Staying healthy for the year!

Today is the first day of Chinese New Year, and we want to be vibrant and in good health as spring blossoms. While it is sometimes rainy or cold during the winter season, we all need to take extra care for good immunity and possibly extra B-vitamins for energy. For my vegetarian and vegan friends, it's extra tough to get enough B-vitamins to have the energy to excel in our fast-paced busy lifestyle. Whether you celebrate the solar or lunar new year, it's never too late to re-commit yourself to staying healthy and being good to your body!

For a new year of better health and better energy:
Activated B-complex offer increased energy, and helps you handle stress and improve your mood. If you're working long days or around people who might be sick, you need this to help protect your health for better immunity. I keep this around for when I need an extra boost.

The basics: a good multivitamin and Omega-3 fatty acids

I say that I see people sometimes take better care of their cars than they do of their body. You would never drive your car with no gas, or bad motor oil. I think of a multivitamin as a good baseline nutrition, to provide a good baseline even if your day goes crazy and you don't eat healthy. The fatty acids serve as your motor oil to help lubricate and keep your brain and heart and joints moving.

A good multivitamin: For all my menstruating or pregnant women, you'll enjoy the benefits of this activated iron in this lemonade-tasting prenatal vitamin. It's just the best women's vitamin around. Being balanced with your iron and not being low on iron, helps keep your energy up and protect you from frequent burger cravings.

For the post-menopause women and guys: This is the best multivitamin, while labeled as a "children's multivitamin," just take 2 caps for adult dosage, and it is excellent for your health because it also has the activated B-complex.

Healthy Omega-3 supplement: You see all kinds of omega-3 being sold at the pharmacy or health-food store. Do you know if they are from small fish (sardines/anchovies) that are more free from exposure to heavy metals? Please stay away from salmon oil--we eat enough big fish and don't need extra exposure to heavy metals. The vegetarian versions of Omega-3 (like flaxseed oil) still require one more step from the body to convert into usable DHA. I recommend a high-quality fish oil, where I only have to take 2 gelcaps instead of 4 or 6 to get to my preferred daily dosage. If you really don't like pills or have kids, there's a great-tasting children's Omega 3 to help support their healthy growth too. You can read about the benefits on the weblink.

May your year be as vibrant and colorful as my Chinese New Year's flowers.