Oxygen Australia — January-February 2018

oxygenmagAU Jan/Feb 2018 99

All the essential holiday season partying and abundance

of food and drink can easily leave your body depleted

of essential micronutrients. Here’s how to check that

you have the right foods and minerals on your list to

restock your mind and body ready for your New Year.

T

he Australian festive

season is a celebration of

abundance. You really get to

see just how lucky we are to live

in such a wonderful country at this time

of year.

The weather is perfect for the beaches,

bushwalks, backyard cricket, slip and slides,

and Christmas parties where we are all

having too much fun to mind the sweating

and heat — and in any case, when it gets too

warm, we are all into the pool or ocean to

cool down.

And the food! The seafood, the stone

fruits and mangoes and lychees are

abundant — but so are the treats and lollies.

There’s so much to drink, both cold and

sweet, and the alcohol may be flowing late

into the hot, summer nights.

Regardless of your religion, culture, or

ancestry, it is time to have fun with your

mates and enjoy the abundance of riches,

joy, and culinary treasures to be found in

such a lucky country.

Then we come back to reality and

consider our goals and aspirations for the

New Year. We make resolutions. New Year

equals new me.

We have such good intentions, but for

many of us New Year’s resolutions still

haven’t started by the end of January or

they’re started but all over by the end of

February.

Why do we struggle to get on top of our

New Year’s resolutions?

It’s because, paradoxically, our

celebration of abundance creates exhaustion

and deficiency. We may be loading up on

macronutrients (protein, sugars, and fats),

but then depleting our micronutrients

(B-complex vitamins and minerals — in

particular zinc, selenium, and magnesium).

Salty sweat

So when we’re playing, dancing, and

even swimming, we are sweating. And we

are excreting water-soluble nutrients in

that sweat water. You may have noticed

just how salty sweat is to taste. Water-

soluble nutrients — in particular, sodium,

potassium, and magnesium — are lost in

perspiration. Alcohol, excessive sugars, and

fats also deplete these minerals.

The particular minerals are known as

electrolytes, as they control our electrical

signalling in our nerves, muscle, and brain.

Deficiencies of these minerals

may result in:

 anxiety, worry, and an inability to

switch off

 fatigue and weakness

 sensitivity to stress and noise

 twitching, tapping, cramping, and

restlessness

 insomnia

 poor recovery from exercise

 poor motivation and drive

 poor focus and concentration span

 cravings, and

 irritability

It makes it hard to stick to a New Year’s

resolution when irritable, restless, sore,

and not recovering from your activity or

exertion.

We must replenish these minerals from

our diet — and not just the water we are

losing — or we risk mineral deficiencies.

TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE BEST

CHANCE OF GETTING RESULTS FROM YOUR

EFFORTS, TAKE AWAY THE EXCUSES FIRST.

Jan/Feb 2018 99