BE Healthy

1) Color!: IDK if my Mom read a Good Housekeeping article or if she just intuitively knew this, but she always wanted her dinner plate to look colorful. Maybe she just liked that the colors made the plate look pretty, but regardless she lived a long and healthy life because of it! Of course, this isn't new information, but did you know that the colors of the fruits and vegetables you eat have specific benefits? That's right, you can pick your colorful foods based on what your body needs. For cognitive support-eat blue; for fertility support- eat orange; and for immune system support- eat red! Check out the charts below for more specifics and try to make those dinner plates pretty!

*Info courtesy @drmarkhyman.

2) Order!: I had no idea that eating the foods on your pretty dinner plate in a certain order can impact your metabolic health, did you? Metabolic health is defined as "a measure of how well your body processes foods and nutrients"... i.e. IT'S IMPORTANT! If you're metabolically healthy, your body will be able to absorb and use the nutrients you are giving it to reduce your risk of diseases like obesity, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, kidney disease, and fatty liver disease! (www.zoe.com). Eating this way also helps minimize glucose spikes and makes you feel full faster. Sounds good, right? And here's the best news... it's easy to do. The suggested order is: fiber-rich vegetables first; then proteins; and then carbohydrates. So if you want to incorporate an easy hack for better health into your daily routine, eat 🥕 + 🍗 + 🍚!

3) Vision!: There are two different types of vision that our eyes use to focus: foveal vision and peripheral vision. Foveal vision is when we focus on things directly in front of us, while peripheral vision is our broader range of vision where we can see things to the right, left, and in front of us. We spend most of our day using the former, but it's the latter that I recently learned can be used to tame anxiety.

We've all experienced a sense of peace when sitting at the beach or when out on a hike in nature, and it turns out that one of the reasons might be because we are typically using our peripheral vision then.

Apparently, peripheral vision is associated with our parasympathetic nervous system, which is associated with calmness, relaxation, and healing. Research has shown that consciously shifting into peripheral vision when you are stressed can lower your heart rate and lessen the feelings of anxiety. Professional golfer Rory McElroy is reported to use this vision shift technique on the course. He finds that after each drive, looking up and engaging his peripheral vision instead of looking at the ground helps him to stay calm and focused.

So, next time you're feeling stressed, LOOK UP and let your eyes take in all that beauty around you! Use your eyes to tell your brain to calm down, and your mind and body will thank you.

**Check out THIS script for using peripheral vision to get you into a rapid relaxation state too.