Simple Health Hacks Everyone Should Know About, According To A Nutritionist

Get back to basics.

Simple Health Hacks Everyone Should Know About, According To A Nutritionist

Image: Fatherly

Here in Australia, gyms are currently closed, in-studio yoga is a no go and even Byron Bay locals are having to make-do without their beloved drum circles. It’s a tough situation for many, with routines being disrupted more than the stock market during the 2008 financial crisis.

But for all their alleged benefits, there are some far simpler ways to improve our health and wellbeing that don’t involve using an Instagram influencer discount code or committing yourself to some space-age therapy, many of which have recently been pointed out by fitness coach and nutritionist Ryan Carter.

Taking to Instagram, Ryan has revealed a number of easy swaps we can make to do without the high tech gadgets. If we don’t have access to a pair of blue light blocking glasses for example, he says you can just light some candles instead of switching on the main lights in the room. Likewise, if we can’t put ourselves through cryotherapy, he suggests we take a cold shower or dip in the ocean instead.

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Ryan captions the post:

“You might think getting healthy is hard. That health and wellness are for privileged folk. That’s not the case. It would help if you started thinking for yourself and out of the box. Don’t subscribe to the influencer wellness model of health. You don’t need elaborate functional medicine testing, the green juices, the cleansing supplements, the fancy gizmos and gadgets.”

“I work with my clients in reality. Some of these gadgets are helpful, but they’re not a prerequisite for automatic health.”

“It would be best if you still did the shadow work. Go to bed and rise with the sun. Eat nutritional foods which agree with you. Feed your microbiome appropriately. Move often. Enjoy life, have a community, laugh and have sex.”

“Instead of spending money, the first question is, have you got the fundamentals nailed. This is where common sense prevails. Why worry about artificial blue light glasses if you can automatically control the light in the environment with candles.”

Other simple swaps include ditching massages – as great as they may be – for a foam roller to relieve any muscular pain and tension and getting a healthy dose of time in the sun in place of vitamin D supplements. The sun provides numerous benefits to the human body, and health hacker Dave Asprey has previously spoken about the benefits you’ll notice from getting as little as five minutes of sunshine before 10 a.m. Your quality of sleep stands to improve as your circadian rhythm – a 24-hour biological process that regulates your individual sleep-wake cycle (your daily sleep pattern that should ideally consist of 8 hours of sleep and 16 hours of wakefulness).

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Light plays a hugely important role in the maintenance of your body clock, as when your eyes become exposed to natural light, your body suppresses melatonin (and releases it during darkness).  If you expose your eyes and body to light soon after you wake up in the morning, it means you will be more likely to wake up similarly early the following day, because the light ‘resets’ your rhythm to this new practice of early starts.

And, while we can’t necessarily head to the gym right now in Australia, we can still get outside to exercise in the morning sun.

Try some of Ryan’s simple swaps for yourself whilst you’re in lockdown. You’ll feel more positive in no time.

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