Author: Ashley Wentworth
Seasonal changes usually make us want to consider making changes in other parts of our lives to create that “fresh start” feeling. We often choose to make changes to our activity, nutrition, organization, wardrobe and more. Some of these changes help us simply recharge, and some are necessary—like changing out our winter boots for sandals when temperatures are higher.
Are changes in nutrition necessary during season changes? Let’s explore!
When spring rolls around, the days are getting longer and some of us winter hibernators may be starting to spend more time outside. Here are some things to consider for your nutrition when the sun is finally showing its face again.
Getting enough vitamin D, essential for bone health and many other functions, may not be as much of a concern in the spring as long as you’re spending time outside. Our bodies create vitamin D when exposed to the UVB rays of sunlight. There are a lot of variables involved in deciding how long you need to be outside to get the recommended amounts of vitamin D. Things like how far you live from the equator, your skin color, the season, and even the time of day can all affect how your body synthesizes vitamin D.
The sun is the best way to get vitamin D as there are not many foods that naturally contain it. As with most things regarding nutrition, it’s all about patterns! Vitamin D is stored in the body’s fat cells so it is not as important to be outside each day, but rather a few days per week. So take advantage of those sunny days!
Be sure to use caution with sunshine—too much of a good thing can be dangerous. Prolonged exposure to direct sunlight without proper application of sunscreen can lead to sunburn and increased risk of certain types of skin cancer.
Supplements* can also be a good source of vitamin D. Those who live in northern climates, have high risk of skin cancer, or have darker skin may benefit from vitamin D supplementation.
Cold and flu season tends to linger into spring when the temperatures can be variable during the day. See the Fall section for more immunity boosting information.
The days are long and the sun is strong. Don’t forget your sunscreen even on cloudy days since summer sun rays are much stronger than during other times of the year. Here are some things to pay attention to in summer months to keep your body healthy.
When temps are higher and we’re trying to keep up with the kids, we sweat more and lose more fluids and electrolytes. Electrolytes are minerals that help maintain fluid balance, muscle contractions (including your heartbeat), and chemical reactions in our bodies. Electrolytes also play a large role in how we feel overall. If we lose too many electrolytes and fluids when it’s hot outside or through extreme exercise, we can experience:
Staying hydrated with plain water when you are losing fluids through perspiration is one of the best ways to prevent dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. But extreme levels of perspiration may require electrolyte replacement. You can find electrolytes in:
Summer schedules are usually hectic! Most of us are on the go and trying to spend as much time outside as we can. Our skin and bodies can usually use some extra healing power during the summer.
According to Dr. Thaddeus Gala, here are some must haves to support your skin and body in the summer months:
Fall is like the perfect storm for germs. Temperatures are dropping, we’re spending more time indoors, and we’re gathering in crowds again for back-to-school and the start of the holiday season.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been a lot of information and research on supplements and nutrients that support immunity. Nutrient deficiencies, even if you don’t have obvious symptoms, can often leave small holes in our immune system which bacteria and viruses can take advantage of. Here are the most common dietary sources and key players that work to regulate the immune system, fight off infections, and keep your immunity armor strong:
There are a lot of herbal supplements on the market geared toward immunity, like garlic, echinacea, elderberry, and more. Most of these supplements and compounds need more research in human studies to be more specific in how they work to help our immune system and to determine safe and effective dosing.
Other lifestyle activities to consider to improve immunity include:
Many of us tend to lose steam in the winter months due to shorter days, less sunlight, and cold temperatures limiting our outdoor activities. And let’s face it, spending a lot of time inside with minimal sunshine can also leave us feeling restless, tired, and blah. Can a change in your nutrition help you avoid the winter blues? Here are some nutrients to consider in winter.
Many places in the Northern hemisphere do not get much sunlight in the winter and what sunlight there is has weak UVB rays that are unable to produce vitamin D in the body. Many medical professionals recommend a Vitamin D supplement during winter months. Talk to your healthcare practitioner about what dose is right for you.
According to many studies, vitamin D has also been linked to mood. Vitamin D deficiency often can cause mood changes, feelings of hopelessness, sadness, and fatigue.
If you think you may be suffering from seasonal affective disorder or depression, reach out to your healthcare practitioner to discuss what treatment plan may be best for you.
If you’re feeling extra tired and you’re getting enough Vitamin D, see if you are getting enough of the following vitamins and minerals:
So, do you need to take different supplements during different seasons? Maybe! If you feel you may be lacking some of the nutrients discussed above, it may be worth looking into increasing food sources during season changes or considering a supplement*.
*This article is for educational purposes only. Always discuss supplements with your healthcare practitioner or a registered dietitian. There can be risks of having high levels of some vitamins, minerals, and supplements.
Author: Ashley Wentworth
Author: Ashley Wentworth
This is one of my favorite holidays! I practice No Diet Day every single day but this holiday gives me an extra chance to shout from the rooftops about how harmful diets actually are and that all bodies deserve respect.
