The Best Foods to Nourish Your Body and Soul

One of the biggest new year’s resolutions that people make is to eat healthier and get fit. A lot of these resolutions focus on physical appearance, which is understandable; there is a lot of pressure from society for people to look a certain way, and people are forever striving to lose a bit more weight, look good in a bathing suit, or feel prettier in a tight dress.

However, it’s not just your physical appearance that benefits from eating healthier; good food is nourishment for the soul, too. It’s often said that ‘you are what you eat’, and this is very true. The way you eat affects the way you feel, so to feel good, it’s important to make sure you’re feeding your body and soul the very best ingredients. Here we look at the best ways to nourish your body and soul.

1. Hydration is key!

Water is perhaps the most important tool we can use to nourish both body and soul. Our bodies are made up of an average 57-60% water, so it’s important to stay hydrated to feel the best you can. We wake up dehydrated, so start your day right by drinking a glass of cold, refreshing water when you wake up. Many people say they don’t drink water because it’s boring, preferring to drink something with more flavour. If this is the case for you, try a cup of hot water with a slice of lemon; it’s tasty, and it’s a fantastic anti-oxidant.

Aside from keeping us hydrated, the benefits of drinking water are endless; it’s great for our skin, it relieves fatigue, it helps with digestion, aids weight loss, combats headaches and migraines, and improves our mood.  

The recommended daily water intake for an adult is 6-8 glasses. It’s easy to forget to drink water during the day when we’re busy with work or chores. A good way to keep track is to keep a water bottle with you everywhere you go; you can even mark the bottle at different points to remind you how much you should have drunk by a certain point. If need be, you could even set a few alarms throughout the day to remind you to drink.

2. Inject a little love and thought into your food

We’re all busy, and it’s understandable that many of us go for quick, easy foods to keep us going because we simply don’t have enough time to cook. We buy fast food while on the mood, or we heat up a ready meal for dinner while multi-tasking; we simply don’t pay any attention to what we eat because we’re too busy focusing on ‘more important’ things.

This is a huge issue because it means we don’t think about what we’re feeding our body and soul. We get what we pay for with cheap, fast food, and most of the time it don’t satisfy us and we’re hungry again soon after, meaning we usually snack for the rest of the night on more unhealthy foods.

The best way to ensure that you’re feeding your body and soul the best, most nourishing food, you need to make food one of your priorities. Make the time in your schedule to go shopping for fresh, organic ingredients, and then go home and use these ingredients to cook a proper, wholesome meal full of all of the important food groups. The time, effort and love you put into your meals will show, and you will reap the benefits; you’ll feel properly full, and your body will be happy. And when your body is happy, so is your soul.

3. Swap your coffee for herbal tea

Many of us struggle to function in the morning without our first cup of coffee; we rely on that shot of caffeine to get us through the day. One way to get a more natural source of energy is to switch to herbal tea; not only is it healthier, but tea leaves also have more caffeine than coffee beans. Though it’s true that coffee is still stronger once brewed, tea will still give you a good energy boost, and it’s also an excellent way to get in touch with nature. Plus, herbal teas are also excellent anti-oxidants, so if you’re feeling run down, this is the perfect way to flush those toxins out.

4. Grow your own food

Relating to spending more time and energy preparing your own food, why not grow your own ingredients? Growing your own fruit and vegetables will give you peace of mind when cooking, because you know exactly where your ingredients have come from, and what they have in them. Plus, working for your food will help you appreciate your meals so much more; a tasty, healthy meal that leaves you feeling full and happy is the perfect reward for your hard work in the garden!