3 Healthy Things to Do Every Winter Solstice

The winter solstice comes once a year. Some of us don’t notice it. Some of us don’t even know what it is. But some of us look forward to it, knowing it’s the shortest day of the year and daylight will increase after it passes. Like many milestones and holidays of the year, this event can mark a moment for personal reflection and action planning. Take a moment to consider the choices you make as you live your most Nutritious Life. 3 Healthy Things to Do Every Winter Solstice 1. Sleep deep. Shortest day = longest night. Take advantage of this and plan for it to be a perfect night of sleep. Check in with yourself to evaluate your sleep hygiene. Sleep experts recommend that you establish a simple ritual before you go to bed to tell your body it is time to rest. Brush your teeth, wash your face, read a book or meditate for several minutes before you close the light. Make your slumber environment clear of stressors by making your room as dark as possible, turning off the television and silencing your phone. Set yourself up to be successful by making your bedroom a sanctuary for sleep. RELATED: 10 Foods That Help You Sleep 2. Sweat often. It’s dark when we leave for work and dark when we return home. It’s only normal that motivation to move wanes without the friendship of the sun. While it’s tempting to skip the gym in favor of extra time hunkered down, do your best to move each day, especially today. Walk an extra few minutes to a bus or subway stop further away, take the stairs, and walk the neighborhood to incorporate a little more movement into your daily routine. Also, you don’t have to be a weekend warrior to enjoy an hour or two of cross country skiing, a few minutes on the ice rink, or an afternoon sledding with the kids. Make time during the week for simple, active pleasure. The benefits will show in your mood first. Remember these little bits of movement can not only add up but can also motivate us to move more and get in a “real” workout. RELATED: Morning vs. Evening Workouts: Which is Best for You? 3. Live consciously. We spend a lot more time inside when it’s dark and cold outside. Spending time making your home or office a space that you like to be in will deflect some of the stress and help you lead a well and healthful life. Winter cleaning isn’t so bad when you play your favorite music and the result often makes you feel great. Carve out an hour to freshen up your space today. Light scented candles and shift some furniture around so you can enjoy it in a new way. Take a minute to look at what is and isn’t working in the space you live in so you can feel empowered in your world. Take time to appreciate your surroundings today—those in nature and those you created for yourself. Acknowledge the winter solstice this year, and every year going forward. Honor yourself and your work as you pursue your personal Nutritious Life ambitions for another season. Make it a day every year that you press the reset button amid the chaos of the holiday season, and focus on you. As you look forward to sunnier days, remember to enjoy the darker days, too!

