Ashley Koff: RD, CEO of The Better Nutrition Program
Got summer health goals or helping someone with theirs?
Good! To meet, or dare we say exceed (yeah, we’re talking to you over-achievers), you need to give your body what it needs to run better all summer long. Below we go over 3 tools for better summer health.
These tools are essential to ensure you give your body what it needs more often.
FACT: You cannot get or stay healthy without better digestion.
Digestion processes, assesses, and transports nutrients to their desired destination as well as eliminates waste to help your body run as efficiently and effectively as possible. When digestion is not better, your body struggles to optimize its efforts.
Whether your summer goal is to improve your race time, body composition, skin, energy, or address a chronic health complaint, your better first step is better digestion.
Better Summer Health Tool #1: Assess your Digestion
Before you lift a weight, head out for a run, buy kale or make cauliflower rice you need to see if your digestion is better.
DO NOT WASTE time, money or effort until you assess your digestion.
It is super easy, can be done while standing/sitting/squatting and doesn’t require putting your waste products into tubes for assessment. TAKE THE DIGESTIVE QUIZ now and save 30% with the code PROPELLO30 at checkout.
And don’t stress (it makes digestion worse), if you learn that your digestion needs attention, here’s how to fix it.
FACT: Propping a probiotic won’t make your digestion better.
Yes, good bacteria are good, even essential for better health. But good bacteria need a healthy home to set up and thrive.
Stress, strength training, hormonal changes, medications (even topical creams), surgeries and environmental toxins create gaps – leaks – in your digestive tract lining that will keep your digestive “home” from being better for those good bacteria.
Better Summer Health Tool #2: Make sure you are getting enough Glutamine & Magnesium
Glutamine is referred to as conditionally essential meaning your body may assemble glutamine but conditions may require you to take it in for your body to have the amount it needs.
Most of us experience one or more of the conditions (noted above) that require getting in glutamine as part of our regular total nutrition to meet our needs.
I am a huge fan of Propello Life rejeuvenating aminos because they provide high quality, easily absorbed, plant-based glutamine in an amount that can help optimize digestive health along with other muscle repair. This cannot be said of the majority of glutamine products on the market!
FACT: You cannot reach a health goal when your body is stressed out.
You may achieve a number, but you won’t get or stay healthy if your body stays actively stressed. And 70% of adults don’t give their body enough of the mineral that their cells need to turn off stress routinely.
In response to something great or something bad, our stress response sends calcium across the cell wall creating tension and focus (“stress”). We need enough magnesium to kick that calcium back out and thereby turn off stress.
When stressed the body diverts attention away from digestion too so based on Fact #1 above, we need enough magnesium for healthy digestion too. Are you one of the 70% of adults who don’t get in enough magnesium or who takes in more calcium than magnesium?
Better Summer Health Tool #3: Access your Magnesium Needs
No lab test will tell you if your current magnesium or calcium intake is better for your body, but it is easy to find out using our quizzes.
Even better news? Cacao – that’s right, dark chocolate (greater than 65% cacao) packs a powerful amount of magnesium. And peanuts do too!
Which means these ridiculously delicious bars from Propello Life are a better choice to help you reach your summer health goals! Make extra and freeze them to have for summer travel and gatherings! https://www.propellolife.com/blogs/propello-life-healthy-recipes/peanut-butter-dark-chocolate-protein-bars
You’ve got three months to reach your summer goal(s) and these tools will help you not only get there but stay there as you roll into Fall.
Got more questions about what your body needs to run better? Email me at ashley@thebetternutritionprogram.com