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Health Foodie. Wife. Mom.

Keep Warm When It’s Cold Outside

For most of us, the weather is getting cold outside! How will you stay warm this Fall and Winter? In addition to dressing accordingly, I like to do a couple of things to help me keep warm and cozy during the cooler months, as well as keep my health in check!

Drink Herbal Tea

Whenever you drink warm beverages, it immediately increases your body’s temperature. I suggest staying away from hot chocolate, since they are (usually) full of sugar and will do more harm than good since sugar suppresses the immune system.

For the last couple of years, I have started to try different caffeine-free herbal teas that have a specific health benefit to them. For example, I love to drink Echinacea Tea to help support the immune system during the colder months. I figure that I could use all the help I can get to stay sick-free!

Exercise

Just because it’s cold outside, it doesn’t mean you can lounge in your sweat pants and forget about exercising. You can do plenty of exercises either outside or indoors, it doesn’t matter which ones you choose, just don’t buy into your own excuses to not workout.

Exercise will not only boost your metabolism to help you burn excess fat, exercise will increase blood circulation which will increase your body’s temperature throughout the day. In my own personal experience, I have found exercise to be very effective in keeping warm throughout the day.

Thermogenesis

When you eat foods that will increase your body temperature, this is known as thermogenesis.

Root vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, kale, sweet potatoes, and cabbage require more energy to digest and will help create internal heat when eaten.

Hot peppers, such as thai peppers, chili peppers, or other hot peppers, help stimulate the circulatory system which raises the body’s temperature.

Eating warm foods, in general, will temporarily help increase body temperature in the cooler months.

Stay warm and healthy!

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2 Comments

  1. Great stuff! Perfectly timed considering most of the east has had a cold front move in for the first time this year.

    You mentioned the Echinacea tea. I’m a big fan of it too. Bear in mind, however, that some studies have shown consuming echinacea regularly (through tea or in pill form) can actually decrease your immune system’s defenses.

    Pound it when you get sick, but be wary of having a cup every morning.

  2. @Dan, thank you for your comments. You are absolutely right about the Echinacea tea! I try to drink it sparingly, and try many other teas like Dandelion root to have a healthy liver cleanse!

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