Did you know that your physical and nutritional health plays a large role in your mental health? And the choices you make toward your daily wellness routine can help your overall physical and emotional wellbeing? It’s true! As a licensed mental health provider, maintaining optimal wellness is imperative for me, my family, and my clients and I love sharing tips on how to make wellness an optimal priority!
Since it’s officially cold and flu season, it’s an important time to kickstart our immune system that will help us create new healthy habits we can implement throughout the entire year. One of these habits is drinking the original wellness drink, Florida Orange Juice. That’s why I’ve partnered with the Florida Department of Citrus to educate you on the benefits of incorporating 100% orange juice into your daily routine as well as other helpful tips on improving your overall wellness that includes your mental health!
Tip 1: Stay Hydrated
Staying hydrated is very important to your overall wellness. It is recommended for an average adult to drink 8 eight-ounce servings of liquid per day to stay hydrated. In addition to drinking water to stay hydrated, did you know that drinking Florida Orange Juice may help support your immune system and also help you keep hydrated in the process?
100% orange juice helps deliver a powerful combination of nutrients, vitamins, and antioxidants that have associated health benefits. You probably already know that 8 ounces of Florida Orange Juice is an excellent source of Vitamin C, an essential nutrient and antioxidant that is known to support your immune system, decrease inflammation, increase respiratory and cardiovascular health. But did you know that Florida OJ is also a good source of potassium and folate as well? Potassium is an essential nutrient and plays a significant role in maintaining the body’s fluid, electrolyte, and pH balance. Folate is a water-soluble B vitamin that is essential for cell division and healthy red blood cells. And some Florida Orange Juice is even fortified in calcium and Vitamin D, which is also helpful for strengthening immunity! 100% orange juice is also the primary dietary source of hesperidin, a polyphenol found in oranges and orange juice! Thus, continual intake of these essential nutrients, like those found in Florida Orange Juice, can help support the immune system all year long!
And it’s so easy to incorporate drinking Florida Orange Juice into your daily routine. Whether it’s after a workout, during breakfast, or before your meditation practice, it’s a habit you can start to benefit from now during cold and flu season and throughout the year. And the bonus is that all of these can simultaneously help improve your mental health! And I don’t know about you but drinking Florida Orange Juice makes me happy! When I do what I can to help my body be healthy, my mental wellbeing is in turn in a healthier state of mind.
Tip 2: Exercise and Play
Studies have shown that getting a minimum of 20 minutes of exercise each day has ample physical, mental, and emotional benefits. I personally love to practice yoga or go for a run. Exercise has also been known to increase mood and immunity, and simultaneously decrease depression and anxiety! And after I exercise, I love drinking some refreshing Florida Orange Juice to give me an extra hydration boost in addition to water! 100% orange juice also contains an essential vitamin called thiamin (B1) that helps turn food into energy. In other words, thiamin helps energy metabolism, which is great when you are a parent looking for an energy boost to maintain your daily exercise routine. An 8-ounce glass of 100% OJ provides approximately 10% of the recommended Daily Value of thiamin.
In addition to exercising regularly, play has so many wellness benefits for children as well as adults and one of them is helping benefit your immune system and your overall happiness and wellbeing! As a Registered Play Therapist, I recommend children getting a minimum of 30 minutes of play each day. But play takes energy, so another reason to get your daily dose of thiamin! What better to start learning healthy habits young and incorporate pretend play with a glass of Florida OJ!
What’s better than playing with friends and family? Studies have shown that spending time with family and friends not only benefits your immune system, but also helps your mental health! In fact, according to an article published in TIME Magazine in the summer of 2019, “studies have shown that social support – whether it comes from friends, family members or a spouse – is strongly associated with better mental and physical health. A robust social life, these studies suggest, can lower stress levels; improve mood; encourage positive health behaviors and discourage damaging ones; improve illness recovery rates; boost cardiovascular health, and aid virtually everything in between. Research has even shown that a social component can boost the effects of already-healthy behaviors such as exercise.” So, I encourage you to seek some face-to-face time with a friend or loved one to really connect and seek a deeper and more meaningful relationship. If you can’t see someone in person, schedule a virtual conversation and share a meal together over a glass of Florida Orange Juice!
Tip #3: Meditation and Sleep
How do you like to start your day? What is your daily wellness routine? Do you sleep in and kick your day off answering to your work emails, husband’s questions, and children’s needs in turn depleting your energy tank or do you set your day early before your family wakes up with intention, calmness, and peacefulness filling your energy tank for the day? Practicing mindfulness exercises, like meditation, can give your immunity a boost as well as improve your overall mood and wellness! Taking mental breaks to meditate throughout your day helps as well in case you don’t get to it first thing in the morning! What better way to enjoy it over a glass of Florida Orange Juice when you are done?
And as a parent I know it’s difficult to get an adequate amount of sleep each night, but I also know my physical and mental health depend on it. Without getting the recommended hours of sleep at night, my immune system suffers, and so does my mood. Many medical doctors recommended that adults should receive 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Without enough sleep I don’t function as well throughout the day and my mood becomes more irrational, irritable, and frustrated and my mind becomes foggy brained. When this happens, I’m not the best version of myself or the best mom I can be to my children. Furthermore, if you are sleep deprived, your body may not produce enough protective cytokines and infection-fighting antibodies to keep your immune system functioning properly. Therefore, getting enough sleep each night can make a radical improvement on your immune system and your mental health. If you’re lucky, you might wake up to breakfast in bed once in a blue moon! Drinking Florida Orange Juice may help cognitive brain function, something that will help on those days you want to think more clearly throughout your day, which will contribute to your overall daily wellness routine!
Tip 4: Maintain a Balanced Diet
I know when I maintain a balanced diet, I feel much better physically, emotionally, and mentally about my overall wellness. Maintaining a balanced diet not only helps your immune system and overall health, but also will help your mental health. I love to choose foods that are nutrient based like eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and Florida OJ. I try to avoid added sugars and processed foods and eat those special treats in moderation. For breakfast I may have oatmeal or avocado toast with an 8-ounce glass of 100% orange juice to make sure I get some vitamin C, potassium, folate, and thiamin – nutrients that help build my immune system – and it counts towards my daily fruit intake. I typically choose Florida Orange Juice that is fortified with calcium and vitamin D for extra benefits. For lunch, I may eat a salad with spinach, carrots, cucumber, beets, walnuts, and almonds! And for dinner, I eat a lean piece of protein like a piece of fish with some steamed vegetables. If I get a sweet tooth, I may have some dates or even a small piece of dark chocolate.
An 8-ounce glass of Florida Orange Juice can provide a host of nutritional benefits. However, as with any food or beverage, portion sizes need to be considered in light of your overall diet and lifestyle. For kids, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that 100% fruit juice, such as Florida Orange Juice, should be limited to 4-6 ounces/day for children age 1-6 and 8 ounces/day for children age 7 and older.
I hope these tips were helpful to you during this cold and flu season. Just remember to stay hydrated, exercise and play, meditate and maintain anxiety levels, get an adequate amount of sleep each night, and maintain a balanced diet to help strengthen your immune system and improve your mental health. For more information on the benefits of Florida Orange Juice, please visit the Florida Department of Citrus website or visit Florida Orange Juice on Instagram or Facebook!
This post is sponsored by the Florida Department of Citrus but all photos and opinions are my own!
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