Last summer I went to the Institute for Functional Medicine conference in Orlando. There were so many great speakers and subjects and my brain was humming with ideas for weeks.

It’s refreshing to get out there into the big wide world and pick up lots of tips and tricks for clients as well as catching up on all the research. But I also heard a lot of messaging around one particular health practice that had me digging my heels in big time: Ice Baths.

I’ve lived in Bermuda for nearly 20 years now. Almost half my life! And I have 100 per cent acclimatised to sunnier days and warmer nights.

The idea of putting myself – voluntarily – into freezing cold water is a hard, hard no. I grew up swimming in icy welsh waters.

I once swam in a Scottish loch in November. But I’ve grown up into a diehard post-May 24th (and preferably late-July) swimmer.

There are tons of benefits to ice baths for most people (occasionally, certain medical conditions preclude them.) Fortunately there are lots of benefits to saunas too and most of the time, I simply rely on sound nutrition to keep me thriving and help prevent disease (no guarantees, I know.) But it’s easy when you’re in the nutrition world to think that health is all about nutrition.

We can forget how important other aspects are too. And while I’m not going to start recommending ice baths (yet – never say never I suppose!), I do want to give a gentle reminder about how important stress management, adequate sleep and appropriate exercise is.

As I said to our Kickstarters this week, what if the inconsistencies in your energy, the pain in your body, the digestive disturbances or the hormonal rollercoaster you experience are more about how you breathe, rest and reset (sleep), than the food that you eat.

Don’t get me wrong, the food is always important, but I can’t tell you how far down the food road I have gone looking for answers to IBS and anxiety (for myself and clients), before realising that actually, a lot of this was going to improve with a normalised stress response and better sleep.

If you constantly live in a state of flight or flight, then you will constantly be overstimulating your blood sugar response (fatigue, weight gain, the road to type 2 diabetes) and triggering the overproduction of cortisol (stress-eating, cravings, weight gain.)

Worse, people living in this perpetual state of high stress, oven do intense workouts, hoping to get a good bang for their buck in terms of time efficiency.

The problem is, these workouts often simply perpetuate the state of stress that our bodies are in. We stop seeing results and we get increasingly frustrated.

Sometimes, the answer is to do less. (Be real with yourself, you’ll know if you should be doing more!) But if you have a sneaking suspicion that you are like a hamster on a wheel, it’s time to dial it back a little. It’s still important to exercise, but make sure that you often choose exercise that is also relaxing – a long walk outside in nature (yes, even in the crazy wind we’ve been having) or a more gentle yoga/Pilates class.

I also really love the 4-7-8 Breathing technique which helps people de-stress and sleep well.

It’s easy to learn and simple to practise. It’s based on yoga-breathing and the theory that if you breathe out a little more than you breathe in, your body will relax – and you’ll sleep better, too.

You only do four repetitions of this exercise, so you don’t run out of air. But it’s enough to calm down your nervous system and significantly reduce stress.

Try doing 4-7-8 when you’re in bed, before you go to sleep.

Practise it again if you wake in the night and have trouble falling back to sleep. When you get the hang of it, you can use it to calm yourself on flights, before an interview, in traffic, or in any stressful situation. It’s a useful technique to teach older children and teens too.

I’ll post a video of the technique to social media but essentially all you do is this:

• Properly exhale (push out all your breath with a hard exhale)

• Breathe in deeply through your nose for a count of four

• Hold your breath for a count of seven

• Exhale through your mouth for a count of seven

• Repeat three more times and then return to normal breathing

Give it a try this weekend. Remember, sometimes it’s not about the food. Rest and sleep are important, too!

• The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns BA Hons, Dip ION, BNTA is a fully qualified Nutritional Therapist trained by the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in the UK She works at Waterfront Wellness in Bermuda. Join Catherine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nutrifitandnaturalnutritionbermuda or instagram @naturalbda