Here’s How to Sleep Great and Stay Energized–According to The Sleep Doctor

NOTE: This post was written by our friend Michael J. Breus, Ph.D., a double board-certified Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Sleep Specialist also known as The Sleep Doctor. He’s the author of four books, including his most recent, “Energize! Go From Dragging Ass to Kicking It in 30 Days.” We asked him to share a post about his new book, which was released last month. The holidays can bring substantial changes to our routines. Amid all the festivities, the routine-busting nature of the holiday season can disrupt our sleep and drain our energy—even well after they’re over. Busy schedules translate into late bedtimes and crowd out time for physical activity. Parties present us with sugary foods and lots of alcohol. Time with friends and family brings up complicated emotions and sometimes puts us in close quarters with people who are toxic to our emotional health. The cram-it-all-in pressure of the holidays can leave us stressed, drained, and dragging—physically and emotionally—and way short on the sleep we need to stay healthy and feeling our best. Even with the holidays in our rearview mirror, we need strategies for keeping our batteries charged and our nightly rest protected. A Recipe For Keeping Your Batteries Charged Maximizing your body’s natural energy stores and elevating your sleep is the subject of my new book, “Energize!: Go From Dragging Ass to Kicking It in 30 Days.” I wrote Energize with Stacey Griffith, a founding instructor of SoulCycle. Stacey and I have known each other for years. Bringing together my expertise in sleep and chronotype and Stacey’s expertise in metabolism and movement was a fascinating journey for both of us and resulted in a book I’m excited to share with you. Energize! brings together the latest scientific understanding of chronotype and metabolic type (aka body type). Our chronotype and our metabolic type are both determined by our genes. And just as every chronotype has an optimal routine for the “when” of daily life—the timing of sleeping, eating, exercising, working hard, taking it easy—our individual metabolic types have different genetically-driven needs for movement, rest, and recovery. This is all in order to build strength, stamina, flexibility, and maximize physical and mental energy. Establishing daily routines and habits based on chronotype and body type is the remedy for the stress, fatigue, weight gain, low mood and restless sleep that affect so many of us. Don’t know your chronotype? Take this quiz: www.chronoquiz.com. “Energize! is a step-by-step guide to creating individualized routines and habits that help you shed fatigue, stress, sleeplessness, and low mood, and reclaim abundant energy and vitality in your daily life, using your body’s unique circadian and metabolic biology as a roadmap.” Together, Stacey and I dug deep into the scientific research (and conducted research of our own) to develop personalized daily protocols for sleeping, eating and activity for every chronotype and metabolic type. Energize! is a step-by-step guide to creating individualized routines and habits that help you shed fatigue, stress, sleeplessness, and low mood, and reclaim abundant energy and vitality in your daily life, using your body’s unique circadian and metabolic biology as a roadmap. Let’s talk about how you can navigate these times without depleting your energy and losing sleep. Protect Your Resting Energy Protect Your Resting Energy: Get ahead of jet lag to minimize its impact (and stick to your regular sleep routine if you’re staying at home). A lot of us are traveling for the first time in a couple of years. Remember jet lag? Jet lag can drain the fun right out of a journey. It leaves you feeling fatigued, irritable, foggy-headed, sleepless and out of sync with your circadian rhythms. Jet lag gets more severe the farther we travel from our home time zone. A guideline is that it takes a full day to recover from every time zone you cross. And traveling eastbound will have a bigger impact on your sleep and circadian rhythms than traveling west. For all chronotypes and body types, the best way to minimize the impact of jet lag is to adjust your schedule to your destination time as soon as possible. You can start this process before you leave home. The week before your departure, adjust your sleep times, wake times, and meal times closer to the times you’ll be sleeping, eating, and active at your destination. If you’re traveling through a single time zone, you can adjust over a couple of nights to be fully on your destination schedule before you set out. For two or more time zones, adjust your schedule incrementally over a few days, to get closer to your destination time. If you can, sleep during the trip so that you’re less tempted to take a nap before your destination bedtime. Do your best to nap during the times you’d otherwise be asleep according to your destination time zone. When you arrive at your final destination, be sure to follow your new schedule accordingly and don’t turn in for the night until it is bedtime in the current time zone. Don’t go to bed early! Here’s a pro tip that can make adjusting your schedule during travel so much easier: I travel constantly, and I use the Timeshifter app (www.timeshifter.com) to help shift my routine when I’m traveling long distances. Timeshifter takes information about your chronotype, your home base and destination locations, and your flight times and does the work for you to create a personalized schedule for when to eat, when to get light exposure, when to sleep (and nap), when to consume caffeine, and when to take melatonin. What else can you do to minimize the effects of jet lag while you’re on the road this season? Limit alcohol and caffeine. Both alcohol and caffeine will dehydrate you, which intensifies fatigue, exacerbates concentration issues, and can lead to overeating and/or eating at the wrong times for your new schedule. Dehydration also interferes with sleep. To help your body maintain energy, keep alcohol and caffeine consumption to a minimum, and

Sleep Procrastination: What It Is and How to Stop Doing It, Pronto!

Sleep procrastination. Have you ever heard of it? Even if you haven’t, chances are you’re doing it, at least some of the time. Let’s dive into sleep procrastination so you can spot this snooze-wrecking habit—and bust it for good! What Is Sleep Procrastination? According to this Instagram post by our friend Dr. Michael J. Breus, AKA The Sleep Doctor, sleep procrastination is when you put off bedtime to reclaim personal time.  You might find yourself: Scrolling social media Watching Netflix (or an endless loop of cat videos) Reading Online shopping Engaging in an abundance of other non-productive, time-sucking activities Not that all of these things are non-productive, of course. But if you’re not careful, before you know it, you’ve lost track of time and you’ve cut into your precious sleeping hours. As we know from the Sleep Deep pillar of the 8 Pillars of a Nutritious Life, poor sleep quality and quantity trickle down into our daily lives. No bueno! So what is one to do? How to Avoid Sleep Procrastination Your first step should be to calculate your bedtime, then work backward from there. This article shares with you the exact process that Dr. Breus advises, based on REM sleep cycles. Once you have your ideal bedtime, use these tips to create a plan for avoiding sleep procrastination: Make time for yourself throughout the day—and earlier in the day!—so you’re not trying to squeeze in “me time” late at night Set an alarm to turn off your TV or electronics Have an accountability partner who will make sure you’re sticking to your plan Try a “power-down” hour before you go to bed More from our founder Keri Glassman, RD, and Dr. Michael Breus Want even more sleep procrastination tips? Check out this discussion between Nutritious Life founder Keri Glassman, who is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), and Dr. Michael Breus:   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by NUTRITIOUS LIFE (@nutritiouslifeofficial)   (Image: Shutterstock)

