Small daily choices that can transform your health this year
Dr Libby (PhD) offers a gentle guide to the small daily choices that can turn your health around this year.
Sponsored Story
Key points
- The foundations of good health are built on simple, sustainable choices made consistently.
- Consider the basics such as nourishment, blood glucose balance, and quality sleep.
- Make daily choices that support your liver rather than adding to its load.
- Strengthen your digestion to reduce symptoms like reflux or bloating.
- Lower stress hormone production by nurturing your nervous system.
- Check for nutrient deficiencies like iron or magnesium that may be detracting from your energy.
- Focus on what is doable and what feels achievable for you.
January often arrives with a mixture of relief and possibility. The pace softens, the diary has a little more breathing room, and many naturally start to wonder how they want to feel in the months ahead.
Health is often somewhere at the top of that list, yet it can be easy to fall into the trap of believing you need a complete overhaul to make meaningful change. In truth, the foundations of good health are built on simple sustainable choices made consistently.
You do not need perfection. You do not need a colour-coded plan or dramatic reset. What most bodies respond to best is gentle, steady support.
Here are some practical ways to set yourself up for a healthier, more vital year ahead.
Reclaim your natural energy
Many people assume low energy is just part of getting older, yet the truth is it’s often a signal that something in the body needs attention. Before jumping to conclusions, it’s worth considering the basics. Are you eating enough whole, minimally processed foods? Are you spacing your meals in a way that keeps your blood glucose steady? Are you sleeping deeply enough for true restoration?
If mornings feel sluggish, or you’re reaching for caffeine or sugar to keep going, consider starting your day with a protein-based breakfast. Protein helps to stabilise blood glucose and lays the foundation for steadier energy throughout the day. Eggs with a side of spinach and mushrooms are my favourite way to start the day, though there are plenty of other options such as an omelette, chia pudding, leftover savoury mince on good quality toast, or a green smoothie with nuts, seeds, avocado, and a handful of spinach.
Support your liver with small daily choices
Your liver works tirelessly to filter blood, break down hormones and detoxify alcohol, medication, and compounds from the environment. When the load becomes too heavy, we tend to feel it: foggy thinking, bloating, disrupted sleep, irritability, or a general sense of “sluggishness”. The goal is not to eliminate enjoyment but to support your liver around the choices that naturally come with living a full life. A few easy habits include:
Adding an extra serve of cruciferous vegetables each day (broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts or cauliflower).
Including bitter greens like rocket or kale with one meal per day.
Enjoying a range of diversely coloured fruits and vegetables that provide antioxidants to reduce oxidative stress.
Keeping alcohol to modest amounts that your body tolerates, alternating alcoholic drinks with water, and having at least two alcohol-free days per week.
Strengthen your digestion
Robust digestion is one of the quiet cornerstones of wellbeing, yet it’s often overlooked. As we get older, we may produce less stomach acid and fewer digestive enzymes, making certain meals feel more challenging. This can show up as bloating, reflux or a sense that food “sits” longer than it used to.
You can support your digestion by:
Eating slowly, chewing your food really well and putting your knife and fork down between bites.
Starting meals with a small portion of bitter salad greens to help stimulate stomach acid.
Including fibre-rich foods like plenty of vegetables and also legumes to support regular bowel movements.
Staying hydrated, which helps keep everything moving.
If you’ve had a traveller’s diarrhoea, gastroenteritis, or a digestive upset that never felt fully resolved, it may be worth checking in with your doctor or an experienced naturopath for further guidance.
Nurture your nervous system
Stress does not always look like distress. For many people, it looks like constant responsibility, interrupted sleep, caring for others or simply thinking about too many things at once. Over time, this pushes the nervous system into a heightened state, which can influence everything from digestion to mood to sleep.
Simple practices can coax your body back into a calmer rhythm. These include slow, diaphragmatic breathing with a longer exhale than inhale, and ten minutes of morning sunlight to anchor your body clock. Gentle movement such as walking or stretching, can help to lower stress hormones, while some may find benefit in reducing stimulants like caffeine, particularly if you find they make you jittery or disrupt your sleep.
Check your nutrient status
Two of the most common nutrient deficiencies I have seen in clinical practice are iron and magnesium, and both play essential roles in energy, sleep, mood, and muscle function. If you’ve been feeling unusually tired, restless at night or more anxious than usual, it might be worth asking your health practitioner to check your levels.
A simple blood test can help you understand whether low iron is part of the picture, and if you experience muscle cramps or eye twitches, these can be a sign that you’re lacking in magnesium. Addressing any deficiencies early in the year can profoundly change how you feel moving forward.
Focus on what is doable
Perhaps the most important step of all is shifting away from “all or nothing” thinking. You’re not on a wagon. You’re not off a wagon. There are simply countless opportunities each day to make choices that help you feel better in your body.
A few nourishing decisions repeated regularly, will always outperform a fleeting burst of an attempt at perfection. As you move into the year ahead, choose what feels realistic and restorative. Your body will meet you there.
Subscribe to Health Matters today
As we age, our health really does matter – and it’s important to stay up to date with the latest advice and information on health and well-being.
Subscribe to our informative digital newsletter Health Matters, where you’ll receive quality articles, healthy recipes and the latest health information relevant to older Australians. Each edition features contributions from Dr Libby (PhD) – Internationally acclaimed nutritional biochemist, best-selling author, and international speaker – who shares her insights on nutrition, energy, and healthy living. From practical tips to inspiring ideas, Health Matters covers everything you need to know to create and maintain a healthy lifestyle in your later years.
Dr Libby has a Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition and Dietetics) (Hons), a PhD in Biochemistry, and 25 years of clinical experience.
