Live a Healthier Life

September-25-2020

This week was National Recycling Week, and we’ve spent some of it sharing a few facts about how Forever works to do our bit for the environment – from our shipping packaging being completely recyclable, right down to the water we use to wash our aloe being recycled back into the fields to help with water conservation. You can take a look at some of our other measures here.
But while we all know that reducing, reusing and recycling is important for the planet, have you ever considered the impact it can have on your own mental wellbeing? If you’re after an effective mood boost, look no further than contributing positively to your environment or local community. Doing good makes you feel good in turn, and here are just a few really great ways to give back and feel amazing about it.

Have a clear out

If we’re being honest with ourselves, we probably all have wardrobes full of clothes we never wear, shelves covered in trinkets we don’t enjoy anymore or drawers full of ‘stuff’ which is no longer useful to us, all which can overwhelm our home with clutter and negatively impact our mental wellbeing.
Having a clear out can not only help you to feel clearer and more in control, but as they say ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’, and sending all of that stuff you no longer have use for to others can really help to benefit others, and in turn make you feel even better! Why not try:

• Donating toys your children have grown out of to a children’s hospital

• Giving clothes you no longer wear to friends or colleagues who will love them

• Donating your old trinkets, clothes or electronics to a charity shop, where somebody else may love it and buy it, and with the proceeds going to that charity

• Donating unused and still-in-date makeup to women’s aid charities

Support local businesses

We all have to part with our money sometimes, but have you considered the effect of your pound or euro? When it comes to buying almost anything, you can help to support smaller, local businesses – at no or very little extra cost to yourself – getting the same item but feeling infinitely better knowing that you’ve helped to prop up a family run business. There’s almost no limit to what you can buy from small and local businesses, but some places to start making a difference could be:

• Zero waste grocery shops – support a small business AND reduce your waste – win win!

• Clothing shops – find ethically sourced, unique pieces to define your wardrobe

• Bakeries – because homemade goodies are always better than what you can find in the supermarket

• Gift shops – whether you’re buying art pieces, handmade jewellery or artisan candles, your friends and family will love the thoughtfulness behind these locally crafted gifts!

Volunteer

If you have some time to spare and want to feel great, why not try your hand at volunteering as a way to give back? You could help to serve meals at a local food kitchen, be a retail assistant in a charity shop, be a lifeline on the other end of the phone for those in need, join a park clean-up or walk dogs for a local dog’s home. In fact, there are countless ways to donate your time, give back to your community and feel amazing doing so!

Giving to charity

Just as you can volunteer for charities, you can also donate money to them. There are over 168,000 registered charities in the UK alone, so if you have a think about causes that really matter to you, you’re bound to find ways to be able to help. Whether you set up your own direct debit each month to give to your chosen charity, or do something (a run, a sky dive, a month of sobriety, shaving your hair, growing a beard, etc.) to help fundraise, you can feel amazing knowing that you’re doing something to give back to a cause you care about.

Reduce, reuse and recycle

Of course, it wouldn’t be a National Recycle Week blog without a reminder that reducing your waste, reusing items and recycling packaging is a great way to feel incredible! Reducing your carbon footprint and being mindful about how you dispose of your rubbish may not come entirely naturally at first, but they are worth the effort in the long run.
Not only will doing so mean that you’re helping the planet, but you may find that the increased effort naturally brings you healthy benefits, like walking instead of driving increasing your daily exercise, or choosing whole foods with less packaging meaning that you consume less junk food.
Whether you’re already an avid recycler or know there’s more you could do, we have a myriad of other blog posts you could get more tips from!

• Reduce your food waste with meal planning

• Reduce your Christmas waste by choosing environmentally friendly gift wrapping options

• Incorporate these seven simple habits to be more sustainable

• Choose environmentally friendly products as part of your routine

What other tips do you have to give back to your community and feel amazing? Let us know in the comments!