Magnesium: How it Affects Your Sleep and More

Often times, I have patients who have questions surrounding nutritional supplements, vitamins and minerals. Recently I had someone ask me about magnesium for sleep, since she had heard me on a podcast talking about the magnesium in banana tea. I thought I would share parts of our conversation with you: I talk often with my patients about the importance of magnesium, and its critical—and sometimes under-recognized—role in sleep and overall health. I’ve seen many patients benefit from increasing their magnesium intake, through diet and supplements. It’s not uncommon for people, especially women, to have less-than-optimal magnesium levels. Because magnesium plays such a widespread, critical role in the body—it’s one of the 24 essential vitamins and minerals—low magnesium levels can throw many of the body’s functions off course, and raise risks for chronic health problems. Healthy magnesium levels protect metabolic health, stabilize mood, keep stress in check, promote better sleep, and contribute to heart and bone health. Few dietary elements have more influence over the body than magnesium. Let’s take a closer look at how maintaining magnesium levels can benefit your sleep, as well as your mental and physical well-being. What is magnesium? Magnesium is an essential mineral, one of seven essential macro-minerals that the human body needs in large quantities. The body does not produce magnesium. The magnesium your body needs must come from outside sources. You receive magnesium through your diet. Magnesium-rich foods include: • Dark leafy greens • Seeds and nuts, including sunflower and sesame seeds, cashews and almonds • Squash, broccoli, and other vegetables • Legumes • Dairy products • Meat • Unprocessed whole grains • Chocolate • Coffee Magnesium deficiency is common among adults. Estimates suggest nearly half of adult men and women in the United States aren’t getting enough magnesium. Older adults are more vulnerable to magnesium deficiency. Women are also at higher risk for low magnesium, especially with age. How does magnesium work? Magnesium plays a widespread role in helping regulate and facilitate many essential functions in the body. One of magnesium’s most important roles is to enable healthy enzyme function. Magnesium is involved in more than 300 different enzyme-related reactions in the body’s cells. In addition, magnesium: • Plays a key role in energy production, activating ATP, the energy molecule that fuels your body’s cells • Regulates transport of calcium, potassium, and other essential minerals, helping muscles and nerves function properly, and maintaining heart rhythm • Regulates blood pressure, cholesterol production, and blood glucose levels • Aids bone development and guards against bone loss • Functions as an electrolyte, maintaining fluid balance in your body • Helps control your body’s stress-response system, and hormones that elevate or diminish stress Benefits of magnesium With such a broad, comprehensive role in the body’s functioning, it’s no surprise that the benefits of magnesium are widespread. Here are some of the ways science indicates magnesium can protect your health: Better sleep. Insomnia is a common symptom of magnesium deficiency. People with low magnesium often experience restless sleep, waking frequently during the night. Maintaining healthy magnesium levels often leads to deeper, more sound sleep. Magnesium plays a role in supporting deep, restorative sleep by maintaining healthy levels of GABA, a neurotransmitter that promotes sleep. Research indicates supplemental magnesium can improve sleep quality, especially in people with poor sleep. Magnesium can also help insomnia that’s linked to the sleep disorder restless-leg syndrome. Stress reduction and mood stabilization. Magnesium increases GABA, which encourages relaxation as well as sleep. Low GABA levels in the body can make it difficult to relax. Magnesium also plays a key role in regulating the body’s stress-response system. Magnesium deficiency is associated with heightened stress and anxiety. Recent research indicates that magnesium deficiency can negatively affect gut health and is linked to anxiety behaviors. Supplemental magnesium has been shown to have a stabilizing effect on mood. This essential mineral has been demonstrated effective in relieving symptoms of both mild-to-moderate anxiety and mild-to-moderate depression. Bone health. Magnesium plays a critical role in bone formation, and in maintaining bone density. It helps the body effectively use the building blocks of strong bones, including the nutrients calcium and Vitamin D. The role of magnesium to bone health becomes increasingly clear with age. Higher magnesium intake is linked to greater bone density in older men and women. In postmenopausal women, magnesium has been shown to improve bone mass. Cardiovascular health. One of magnesium’s most important jobs is to regulate muscle function throughout the body—and that includes the heart muscle. In the body, magnesium helps the heart maintain a healthy rhythm. It also helps regulate blood pressure and the production of cholesterol. High dietary magnesium intake is linked to significantly reduced mortality in people who are at high risk for cardiovascular disease. Magnesium deficiency is linked to unhealthful inflammation, and elevated inflammatory markers, including C-reactive protein, or CRP. Studies show adults who don’t get sufficient magnesium are more likely to have higher levels of CRP, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In people with hypertension, supplemental magnesium can lower blood pressure, according to research. Magnesium is an effective blood-pressure reducer in healthy adults with high blood pressure, and in adults who have hypertension and diabetes. In addition to blood pressure regulation, magnesium is used to treat other cardiovascular conditions, including: • Arrhythmia • Angina • Coronary artery disease • Cholesterol • Mitral valve prolapse Metabolic health. Magnesium has an important function in regulating blood sugar, and in metabolizing glucose in the body. Higher magnesium levels are associated with lower risk for type 2 diabetes. Low magnesium levels in the body are linked to insulin resistance. Among people with type 2 diabetes, 25-38 percent are also deficient in magnesium, according to research. Research shows supplemental magnesium can improve insulin sensitivity in people with diabetes who have a magnesium deficiency. One study showed that in pre-diabetics without a magnesium deficiency, supplemental magnesium reduces blood glucose levels. People whose magnesium intake is high have a lower risk for metabolic syndrome, a group of conditions that increase risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Relief from pain. Research indicates magnesium may help with pain problems in a number of health conditions: • Supplemental magnesium may help reduce pain intensity and improve mobility for people with chronic lower back pain • Supplemental magnesium may improve pain and tender points (as well

