Nutritious Movement - Nutritious Food
As today is National Fitness day in Ireland, I thought I would write a post highlighting the importance of nutritious food and movement. I have been following Katy Bowman who coined the phrase 'nutritious movement' for the last few months. She is really inspiring and is definitely worth checking out. Her website is https://nutritiousmovement.com/. She talks about how sedentary our lives have become with office work, driving, sitting at computers, watching tv etc. Looking back over a typical day the average person (myself included) sits a lot!
Katy has great ideas about how to incorporate more movement in to our daily lives. Often times we put things in to categories, exercise being one of them - something we need to make time for in our busy schedules. Making time for exercise can be difficult, or it can be the case that we start off well but our motivation begins to lag after a while. Wouldn't it be great if we could make our environments more conducive to movement? So that exercise wasn't confined to half an hour a few times a week, but instead incorporated in to our lives every day. Check out Katy's website for some ideas.
Movement nourishes our body as does nutritious food. Eating a varied diet, including lots of colour is key. For this post I'll highlight two important nutrients to include to support our energy and fitness levels.
Magnesium: One of the most important nutrients involved in the body's energy production processes. Not only significant for athletes and sports people but to enable energy production for every day activities too, hence why general feelings of fatigue and lethargy are common symptoms of a deficiency of this important mineral.
Muscles contain about 26% of all magnesium found in the body. Muscle cramps, spasms and tremors are common symptoms of magnesium deficiency.
Magnesium rich foods are:
Green leafy vegetables, unrefined grains, nuts, legumes (beans, pulses & legumes), whole grains like brown rice & millet. (info from Nutri Advanced)
Omega 3 Fatty Acids: Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid which we need to get from our diet. It is found predominantly in oily fish, but also in walnuts, chia seeds and flaxseeds. This nutrient has been shown to improve blood vessel function, improve recovery time by reducing inflammation, increase exercise duration and support cardiovascular health.
Think about your typical day - does it include a lot of sitting? Can more movement be incorporated and how? Have a look at how much young kids move every day. It is so important for their health and development. Our bodies need it just as much as we need nourishing food.