Diets have been around for a long time. Some of the first diets were recorded as early as the 1700’s. I won’t bore you with all of them but here are a few of note:
We have not evolved much since then. Despite decades of advances and innovation in medicine, science, and technology, we are no closer to finding safe, effective, long-term weight loss methods. Most current day diet plans include some sort of restriction, usually peddled by someone who has had initial weight loss with the plan. Restriction and dieting remain harmful to our physical, mental, and emotional health.
A myriad of research tells us that there is no long-term weight loss solution. Many studies show that there is initial weight loss when embarking on a new diet or nutrition plan, but they often do not follow participants long term (>3-5 years). Following participants for such a short amount of time, usually somewhere between six weeks to one year, does not give us an accurate picture of how these methods play out in real life.
Dieting also wreaks damage on our health. Since diets and intentional weight loss do not work long-term, most people turn to diets off and on throughout their lives. One survey found that the average person tries about 126 diets over their lifetime. That’s a lot of diets! For an average person that roughly equates to about two diets per year.
The same survey also suggested that participants were confused about food, nutrition, and health. Here are some findings:
Another interesting note from this survey is that many people stopped dieting due to side effects like fatigue, weakness, and headaches. This should come as no surprise when dieting as these are all common side effects of not eating enough.
Dieting on and off, or yo-yo dieting, causes us to start a cycle of losing weight during the diet and then gaining weight back after the diet. This is also known as weight cycling. This happens to 95% of the population according to a hallmark study done in 1959 by Albert Stunkard. There has been research done since this study, of course, but we still do not have any better answers.
Here are some of the effects of weight cycling on our physical, mental, and emotional health:
These are all things we are trying to solve or manage when we embark on improving our health. Why, then, do we keep turning to diets to help us solve these problems when they just make them worse?
Despite all of this research and evidence, most of us still believe that losing weight will definitively improve our health. But according to a 2014 review in the Journal of Obesity, “body weight is defended by a power biological system that reacts to a negative energy balance by lowering metabolism and increasing hunger, food preoccupation, and hedonic responses to food.”
All of that to say, our bodies choose a weight range they like to hang out in, where they feel healthy and comfortable—and it’s not based on weight charts, ideal body weight, or BMI. Once we start doing things that bring our bodies out of this range, our security alert system goes off (Warning! Warning!) and our bodies do everything they can to keep us from starving to death, including:
The truth is, our bodies don’t know the difference between starving (not having enough food) and dieting (purposely restricting food) and it has a very powerful system in place to keep us eating enough.
In the 1980’s and 90’s diet programs ran rampant—Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, Oprah’s journey with Optifast, and more. After hearing about the lengths people were going for the pursuit of weight loss (like stomach stapling) and the detriments of anti-fat bias (suicide), Mary Evans Young decided that enough was enough.
Young knew that dieting and pursuing weight loss was unattainable for most people and she understood the pressure of feeling the need to try anyways. Like many others, she had a history of an eating disorder, and experienced bullying, as well as body image issues.
Young wanted to spread awareness and education to prevent more people from being harmed by the diet industry. So, in 1992 she created “No Diet Day” to “celebrate the importance of body acceptance, diversity, and respect for all body shapes and sizes.” No Diet Day is now celebrated internationally each year on May 6th.
A few other organizations and movements with similar missions started to emerge around the same time including
There are so many ways to celebrate! Choose what seems right for you. Here are a few ideas.
Enjoy Your Food
I mean, really savor it. Choose your favorite meals and fun foods today and more often in general. It doesn’t have to be a “cheat” meal. You don’t need to feel shame or guilt for enjoying your food. Eating is supposed to be fun! Try to bring some joy back into your nutrition. You don’t have to stick to having only “healthy” foods at all of your meals and snacks.
Share on Social Media to Spread Awareness
Share how you’re celebrating No Diet Day! The more people that know about the holiday and what it stands for, the better. We all deserve more than a lifetime of dieting—126 diets is too many.
Not sure what to post? The National Eating Disorder Association has some social media graphics to share.
Show Your Body Gratitude and Respect
Even if you don’t love or even like your body, you can still take care of it in ways that feel good to you. The more you show your body respect the more you may come to appreciate it. You don’t have to intentionally lose weight to do the things you want and enjoy—stop “weighting!”
Recognize That All Bodies:
Reflect and Evaluate Your Relationship with Food
If any of these statements sound like you, it may be time to check in on your nutrition and health goals. These thoughts and behaviors are examples of disordered eating. They may seem “normal” because many of us do these things, but this is only because disordered eating has become normalized in our culture.
Dieting takes up so much of our time, energy, thoughts, and money. As Mary Evans Young said, “What do you think would happen if you spent as much time and energy on your careers as you do on your diets?” This statement can be applied to anything in your life, not just your career.
Dieting has proven to fail us—but makes us feel like we are the failures. This makes us feel shame, have low confidence, and lose self-trust in our bodies. It’s time to try something different and get our lives back! Happy No Diet Day!