7 Items You Need for Better Sleep

How do you sleep? If you’re one of the rare unicorns that can sleep soundly every night, we applaud you. However, you’re definitely the exception, not the rule. Studies have found that 70 percent of adults report struggling to sleep at least one night a month, and 11 percent report insufficient sleep every night. Sleep issues affect 50 to 70 million Americans. No wonder those late night infomercials do so well…we’re all awake!  A study published by the app Sleep Cycle showed that February is the worst month for getting quality sleep. “This may be because the hormone melatonin is important for sleep and you need sun exposure to produce melatonin,” says  Seema Sarin, MD, Director of Lifestyle Medicine, EHE Health. “So, you have less melatonin during the dark winter months and this affects your sleep.” And, we all know how important sleep is to our physical and mental wellbeing.  The good news is that there are tools to help you not only fall asleep faster, but stay asleep. We spoke to sleep experts to share their favorite items that we can all try.  A Proper Mattress “A good mattress is probably one of the most important tools in a good night’s sleep. You need a mattress that is both firm, for maximum spinal alignment and soft, for optimal pressure relief on your hips and shoulders. The problem is that every choice you have out there requires you to compromise. You have to choose either a firm mattress or a soft one.  Intellibed uses the Gel Matrix technology that gives you both firm and soft at the same time.  It is an engineering phenomenon and truly does provide you with both. While a mattress supports your body, technology like Sleep Genius prepares your mind for optimal sleep.” —Collin House, sleep expert for Intellibed  Try: Birch Natural Mattress, starting at $1,299; and Sleep Genius Smart Base, $2,400 Upgrade Your Linens “I recommend getting allergy covers for your mattress and pillows even if you don’t have allergies just to keep dust and other particles out of your bedding. If that’s not in your budget, at least aim to wash your sheets once a week!  Is there anything better than getting into a freshly made bed with clean sheets?” —Lauri Leadley of Valley Sleep Center TRY: Luxome Bamboo Sheets, $129  Diffuser, Air Purifier and White Noise Machine “Ideally, your bedroom should be comfortable and be reserved for sleep and intimacy so that you associate the space with sleep. The temperature should not be too hot or cold. Make sure that the room is dark and there aren’t any shining or flashing lights. I recommend you invest in a great white noise machine, air purifier and diffuser.” —Seema Sarin, MD, Director of Lifestyle Medicine, EHE Health  TRY: CHI Egyptian Aromatherapy Ultrasonic Essential Oil Diffuser, $25; Guru Nanda Essential Oil Diffuser and Humidifier, $80; and Pure Enrichment Wave Sleep Therapy sound machine, $30 Blackout Shades & Orange Light Bulbs “Get the lighting right. I use a combination of black out shades and a bedside lamp with orange tinted light bulbs.  I love this combination because I get a warm candlelight glow in my room at bedtime but can open the blinds first thing in the morning to bring in the daylight.”   —Lauri Leadley of Valley Sleep Center TRY: Redi Paper Shade, $45 and Amber Lightbulb, $20   

