Glowing health usually requires balance, moderation, and routine. But variety is the spice of life— travel enlivens the spirit and new adventures feed the soul! However, many travelers find it difficult to happily hop around the country (or the world) without feeling some common travel woes, like disturbed sleep, poor digestion , constipation , or mild anxiety . From the perspective of Ayurveda (yoga’s sister science), most travel discomforts are due to increased vata dosha, the energy governing all movement in the body-mind. Despite constitutional differences, everyone has vata dosha, which supports movement in the respiratory, circulatory, nervous, and digestive systems (and elsewhere). When vata is in a healthy state, these systems run smoothly—breath is fluid, elimination easy, thoughts well communicated, etc. But when the momentum of external travel increases the momentum of internal vata, the emotional result is feeling wound up, scattered, forgetful, or anxious, while the p...
We have all heard the phrase ‘food is fuel’ – but what does that mean? A bit like a car, we need fuel in order to function. However, while cars require petrol or diesel, we require food! So, how does food affect our hormones? Food provides the nutrients we need to maintain healthy body systems, including the production, metabolism and detoxification of hormones. Therefore, if we don’t get enough of the right nutritious foods, our hormone balance can suffer. Why Does Food Have Such A Big Impact On Hormones? There are around 200 different hormones in the human body. These are chemical messengers that control a number of systems, such as our metabolism , the immune system, menstrual cycle and reproduction. Consuming certain foods can provide the nutrients that we need in order to facilitate the production of hormones. How Does Food Affect Hormones? An Important Example Steroid hormones – including testosterone , estrogen and progesterone – contribute to the normal function of all of t...