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They say life is about balance. A little of what you fancy, some moderate exercise, getting your vitamins, having a small glass of wine at the weekends. Fine, I get it. I even conducted a little experiment into balance, from which I can only conclude that I’m allowed six bourbons every I eat a satsuma.
You can’t argue with science guys.
But blimey, this last twelve months has been tough balancing act hasn’t it? For so many of us, the bigger picture balance wise means a night out with friends on Saturday after a week a work or a weekend away mid-winter to escape the monotony of the rain. It means jumping in the car on your day off and driving to the coast to paddle in the sea even though it’s freezing, just for the change of scene, just to FEEL.
So what does balance mean in a global pandemic? How do we take care of ourselves and maintain some semblance of sanity when the scales always seem to be weighed down on one side by homeschooling, homeworking, home bloody everything?
I guess when your life feels small, one thing you can do is to come down to its level and take care of the small things. The small things like eating well, getting enough sleep, trying not to become an alcoholic and getting outside just for half an hour, even if it is with your coat on over your pyjamas. (It’s leisurewear remember.)
In an effort to keep my mind and body healthy during lockdown I’ve also started using some supplements from AvaCare.
AvaCare is a family focused food supplement range, created by three dads, combining their experience as pharmacists and nutritionists. Their vision was to create a range of food supplements for the whole family – products for babies and children through to adults. They wanted the AvaCare range to be the very best quality, but at a price that would be affordable for families too.
How do I remember to take multivitamins?
One of the key things when you introduce something like vitamins into your daily routine, is how you go about forming a habit. This is normally the hardest bit for me, as I’m not terribly good at remembering things, so the trick is to attach it to a part of your day that’s already a habit.
For me, that’s coffee in the morning, so now I just line up my Immunity C Liposomal, Omega 3 Adult Super Plant Strength and Vitamin D3 & K2 spray next to the coffee jar and job done – I’m set for the day.
For for grandson, baby Joey, the vitamin habit former might be his morning milk. Something as simple as leaving his AvaCare vitamins next to his milk cup acts as a trigger.
Let’s take this opportunity to coo over a picture of Joey shall we?
I’ve been lucky over the last year in that I’ve been providing some childcare for Joey, and so I’ve been able to see him quite regularly, taking him out for walks to see the pigeons and buy buns from the farmers’ market.
Being able to share my AvaCare supplements with him is just another way of helping to take care of him.
Because the AvaCare range has been created by parents, for parents, the AvaCare creators are very particular about what does and doesn’t go into their products. They’re even gone as far as to have a ‘banned list’, (which you can find on their website here), of ingredients that they don’t want to include because they wouldn’t want to give them to their own children. These ingredients are often found in other similar food supplements, so it’s interesting to think about why, and to have the option to be able to say no to these.
The baby vitamin drops for example contain no peanut oil, sodium hydroxide, polysorbate 60, propylene glycol, sodium citrate or citric acid monohydrate.
What are the benefits of food supplements in liquid form?
One thing you’ll notice about all of the AvaCare supplements is that they come in liquid form. We’re used to taking things like multivitamins as tablets, but liquids are actually more quickly and easily absorbed, so it makes sense doesn’t it? It’s a small thing, but if lockdown life has shown us anything it’s that it’s the small things in life that are important.
There are other benefits for us as a family too – Belle has real problems swallowing tablets, so liquids and sprays take all of the anxiety away for her. She’s not been leaving the house a great deal during lockdown, and so it’s especially important for her to be getting enough vitamin D.
Do my family need food supplements if we’re eating a balanced diet?
Yes.
I didn’t realise until I looked into it, but the NHS advise that everyone take a vitamin D supplement during the autumn and winter even if you’re getting outside plenty, as the sun isn’t strong enough to create all the vitamin D we need and it can be hard to get enough from food.
The Department of Health also recommends that all children up to the age of five are given supplements everyday including vitamin A, C and D.
AvaCare have put a lot of thought into how they pair different vitamins and minerals together within their products too. Often you can buy individual vitamins, but unless you also have the vehicle that aids absorption, it’s not as effective. The AvaCare Immunity C for example contains vitamin C and zinc, because vitamin C needs zinc to be absorbed into the body.
What I also love about the AvaCare food supplement range is the attention they give to the range as a whole, not just the ingredients. For example, most of the packaging is 100% recyclable and where it isn’t, like the spring in the vitamin D3 & K2 spray, they are working on a solution.
AvaCare’s strapline is ‘simple health’. This means quality ingredients that do the job well, but it also means making health accessible for families. One way in which AvaCare do this is through their simplified labelling. Rather than saying something like ‘thiamine hydrochloride’, they’ll use the common name as well – vitamin B1. We know that B vitamins are good for us, but would you even be sure if thiamine hydrochloride was a good or a bad thing? I wouldn’t.
Where can I buy AvaCare food supplements?
I’m so glad you asked! You can find out more about the whole AvaCare range on their website. You’ll also find a ‘where to buy‘ section, which lists all of the independent retailers who are AvaCare’s trusted suppliers.
Incorporating AvaCare products into your daily routine can help to give you peace of mind and reassurance that you’re going some way at least to achieving that ever elusive balance.
Now, where did I put those bourbons?