How to Calm Your Mind at Night

Tell us if this sounds familiar. You’re exhausted and can’t wait to get into your cozy bed, yet the moment you try to settle in, your mind starts to go over all the things you didn’t get to that day. Or, you wake up in the middle of the night worrying about the following day. The next thing you know, it’s been two hours and you’re still awake.  Our busy brains can be one of the biggest sleep saboteurs. These unprecedented times are adding heightened anxieties that can exacerbate the issue. To make matters worse, researchers at the University of California Berkeley have found that a sleepless night can trigger anxiety up to 30% versus a full night’s sleep which can calm emotions. This leaves us with a tricky conundrum. We need sleep to keep our anxiety at bay, yet our anxiety is keeping us up. So, what do we do?  We talked to leading sleep experts to get their top tricks to calm our minds at night.  HOW TO CALM YOUR MIND AT NIGHT Create a Nightly Bedtime Ritual  You all know we love a bedtime routine, so it bears repeating. Just like you would do for a child, you want to go back to basics and set up your own nighttime rituals.  “Do the same things before bed so your brain knows it has to start preparing for sleep,” says Colin House, Intellibed’s sleep expert.   Some things to add to your routine could include: Turn off all your screens at least 30 minutes before bed and dim the lights Read  Meditate Journal to get out all the looming to-dos populating your brain  All of the experts we spoke to said we should go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time each day. “Our bodies need routine in order to sync our circadian rhythms. Create and maintain a bedtime routine,” says Lauri Leadley, CCSH, RPSGT, co-founder of Valley Sleep Center. She also recommends you start your day off with an alarm that is gentle and soothing, not a sound that creates tension.  Check out how NL founder Keri Glassman sets herself up for sleep success here!  Try Progressive Relaxation Dr. Thanuja Hamilton recommends progressive relaxation for those middle-of-the-night wake-ups. The process involves actively relaxing each body part from head to toe by tensing it up and then relaxing while breathing out. “You end up taking your body to an even more relaxed state than it was at rest,” explains Dr. Hamilton, who is medical director at Jefferson University Hospital Sleep Lab. “The hope is that you can distract yourself while relaxing. The goal is that you fall back asleep before getting to your toes.” Avoid the Temptation to Reach for Your Phone Limiting exposure to blue light will help your body fall asleep naturally. “Before bed, download your favorite meditation (we recommend MindTravel meditations) and add them to your Amazon playlist,” says Murray Hidary, the mastermind behind MindTravel. “This way, all you have to do is say, ‘Alexa, play MindTravel Sleep’ and you’ll be able to relax without picking up your gadget.” Focus on Your Breath Meditation is a great way to help calm your mind. But, if you have a partner, you may not want to play a guided meditation and wake them up. Hidary recommends a simple box breath technique that you can do in silence. You breathe in for four counts, hold it for four counts, exhale for four counts, and hold for four counts, etc. “Meditation is simply bringing your focus to the present moment,” he says. “Any time your brain wants to put its attention on the sleep you’re not getting, the things you forgot to do today, or worse … work, put your focus back on your breath.” If you really need that guidance, headphones can help. “You can also utilize imagery by imagining yourself somewhere you love, like a beach,” says Leadley. “Sync your breath with the sound of the ocean waves. See, hear, and smell all the things around you in this beautiful, calming place. This will help detour your thoughts and worries so that you can relax and drift off to sleep.” If after 15 minutes you’re still awake, Leadley suggests that you get out of bed and read under a dim light until you feel sleepy, and then return to bed.  Don’t Beat Yourself Up About Not Sleeping Obsessing about the fact that you aren’t sleeping can further your inability to fall back asleep.  Studies have shown that it’s not the total of uninterrupted sleep that makes a difference, but rather the aggregate total,” says Hidary. “So, if you find yourself in a pattern of waking up in the middle of the night and needing to nap in the middle of the day, give yourself the rest that your body—and your brain—needs.” Have Sex Yup, you read that right. More than one of our experts recommended having sex before  going to bed. The hormones that are released when you climax boost oxytocin (the hormone that makes you feel closer to your partner) and lowers your cortisol (stress-related hormone) levels.  So, you’ll be feeling happy and relaxed, which are two great helpers in igniting sound sleep. (photo credit: Shutterstock)

