Food & recipes

7 healthy resolutions that will change your life

Make 2016 the year to be kind to yourself with these essential resolutions

Fruit and vegetables are a good source of vitamins and minerals, including folate, vitamin C and potassium, and are an essential part of healthy eating. To help you get your daily hit of five portions quickly and easily, Smootheelicious has created a collection of pre-portioned frozen fruit combinations which are ideal for use in smoothies. With an extensive range of 14 natural, delicious and nutritious flavours there’ll definitely be one for you. They all come in a convenient 120gm and 140gm sachet that can simply be cut open, put in a blender with some liquid of your choice and blended. The fruit and vegetables used are frozen within three hours of the product being picked, meaning they are preserved at peak ripeness. For more details visit smootheelicious.com/shop

Be nice to your skin

Look after your body from tip-to-toe this year by making skincare one of your top priorities. Despite what you may think, caring for your skin doesn’t have to be time-consuming or expensive, as even something as simple as using a shower filter can help give your body a boost. That’s because hard water has a high mineral content (such as iron, magnesium and/ or calcium), and is alkaline on the pH scale. The combination of hard water and chlorine in our bathing water accumulates and has an impact on sensitive and delicate skin over time but by using a shower filter daily, showering and bathing can become a more enjoyable experience and make a huge difference to the overall feel and look of your skin. Try the Sensitive Skin Care Co’s Attractive Clear Tinted Dechlorinating Shower Filter (£32.25). For more information or to buy the product visit sensitiveskincareco.com

Ditch sugar

Do mid-afternoon energy slumps and sugar cravings sound familiar? Sugar is an inevitable part of modern diets, with hidden sugars found in many of the foods and drinks we consume and that’s why so many of us feel trapped in a ‘sugar cycle’, with limited energy and cravings. As well as causing fatigue, high blood sugar is also linked to a number of health challenges including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. Changing your sugar habits this year could have a really positive impact on your health, and luckily there are lots of products out there to help. Pharma Nord’s new natural supplement called Bio-Gluco Control, for example, can help your body to process the sugars you do consume more efficiently. Combining the mineral chromium and Delphinol, a special maqui berry extract, the supplement helps our bodies to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. The result? Fewer cravings and a more sustained energy supply! 60 tablets are priced at £18.95. For more information visit multivits.co.uk/glucocontrol or call 01670 534 900.

Pharma Nord is also giving you the chance to WIN one of three packs of Bio-Gluco Control so you can try it for yourself. Simply enter your details at http://bit.ly/1YurEWx. (Competition closes 31^stJanuary 2016)

Try something different

If being good to both the environment and your body is important to you, make this the year you buy a Mooncup. The Mooncup is an ethical, convenient and healthy form of period protection, which means you can stop relying on old-school disposables and help cut environmental waste. Made of soft medical grade silicone,the resuable menstrual cup simply collects your blood without causing dryness or leaving fibres behind as tampons can. Rated 100 in The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Index of feminine care brands and produced by one of the UK’s top 50 ethical companies, Mooncup is vegan certified, latex-free, hypoallergenic and contains no dyes, BPA, phthalates, plastic, bleaches or toxins. It is £19.99 and available from independent health food stores and Boots, or online at mooncup.co.uk

Treat yourself

Nourish your soul this year by booking onto a fabulous retreat and giving your mind and body a break. There are plenty available in both the UK and abroad and we love the sound of the Health Oasis resort, which is located on the beautiful tropical island of Koh Samui in Thailand. Specialising in detox, fasting, colon cleansing and holistic weight loss programmes, the resort was founded in 1997 by Mel Loverh at a time when there were only seven other detox centres worldwide. Facilities include an open beachfront yoga sala, massage hall, two swimming pools, herbal steam room, ﬁtness room, restaurant with delicious vegetarian meals, and high speed wiﬁ throughout the resort. The team also provide a range of specialised holistic therapies and regenerative therapies such as ozone, PEMF, other relaxation devices. For more details visit healthoasisresort.com

Turn back the years

Banish wrinkles and fine lines and ensure you look as fabulous as you feel this year. Choosing the right skin products which use only natural ingredients will give your complexion a holistic boost without masses of synthetic ingredients. Each of the products in CHIDEM’s popular skincare collection Beauty of Youth, for example, contains its own unique blend of botanical ingredients, delivered not only at maximum purity, but also at maximum concentrations. Formulated with a blend of exceptional organic firming oils high in zinc, vitamins A, B3, C and E, carotene, potassium, magnesium, omega 3, 6, 7 and 9 fatty acids, every drop is blended for perfection bringing dull skin back to life. The Beauty of Youth Collection includes a cleanser, toner, night treatment oil and eye cream, and is suitable for normal to dry, tired, mature skin. The ultra-rich formula delivers hydration for an optimal moisture balance and is packed with botanical silicon, promoting the production of the skin’s structural proteins and collagen. For more detail visit chidembeauty.com/collections/skin-care-beauty-of-youth-collection

Drink more water

Drinking more water is the first step in helping your body detox and can actually help kickstart your metabolism as part of a weight loss program, so start sipping more of the good stuff. If you just can’t get to grips with drinking it straight, try using Stur. Made from real fruit, Stur is lightly sweetened with natural Stevia plant extract without any sugar or nasty artificial sweeteners. A quick squeeze from these handy little bottles and you have a delicious way to help you drink the recommended eight to 10 glasses of water a day. Being fortified with vitamin C Stur can also help you maintain a healthy immune system and a healthy energy metabolism. Available at health food shops such as Revital, online at Amazon or at sturdrinks.eu/shop