What is January Blues?

It is normal to feel sad at this time of year after the commotion and excitement of the holiday season. The "January Blues" are brought on by the combination of January's frigid temperatures, gloomy mornings, and breaking out New Year's resolutions. The January blues typically present as emotions of regret, despair, a lack of drive, exhaustion, and poor energy. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) can cause severe depressive episodes during the gloomier months.

Some people start January with a bang, and many drag themselves into the new year feeling sluggish, bloated and needing more energy. Given the joy and general feeling of abandonment with friends and family, the aftereffects of the holiday season are worthwhile. However, many people look back on overindulgence with slight regret, hoping to start a healthier new year by boosting their health.

Many strategies can be used to overcome January Blues and to yield more enduring outcomes. Making new year goals essential, attainable, and based on fact can reboot your health. Restoring proper digestion, revving up energy, and resetting mental health are the three main aspects of health that the convert, re-energised, and reboot plan focuses on.

How to avoid January Blues?

January Blues are avoidable by being healthy, active, and having good dietary practices. The avoid them;

Maintain the properties of your gut.

• The first milestone of good health has a healthy and properly functioning gut. The digestive system in our body acts like a sorting system where food is supplied, nutrients are absorbed and distributed throughout the body, and waste is eliminated.

Your gut can suffer from issues like

• constipation
• diarrhoea
• bloating
• indigestion
• gastric refluxes

These can affect your general health, vitality, and mood. Additionally, too much food, sugar, alcohol, lack of sleep, dehydration, and stress can negatively impact gut health.

So, by maintaining a healthy gut, January Blues can be avoided by eating well. 

Pick simple foods to digest and consume a lot of vegetables, lean meats, and healthy fats. Such as;

Eat more fibre

• An adequate amount of fibre in our food is key to better health. In addition to supporting intestinal health, fibre helps feel full between meals and balances blood sugar levels to reduce cravings. While fibre can be found in seeds, nuts, fruits, whole grains, vegetables, and dried fruit, beans, pulses, and lentils are the most potent sources.

Seed and feed good gut microflora

• The natural microorganisms within the intestinal system are vital for maintaining digestive tasks. They aid in breaking down to absorption of nutrients that are required for the survival of animals. Additionally, they help synthesise the B vitamins, such as B12, folic acid, and thiamin, which are essential for proper nervous system function, red blood cell creation, and energy metabolism.

• Put more of the good guys in by consuming probiotic yoghurts and fermented foods to prevent the effects of stress and poor diet on the stomach, which can lead to an overgrowth of harmful bacteria and yeasts that worsen digestive problems.

• Nevertheless, a supplement is the most efficient way to introduce these beneficial bacteria to your digestive system. Indigestion, diarrhoea, and constipation have all been found to be eased by probiotic supplementation.

• Eat prebiotic food

• As mentioned above, prebiotics in some meals with high levels of indigestible fibres like inulin and resistant starch have a symbiotic interaction with good bacteria. They are fermented in the gut by bacteria, which promotes the growth of beneficial microorganisms.

Products that can be used to restore your gut are

• Probiotics
• Vitamin B12
• Magnesium
• Vitamin D
• Iron

As well as cutting back on sugar also be helpful in restoring your gut, if you struggle with sugar try berberine, cinnamon27 or chromium to help curb your cravings!

Reviving energy levels

• Re-establishing a healthy diet helps boost depleting energy levels. It is recommended not to start fasting to reduce weight and to stay away from strict diets.

Eat three nutritious meals throughout the day.

• Missing meals make people hungrier and crave unhealthy foods as soon as blood sugar levels fall. To feel full and energised in between meals, choosing foods that help to feel fulfilled is much better. Use the basic meal formula of protein with good fats and vegetables to maintain energy levels.

Keep fit and stay active.

• Regular exercise releases endorphins, which give your body a happy feeling, and has been shown to lower stress, boost self-esteem, and lessen depressed tendencies. Any form of exercise is acceptable, even simple or moderate ones like jogging, yoga, or even a quick lunchtime stroll (Matthew Gill, 2021).

• Sleep well

• According to recommendations from the WHO, healthy adults should get between seven and nine hours of sleep every night. Insufficient sleep may negatively impact mental health, making people angry, anxious, and worried. Reducing screen usage in the evenings aids brain unwinding and improves the quality of sleep

Cut back on sugar

• The human body converts sugar to glucose, which may give you the energy boost you need but will probably be followed by a dip and a want for more fast foods. To decrease the impact on blood glucose levels, combine sweet items with meals.

Eat food rich in B vitamins and Magnesium.

• These are essential for energy metabolism, and low levels may lead to feeling depressed. Stress can reduce the body's supply of B vitamins, so it is vital to replenish it with meals like whole grains, oily fish, dark green leafy vegetables, nuts, eggs, and chicken. Magnesium, which helps to control everything from mood to blood pressure and energy metabolism, is also abundant in these meals.

• Increase the Iron uptake

• Iron plays a crucial part in maintaining the energy level of the human body. Lethargy and exhaustion can cause by low iron levels, which can also affect mood. Low levels of this mineral are more common in women than in men.

Take Vitamin D

• Low levels have been linked to seasonal depression and low mood. The amount of vitamin D that the human body can absorb from the diet is constrained, but it can obtain a little of it through meals like eggs, mushrooms, and fortified goods. To maintain levels, some people are deficient and need to take Vitamin D and other Vitamins and minerals.

If you want to cover all the bases, add the following:

• 100-150 mcg iodine
• 8-12 mg zinc
• 50-100 mcg vitamin K2
• 30-50 mcg selenium
• 150-200 mg magnesium on the daily basis.

Rebooting your mental health

• Give time for yourself.

• By putting yourself first and not others, you'll be ready to take actions that are in keeping with self-care.

Revisit what you loved as a child

• Reawaken one's interest by recalling the things that captured their imagination as kids. We can use a notebook to list former passions for music, a particular sport, or a specific toy, emotional health benefits from writing in and of itself.

• Let go of unhelpful things and people.

• Rebooting means letting go of things. Consider taking action to either lessen their impact on life or move on from them if someone in life consistently drains or causes you to feel nervous, depressed, or not good enough. The hardest part of this will surely be for kind, giving, wise people, but they will gain the most by separating from harmful people and situations.

Rediscover your core values

• Rank creativity, independence, spontaneity, relationships, religion, money, fitness, and values in order of significance from 1 to 10. Consider your "number one" value, consider why it matters to you, and then consider a time in your life when this value was especially essential. We may live genuinely as who we are and not what we believe we should be by reminding ourselves of what we value in life.

You can book an appointment with one of our therapists at our mind clinic to release your mind with worries and reboot yourself. You will be given a daily planner to practice mindfulness at the clinic here