Better Sleep Starts at Dinner

Many of us are trying out new things on the regular with the hopes of calming ourselves before bed and getting a sounder night’s rest. We turned off our electronics 30 minutes before bed, we dimmed the lights, stopped sipping coffee after noon, and even sprayed our pillows with lavender. But, some of us are still struggling to get those zzz’s.  What if we were to tell you that there are certain foods that may help us sleep better? Well, science has shown us that getting better sleep can start at dinner. Tryptophan for example is an amino acid that encourages the release of sleep hormones, and is found in some of the foods you love. How you eat also matters. Digestion slows when you’re laying down causing you to be uncomfortable when trying to go to bed on a full stomach. So eating a large meal late in the evening can also have an affect on your shut eye.  To help you reap all the snoozing benefits, we’re sharing eight of the top foods (with recipes!) to add to your evening. Plus, the four things you’ll want to avoid.  Eat up and you’ll be having sweet dreams before you know it.  SLEEP AND WEIGHT Before we dig into what you should be eating, here’s a little breakdown on how sleep affects your weight. A third of US adults report they do not get the recommended 8 hours of sleep a night. Studies show that the less hours of sleep you get, the higher your risk is of obesity. Why? It all has to do with your hypothalamus, the region of the brain that stimulates appetite and promotes fat storage. Leptin is a hormone that suppresses appetite and ghrelin is one that regulates hunger and food intake. Sleep deprivation lowers the levels of leptin and increases the levels of ghrelin, which may cause us to eat more.  FOODS FOR BETTER SLEEP Almonds + Cashews: These go-to nuts contain magnesium, a mineral which acts like a natural sedative. Even a small deficiency in magnesium can lead to trouble in the sleep department.  Eat Empowered: Cucumber Avocado Nori Rolls with Cashew-Carrot Dipping Sauce Apricots: Not only pretty (and a Nutritious Life favorite color!) and deliciously tangy-tart, they’re chock full of vitamin C which can help relieve stress. Vitamin C-rich foods have been shown to help your body recover faster from stress, and fewer rattled nerves may mean a mellower slumber.  Eat Empowered: Apricot Dijon Glazed Salmon Asparagus: These green stalks are famous for helping us cleanse but they are also high in folate. Folate is essential for a healthy cardiovascular system and has been linked to anxiety and mood regulation, both which can affect our slumber.  Eat Empowered: Truffle Roasted Asparagus with Shallots Bananas: Sweet and creamy, this fruit is a source of melatonin, a sleep hormone, as well as potassium, which helps normalize heartbeat.  Eat Empowered: Chicken with Banana Curry Cheese: Particularly swiss or cheddar, cheese is a good source of tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid that encourages the release of melatonin. The hormone melatonin helps to decrease the time it takes to fall asleep, increases sleepiness and may also increase the amount of time you spend asleep.  Eat Empowered: Bowtie Mac and Cheese Nutmeg: The smell screams “apple pie,” but researchers have shown that nutmeg improves blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and it’s also earned a reputation as a home remedy for menstrual cramps and anxiety.  Eat Empowered: Nutmeg Shrimp and Spinach Pasta Skillet Tart cherries: Considered a symbol of immortality in ancient China, this fruit is loaded with anthocyanins, an important type of antioxidant that lowers inflammation, as well as cholesterol and triglyceride levels. But they’re sleeping beauties, too, since cherries are a natural source of melatonin. Eat Empowered: Chipotle Cherry Pulled Pork Oatmeal: Oats contain more tryptophan per serving than turkey, the food famous for making you sleepy. This amino acid is converted to the feel good and sleep controlling hormone, serotonin. Not only that, but just one cup provides you with 60 mg of magnesium. If you have trouble quieting down your brain at night, a lack of magnesium might be to blame. Optimal magnesium levels are needed for getting your best sleep. Eat Empowered: Mushroom and Herb Steel-Cut Oat Risotto FOODS TO AVOID High fat meals: Heavy meals loaded with unhealthy fats and refined carbs, have been shown to cause disturbances in the sleep/wake cycle and disrupt the body’s natural circadian rhythms and make it more difficult to fall asleep. Added sugars: The sweet stuff will affect blood sugar levels, giving you a short burst of energy, before a large drop. As blood sugar levels fall, sleep can be disrupted in the middle of the night. Caffeine: That cup of coffee at night may cause insomnia and restlessness. Try to avoid soda, coffee, tea and chocolate after 12:00 p.m. Alcohol: Alcohol may help you fall asleep faster, but the quality of sleep through the night will be impacted for the worse and you’ll likely wake up feeling groggy.  (photo credit: Shutterstock)