September-18-2020

September marks the month of change. After spending lazy days on holiday with family and friends, it’s time to get back into a routine, and for many, this autumn has become a brand-new routine. Getting back into the workplace, classroom or maybe even university brings a mixture of emotions: excitement and happiness, apprehension, worry and anxiety.
Self-care is something that must not be overlooked. As we head “inside” as the months become colder and the days become shorter, the first thing to consider is supporting the health of our immune system.
The optimal functioning of the immune system is reliant on many factors, including proper nutrition, adequate sleep, stress management, gut health and moderate exercise. Did you know that 70% of our immune system resides in our gut? Yes, our gut (or digestive system) is a special place of focus.
Who likes eating? Well I am sure we all can relate to that! Balancing the “treats” with the “nutrients” is something to consider. Your digestive system LOVES nutrient dense foods, especially those that are in season, and of course nutrients that support your digestive system to be the best it can be. Key nutrients to support digestive health and help it to function normally include vitamins A, B, C, D and also magnesium, calcium and fibre. Of course, water is also a key nutrient that is important too, and is found in many fruits and vegetables.
Autumn
Try and shop local and “home grown”. Have a nosy at what is in season through the autumn.
Here are a  few suggestions:
Meat: chicken, grouse, ham, Heather-fed lamb, pork, sausages, venison
Vegetables: field mushrooms, lettuce, marrow, potatoes, pumpkin, rocket, squash, sweetcorn, watercress
Fruit: apples, blackberries, damsons, elderberries, pears, plums, sloes
Fish: brill, dab, dover sole, flounder, oysters, skate
Back to school meal planning
Making a shopping list and planning family meals ahead of time can help to minimise the reliance on fast, convenient foods and sugary snacks when time is minimal. If your child has packed lunches, aim to prepare the night before so there is no last-minute rush in the morning, which will affect preparation time and choice. Including your kids in the planning of their own lunch may help to ensure they will eat it!
Top up with supplements
The key is to eat a balanced and varied diet. We all know that sometimes, when we are in a rush, dealing with the “battle of the broccoli” is too much. If you want to give our immune system some extra support, Forever have a range of products to support all of the family’s needs.
Here is what I called my 1-2-3-steps of supplement support:
Aloe Vera
We have four different flavours to choose from, so choose which one is your favourite. Love them all.? Well just enjoy each different flavours on different days. Each one has a cocktail of nutrients to support your body to be the best it can be. It’s great to know that our Aloe Vera Gel, Aloe Berry Nectar and Aloe Peaches contain a rich source of vitamin C to help support immune health.
Forever Daily or Forever Kids
Forever Daily is a powerful multivitamin that delivers 100% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of essential vitamins and minerals including vitamins A, C, D and B12, iron, calcium and zinc. And for the kids, Forever Kids are lovely chewable multivitamins for the children over the age of 3.
Forever Active Pro B
Forever Active Pro-B contains six strains of friendly bacteria (microbiome is friendly bacteria that resides in out gut). This supplement now also has the addition of zinc, which is known to help support the normal immune system, our vision, as well as the synthesis of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
One of my favourite “kitchen cupboard items” is Forever Supergreens!
This versatile supplement contains over twenty fruits and vegetables as well as aloe. Key nutrients also include vitamin C, which contributes to the normal function of the immune system, vitamin E which contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress and magnesium which contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism, reduction of tiredness and fatigue, electrolyte balance and psychological function. Alkaline green veggies like spinach, kale and broccoli, plus the mineral magnesium supports a healthy pH electrolyte balance.
I love to add it to my glass of Aloe Vera Gel and Forever Freedom in the morning alongside ARGI+ and Nutra- Q10, but as a family we add it to our Forever Ultra Lite shakes, pasta sauces, vegetable soups and even make pancakes with it!!
Every day I take Forever Immublend as part of my daily supplement support. Firstly you will find Fructooligosaccharides –  this is actually insoluble fibre and is “food” for your healthy bacteria that resides in your gut. Another ingredient called  Lactoferrin – a protein that can bind easily with iron, and is found throughout the human body including the immune system. Then we have important vitamins C, D and zinc which are all known to support the normal function of the immune system. Vitamin D comes from exposure to sunlight, and during the autumn and winter months we have less sunny days, so this supplement also contains our recommended 10 micro grams.
Back to work, college and university
As people head back into the “work” environment we need to keep those “cogs” turning! Cognitive function refers to our brain’s capacity for memory, reasoning, learning and focus. Busy lives juggling your career, home life and children all have an impact. Living in a digital world, doing online video meetings, and seminars is all become more taxing. Shift working and long-distance driving, as well as maturing adults can all add up to mental burnout.
Every part of our body needs energy, and of course this includes our brain. Citicoline, is a vital nutrient found naturally in every cell of the body including the eyes and brain. Forever Focus contains this in the form of clinically studied Cognizin as well as traditional herbs, vitamins and minerals, so don’t just get through the day, take charge of it!
Alongside this it also contains L’Tyrosine: an amino acid thats role in the body is as a precursor for neurotransmitters dopamine and adrenaline. Zinc also contributes to normal cognitive function and to the protection of cells from oxidative stress, as well as supports the function of the immune system. Finally, vitamins B6 and B12 contribute to normal functioning of the nervous system and normal psychological function, as well as helping reduce the feeling of tiredness and fatigue. They also contribute to supporting immune health.
After I have had my Forever supplements in the morning , I enjoy my cup of  freshly brewed coffee, the perfect drink to accompany the Forever Focus capsules. Then I am ready for whatever life has in store me!

