Creating a better you for 2025

We hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and New Year break and are now looking forward to a positive start to 2025. It's that time of year again when gym memberships are at their peak, fridges are full of fruits and vegetables and all your friends are ‘dry’ for January! Tradition dictates that New Year’s resolutions are made and adhered to throughout the year. But what might seem light-hearted and positive, can end up doing more harm than good to our mental wellbeing. However, the ending of the year and the hope that the New Year brings, provides us with an opportunity to sit back, review and plan for the year ahead.

These are just a few tips we have put together over the years to help you get the ball rolling and create a better version of you in 2025!

​Aim for less than 90 minutes a day of social media
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Mental fatigue can be induced by incessant scrolling. Research suggests that just 90 minutes a day (much less than the worldwide daily average) can have a negative impact on our mental wellbeing*. 

​Get outside often!
With long nights and gloomy days, it becomes increasingly harder to venture outside, particularly when the weather is bad! Our circadian clock (controls the body's 24-hour cycle and affects metabolism, sleep rhythms, and biological functions), is of central importance to sleep and wake cycles. According to David Bechtold, professor of physiology at the University of Manchester’s Centre for Biological Timing “Finding decent light exposure outside – despite the grey weather – is key.” 

​Look after your Gut
According to the Food and Drink Federation, just 9% of UK adults meet the recommended fibre intake. Keeping your gut microbiome healthy is key to good health, as it’s responsible for extracting about 10-15% of the energy from the food we eat. Your gut microbiome weighs about 2kg and is bigger than the average human brain. 

It’s a bustling community of trillions of bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses, containing at least 150 times more genes than the human genome. We are filled to the brim with microbes, which form microbiomes on our skin, in our mouths, lungs, eyes, and reproductive systems. These have co-evolved alongside us since the beginning of human history. ​

​Eat the rainbow Choose colourful fruits and vegetables and try to eat
30 different plants, nuts and seeds every week
Eat foods rich in polyphenols These include dark chocolate and red wine
Eat fermented foods such as kombucha, kefir and kimchi, as well as unpasteurised cheeses
Eat more omega 3 New research suggests a relationship between gut microbes, omega 3 and brain health
Avoid processed foods Cut back on salt and sugar, both of which seem to affect microbial diversity in the gut

​*Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the U.S Brian A. Primack, MD, PhD1,2,3, Ariel Shensa, MA1,2 et al 2018