Create a Bedtime Routine for Better Sleep

Ask Keri: Lately I’ve been really overwhelmed and stressed, and it’s been affecting my sleep. What is your bedtime routine? Do you have any tips to sleep better? Keri says: Getting quality shut-eye is essential and impacts every aspect of your life. If you sleep more,  you’ll make smarter food choices, have the energy for all the things you need to do at home, and it will likely boost your mood. Sounds great, but it’s not always that easy, right? I hear you. I’m not a good sleeper. I have to work on this pillar to be just average at it. Like most of us, there are a lot of things causing me stress right now, which I know doesn’t help my sleep cause. The pandemic has changed everything for us all. I am constantly thinking about my business, my children most of all, and the overall state of the world. Am I doing enough? Listening enough? How am I being supportive to my children, my family, my colleagues? There never seems to be enough time in the day to tackle all the tasks, so each night my mind goes over my ever-growing to-do list. Did I make that doctor’s appointment? Did I double book morning meetings? Did I lose my patience too quickly with the kids? So, with life being busy and unpredictable, being able to get seven to eight hours of sleep every night isn’t easy. There are a number of studies showing a consistent bedtime routine can increase sleep duration and sleep quality. My day is non-stop (which many of you can relate to, I’m sure), so a solid evening routine is really important for me to wind down. Sleep is something I make sure to prioritize.  I am going to walk you though my evening to hopefully inspire you to set up a routine of your own.  Keri Glassman’s Bedtime Routine and Tips Do Something You Enjoy  I am go-go-go through dinner. Then it’s dishes, wrap up a little work or help the kids with anything they may need, and finally take a breather. I might take a little time to watch a show (I never used to watch TV, but have recently gotten into a couple series, and it’s a joy) or read a book. I enjoy having chamomile tea while I do this. On many nights, I’ll also take a supplement that aids in sleep. Have a ‘Get Ready for Bed’ Ritual  Each night I have a set routine for washing up and getting my room in order for sleep.  I wash my face (I switch up a bunch of clean cleansers. Right now I’m using a Barbara Strum one), moisturize and then use an oil (I’m oil obsessed!). If I have time or I”m not too tired, I’ll do some foam rolling  (I use my friend Lauren Roxburgh’s Lo Rox Aligned Rollers) or my Higher Dose infrared sauna wrap.  Then, since I go to bed before my kids these days, I’ll go in and talk to each of them and say goodnight. Prepare Your Room   The setting of your room can set the tone for a good night’s rest.  Try and minimize external noise (white noise helps), keep the room dark and turn off your phone. Better yet, move it away from your bed to limit distractions (I’m still working on this one). Ideally, my room is super organized (which helps me sleep). I also use lavender in my diffuser and have the temperature set to 68 degrees. A recent study found that bedroom temperature affects sleep quality more than external noise.  Clear Your Mind  I write lists when wrapping up my day and then again before bed. This helps take things off my mind before trying to relax. Writing to-dos and organizing is always helpful for me. And that includes writing down what is causing me stress, too. I like to think of it as putting my thoughts to bed.   And, of course a bedtime meditation is the perfect way to induce slumber. There are so many benefits to a daily meditation practice. I like to do it in the morning and, if there’s time, in the afternoon as well. Here are five meditations that can help you tonight!   

4 Simple Tips to Kick Your Late-Night Snacking Habit

It’s not necessarily the terrible dietary devil it gets made out to be, but for some people, late-night snacking can turn into a problem.

The 2017 Nutritious Life Gift Guide: Sleep Deep

Who in your life is definitely burning the candle at both ends rather than tucking in for restful slumber on a regular basis? Wrap up the gift of better sleep.