September-04-2020

September is here and with our schedules filling up again, the kids back to school and the season shifting into early autumn, we wanted to put a focus back onto what’s important: your wellbeing; both physical and mental.
It’s been an interesting year for all of us, and we’re still adapting, but we know that it’s important to keep taking care of ourselves.

Look after your mind

With everything going on, it’s easy to get distracted, but September is a good time to nail your focus and have a restart. Pick up a new diary or planner and start anew (think ‘back to school’ vibes, but for adults).
If you struggle with overthinking, write a to-do list, or have a ‘brain dump’ page in your notebook. Take the time, whenever you’re feeling anxious, to write everything you’re worrying about down there. Etching it out onto paper can be incredibly therapeutic: you know that you won’t forget it, because it’s written down, but you can free up the space in your brain without worrying about it over and over.
If seeing it all written down is even more cause for concern (sometimes those lists get pretty long) break it down further. Split your list up so that you only have four or five to do on any given day. Learn to prioritise, and if a new, more urgent task comes in, don’t be afraid to re-prioritise and re-write the entire list in a new order.
And, with all that done, try keeping a ‘done’ list, or have a way of marking your completed tasks with a big, bright tick. Try completing a couple of shorter tasks first thing in the morning so that you can see ticks starting to appear on the list. The satisfaction of completing a task can be really motivating, so it should be enough to see you through the more complex, longer tasks.
Have you tried Forever Focus? Containing B6 and B12, which contribute to normal functioning of the nervous system and normal psychological function, as well as helping reduce the feeling of tiredness and fatigue, this supplement combines traditional herbs, vitamins and minerals with clinically studied Cognizin so that you don’t just get through the day, you take charge of it!

Look after your body

We all know it’s important to support our immune health, and a great way to do that is to eat the right food!
Get a varied mix of fruit and vegetables onto your plate at each mealtime, and if you’re concerned about your portions, follow the plate rule: half a plate of veggies, a quarter of protein and a quarter of complex carbohydrates. Healthy fats are welcome too: think extra virgin olive oil for cooking, or some avocado.
You could try adding a sachet of Forever Supergreens to your breakfast smoothie to ensure you’re getting over twenty fruits and vegetables of goodness into your body before you’ve even really started your day!
Don’t forget that you can supplement if you feel you’re missing out on any key vitamins or nutrients. Forever Immublend is high in vitamin C, D and zinc, all of which contribute to the normal function of the immune system.

Look after your soul

There are lots of ways to take care of your soul and it really just depends on the kinds of person you are!
Perhaps the best way for you to unwind is with exercise, but with the night’s drawing in, an evening run may be less appealing than usual. Try to find other ways to be active. Could you switch your routine to get a long walk in the autumn air at lunchtime? Could you incorporate some yoga or stretches into your morning routine? How about a fun new class at the gym?
Or perhaps you spend so much time looking after others that you’ve forgotten the last time you did something just for YOU. Take a break and feel the benefit! Schedule an evening for yourself and run a hot bath, put on a face mask (our award-winning Aloe Bio-Cellulose Mask is just the ticket!) and read a book. Go on, you deserve it!
How do you take care of your mind, body and soul? We’d love you to give us some inspiration in the comments!