This article has been sponsored by Wellmune® through Kitchen PLAY. All opinions are our own, thank you, The Fitat60 Squad.
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You may have heard the saying “be your own kind of beautiful”. Well, we love the sentiment as a philosophy to your own wellbeing. Beauty is the outer manifestation of good health, getting enough rest, enough hydration, eating well and good genetics. All these things collectively contribute to your wellbeing and most of them are well within our own control. The state of our wellbeing is reflected for example in the quality of our skin, the lustre of our hair and a strong immune system to fight off illness. Good genetics? Well, that is just the result of good luck. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then for the most part, wellbeing is in the hands of the beholder.
Whether you want to look magazine-cover perfect; or just as healthy and vibrant and as youthful as possible, the first step in constructing a new wellbeing regimen is finding out if you are providing the tools your body needs to repair and maintain itself and the health of your skin, hair and nails. The basic factors affecting the appearance of these are 1) hydration, 2) nutrition, 3) hormonal profile, 4) exercise and 5) sleep.
Hydration
Adequate hydration is vital to the process. Your body requires enough water to move nutrients into, and wastes out of, cells. Water is the basis of the interstitial tissues that flow between your muscle and fat cells, carrying oxygen and hormones from one to the other. Dehydration can lead to slack skin and lifeless hair. Struggling to drink enough water? Check out our 3 steps to drinking more water here.
Nutrition
Your body rebuilds and repairs cellular tissue daily, and needs adequate protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other micronutrients to perform this function. Key cells that need constant regeneration are, of course, your immune cells; and in this case there is something you can do to provide additional support. Beta glucans are a clinically proven compound that strengthens your immune system (1). Wellmune specifically is a leading yeast beta glucan ingredient that has scientific research backing it (2). You can find this immune-supporting ingredient in everyday foods, beverages and supplements and add them to your daily routine to support your wellbeing. Find more on this amazing ingredient here
Hormonal Profile
Your body produces many different hormones that are used by the body to communicate with outlying organs and tissues and tell it how to react to changing conditions. Some of the hormones that directly affect your hair, skin and nails are estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and growth hormone. For example, estrogen is important for keeping your skin youthful and resilient. Testosterone is needed too for the important task of producing your body’s own moisturizer, sebum. The hormones leptin, insulin, and glucagon are important for the maintenance of a healthy weight. As you can see, hormonal balance has a definite and important influence on how you look and feel.
Exercise
As we age exercising can become hard, however, to maintain your wellbeing, you need a certain amount of regular exercise. Move it or lose it as our resident PT Fred always says. Little and often is fine and work with your body, not against it, taking time to warm up and cool down. Work on increasing both your confidence in and your range of movement. This will ensure a reduction in stiffness and a reduction in the risk of injury. Not done any exercise in a while? No problem, check out our guide to get moving again here.
Sleep
Finally, your body requires a certain amount of rest to rebuild, repair and replace cellular tissue. The skin is usually regenerated between the hours of 11PM and 2AM, so for best results, you should be sleeping during those hours. Your body also uses the time during sleep to balance brain chemistry. Adequate sleep and rest is one of the most important things you can do to improve the appearance of your skin and the health of your hair and nails, as well as giving you the energy to live actively and the mood enhancement to enjoy life.
Summary
One of the first things you need to do when devising a new or adjusting a current wellbeing routine is to find out whether you are getting the right kind of food and enough water to meet your wellbeing goals. Are you are getting enough sleep to put all these other factors to work for you?
As we always say, everyone is different, so speak with your healthcare professional before making any significant change to your diet or exercise routines.