Top 6 Healthy Winter Habits

1. Herbal Tea with Coconut Oil
Yogis offer a range of herbal teas to suit the winter season for good reason!
Pungent tasting herbs, like ginger, can help to support circulation and give a sensation of warmth in the body. During the cold winter months, a steaming cup of Ginger tea makes a delicious and warming treat!

Other warming herbs are those we think of as culinary spices, such as cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Herbs that are warming can help to support the body’s natural flow of energy, or qi (pronounced chi) as it’s known in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Add a tablespoon of coconut oil to your tea and receive the added creamy taste, metabolism boosting, digestive and circulation benefits.

You can find warmth this winter by adding a little spice to your life!

2. Eat Warming Winter Soups
Warm up with healthy winter soup recipes. Soup doesn’t have to be rich and creamy to be satisfying, though. Our healthier winter soup recipes, including recipes for lentil soup, Thai pumpkin and peanut soup and our easy green detox soup recipes, are delicious and often healthier versions than traditional soup recipes.

The Healthy Coconut recipe book also offers a full section of healthy soups to help you warm up and spice up this winter.

3. Get outdoors, Move and Breathe
Out door exercise especially in the winter months can be a great way to feel refreshed, especially if you are spending most of your time indoors. Keeping your body moving will help to raise your natural temperature, burn kilojoules and lift your mood.

Outdoor activities are de-stressing. Being outdoors for at least part of the day helps reset circadian rhythms (circadian rhythms refer to your unique body rhythms of waking and sleeping in sync with the rising and the setting of the sun)

Breathing in the cold fresh air is invigorating and stimulating! It can boost your creativity and enhance your overall sense of wellbeing.

4. Eat Potatoes
Sometimes potatoes are given a bad wrap because they are starchy and white, but when prepared using healthy fats (such as avocado and coconut oil) they can offer feelings of comfort, satisfaction and many health promoting factors.

Potatoes contain several beneficial nutrients. They are an excellent source of two immunity boosters—vitamins C and B6, They are also a good source of folate, which is especially important for women of childbearing age, and they deliver fiber (4 grams in a medium potato; women need 25 grams daily and men need 38 grams). Purple and red potatoes, will offer an added health bonus—they are rich in anthocyanins—antioxidants that are linked to a host of health benefits, from lowering cancer and heart disease risk to quelling inflammation

Try our sweet potato and avocado aioli recipe, or sweet potato mash!

5. Take a Coconut Oil Bath
Add a generous amount of coconut oil to the bath and literally soak in its moisturizing effects. This can be combined with some Epsom salts to sooth muscles, and your favourite essential oil blends.

Coconut oil is safe to use in baths for babies and children; it will benefit their skin too.

6. Cuddle Your Loved Ones and Pets
Hugging is good for the soul, as well as your physical and mental well-being. Hugs can help soothe your anxieties, fears, and can even assist in dealing with existential trauma.

Hugging people or even animals and teddy bears can have a positive effect on our health; hugging is heart-healthy and reduces stress levels. So get close, warm up and cuddle.