Your guide to winter wellness

With cooler weather, reduced daylight and seemingly endless cold and flu, winter can be challenging for both your physical and mental health.

Luckily, we’ve come up with 6 great ways you can boost your wellness through the season.

While cold weather and darker days can make the best of us feel gloomy, having this feeling for longer than usual may point to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a condition that’s most likely the result of a hormone imbalance caused by reduced daylight.¹

“Although seasonal affective disorder is more common in countries with much less daylight in winter, it can still occur in Australia,” says Jean Jacobs, Medical Doctor and Bupa Health Content Specialist.

People with SAD may experience depression around the same time every year, usually during winter. Symptoms can include low mood and energy, changes in sleep habits, disinterest in normal activities and weight gain.²

To ease the winter blues (including SAD), you can try relaxation techniques like meditation and mindful breathing. It’s also important to maintain social connections with friends and loved ones during the chilly months.

If you experience SAD symptoms that last for more than 2 weeks, talk to your GP.

According to Jacobs, “adequate sleep plays an important role in optimising your immune system so that your body can fight off infection”. So, getting enough good quality shut eye plays an important role in winter wellness.

In fact, according to one study, people who get less than 6 hours of sleep a night are around 4 times more likely to catch a cold than those who get more than 7 hours.³

Most adults need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night, while younger people often need more. If you’re having trouble nodding off, there are a range of techniques you can try out, from avoiding screen time to taking a warm bath.

Cold weather and low humidity are a recipe for dry, broken skin. This can lead to cracked skin and, in some cases, inflammatory conditions like eczema.⁴

To avoid this, keep your skin hydrated by regularly using a rich emollient or oil-based moisturiser. You should also continue to apply sunscreen in winter, especially if the UV index is above 3 or you’re in a snowy alpine area.⁵

Regular physical activity is great for all seasons, and it can help boost your mood when things become gloomy.⁶

As well as giving you a nice dose of endorphins, “regular exercise is proven to boost your immune system,” says Jacobs.

What’s more, working out in winter may improve your endurance and even help you reduce belly fat, according to Harvard Medical School.⁷

A run, walk or cycle is a great way to get moving outside. Or, if it’s too cold, you might try yoga, Pilates or a gym workout. Rather than forcing yourself to do exercises you don’t like, though, find activities that you actually enjoy.

With winter comes winter food cravings. But it’s important to keep eating well throughout the season to “give your body what it needs to function at its best,” says Jacobs.

“Stay hydrated and consume a balanced diet that includes plenty of fresh vegetables, fruit, whole grains, fibre and lean proteins.”

It can also help to prioritise foods with zinc, “a really important (but sometimes overlooked) mineral for immune system functioning,” Jacobs adds. You can find zinc in foods like meat, fish, whole grains, tofu, nuts and seeds.

Vitamin D is essential for bone and muscle health.⁸ It also plays other roles in the body, such as helping you maintain a robust immune system.⁹

“Research shows that vitamin D helps us ward off infections, including respiratory viruses which are so common in winter,” says Jacobs.

As sunshine is one of the best sources of vitamin D, eating more vitamin D-rich foods is a great way to make sure you’re making up for it during the shorter days. These include mushrooms, fatty fish (like salmon and mackerel), fortified dairy products and eggs.

If you tend to retreat indoors more than usual in winter, ask your GP about testing your vitamin D levels.