Feel Amazing All Season Long With These Quick and Expert-Backed Spring Health Boosters
From mustard massages to tulip strolls, these tricks help you thrive
Ready to feel your best this season? These natural spring health boosters can help you make the most of sunny days and blooming skies without the aches, sluggishness or allergy flares that tend to come with the territory. Whether you’re spending more time outside or adjusting to a lighter diet, springtime shifts can leave you feeling off. The good news? Simple remedies like mustard oil massages, relaxing rituals and even sniffing grapefruit can have you feeling vibrant in no time.
6 natural spring health boosters
Try one (or a few!) of these spring health boosters to feel vibrant, energized and truly in sync with the season.
Erase joint pain with mustard massages
Thanks to spring’s warmer, sunnier days, we’re spending a lot more time outdoors and active, and that can make joint stiffness and pain flare. The good news? Massaging joints with a little warmed mustard oil can tamp down achiness in minutes, plus reduce the risk of flare-ups if you do it once daily, an Indian study shows. Mustard oil boasts a rare plant compound called allyl isothiocyanate. It soaks easily into tissues where it acts as a natural painkiller and anti-inflammatory.
Woman's World Answers
Or put your feet up
Norwegian investigators say treating yourself to a little R&R at the end of a busy day (whether you read, watch your favorite show or enjoy a bubble bath) could cut your risk of spring achiness by 60 percent. Those blissful breaks dial down production of cortisol, a stress hormone that fuels painful joint swelling.
End indigestion with Grandma’s remedy
We’re switching from hearty roasts and stews to fresh salads and seasonal fare like asparagus. And for many of us, that sudden diet shift is making bloating, queasiness and other GI symptoms flare. Fortunately, scientists reporting in the journal Cureus say just relaxing with a hot water bottle or heating pad on your belly (your grandma’s go-to remedy for a multitude of ills!) erases even painful bouts of indigestion in less than 10 minutes. That’s because warming your abdomen encourages digestive enzyme release, speeds stomach emptying and relaxes intestinal spasms.
Or press here
Firmly massaging your shins (focusing on the first four inches below your kneecap) can calm an upset stomach in as little as 5 minutes, a Chinese study suggests. Upper shin massages stimulate a series of nerves that improve digestion and tamp down abdominal pain.
Boost your energy with a tulip stroll
Next time you feel yourself falling into a slump, step outside and admire the pretty tulips popping up in yards and gardens right now. Your nervous system responds to the familiar shape and cheery colors of these spring blooms by releasing energizing brain waves, erasing sluggishness within two minutes of the first glance, Egyptian scientists say. Not a bloom in sight? Watching a bird, squirrel or other cute creature as it busies itself in your yard can give you the same impressive energy boost.
Or add a layer
It’s positively balmy outside compared to a few months ago. But donning a sweater before heading out the door could be the key to staying alert and energized all day long. So say Columbia University researchers, who found keeping cozy maximizes oxygen-rich blood flow to brain and muscle cells.
Halt migraines with a drugstore Rx
It’s not just you—adjusting to spring’s longer days and large temperature fluxes is leading to bad headache flares and even migraines for many of us these days. Thankfully, scientists from Florida Atlantic University have found that taking 900 to 1,300 mg of aspirin at the first sign of trouble cuts these fun-sapping pain flares by 70 percent or more (better results than prescription meds offer). Turns out aspirin curbs blood vessel swelling and inflammation, which are two powerful pain triggers.
Or cue up your playlist
Head won’t stop thudding? Stretching out and listening to your favorite tunes could provide relief in as little as five minutes, Dutch investigators say. Focusing on music that you love makes your pain threshold soar, plus it calms spasming neck and scalp muscles.
Shed extra pounds with a whiff of grapefruit
Being cooped up indoors all winter can lead to slow, sneaky weight gain. And it only takes a few unwanted pounds to make our favorite spring clothes feel annoyingly snug. To shed these “hibernation pounds” quickly and easily, reach for a bottle of grapefruit essential oil. Or, simply scratch the skin of a fresh grapefruit. Researchers from the International Journal of Molecular Sciences say grapefruit’s tart aroma can shut down diet-sabotaging hunger pangs and cravings in seconds. The aromatic particles also switch on genes that encourage your body to burn stored fats for fuel.
Or stretch
Doing 10 minutes of gentle yoga stretches daily could help you shed up to 10 pounds. That’s the word from Brown University researchers. They found that appetite control soared when subjects worked this soothing type of exercise into their day.
Broccoli salad curbs seasonal allergy flares
The compound that gives broccoli its proven cancer-fighting powers (sulforaphane) can quiet spring allergy symptoms. Australian investigators say sulforaphane quashes the body’s production of cytokines. These proteins can make your nose run, your eyes itch and more. You’ll absorb up to twice as much sulforaphane per serving if you eat this veggie raw or lightly cooked instead of boiled.
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