Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor nor do I play one on tv. Any health advice here is merely a suggestion. You should always consult your doctor before making any major changes to your diet or fitness routine.

With the new year fully in motion, new health trends are circulating everywhere. There’s no better time to shake up your routine than in a new decade, but not all trends are worth following. While it’s still too early in the year to anticipate the success rate of trends the new year might bring, these 5 trends below are definitely worth looking into.

1. Working Out At Home

The rise of exercise machines such as Peloton is making working out at home more common than having a gym membership. Though not all of us can afford the luxury of these machines, you can still work out at home on a budget. You can buy dumbbell sets, exercise mats, kettlebells, and even a mini elliptical to give yourself a good at-home workout. However, working out at home can be challenging, so getting a virtual trainer could help you plan your workouts. Again, this isn’t in everyone’s budget, but, some online fitness influencers offer excellent free beginner fitness plans to help you get started.

2. the Mediterranean diet

Keto may be the diet you always hear about, but the Mediterranean diet is the one you should know about. According to health experts, the Mediterranean diet is the best diet for 2020. While the Mediterranean diet isn’t new, the undeniable benefits of it have landed it in first place for the third year in a row. The Mediterranean diet consists of vegetables, fruits, herbs, nuts, beans, and whole grains.

On the Mediterranean diet, you should have fish at least once a week. You can also eat dairy, poultry & eggs in moderation. What makes the Mediterranean diet difficult for some people is greatly limiting their consumption of red meat and avoiding refined grains & foods with added sugars. 

Starting a Mediterranean diet can be difficult, but it has great weight loss benefits and reduces your risk of heart disease. Though the Keto diet is the one talked about all over Facebook, experts say the Mediterranean diet is the diet that’s easier to follow and better for you.

3. Eating More plant-Based Foods

We’ve always been told to eat our veggies, but this year we’ll have the opportunity to get our daily veggies in many different ways. You’ve probably already seen your favorite influencer biting into a veggie burger, but plant-based foods are expected to gain even more popularity in 2020. 

Not only are plant-based burgers now an option at your favorite fast-food restaurants, but several plant-based products will also be available at your local grocery store.  Plant-based meats, butter, yogurts, and ice creams are all becoming a thing.

Eating plant-based foods is better for you and the environment. As our world continues to suffer from climate change, the trend of eating more plant-based foods is one everyone should consider following.

4.Prioritizing sleep

As a society, we tend to run ourselves ragged. We power through our days by consuming large amounts of caffeine and making jokes about how little sleep we had. But, as new research continues to prove the value of sleep & more products are being sold to improve it, 2020 may be the year we finally decide to catch more zZzs. 

Bill Gates even wants us to sleep more. In a recent post on his blog, Bill writes about a book he read that reminded him of the importance of sleep. Like many of us, Bill was an ambitious workaholic who constantly put sleep on the backburner. But, after reading the book Why We Sleep, he realized that sacrificing sleep does a lot more harm than good.

So, the next time you grab for that energy drink, think of ways you can improve your sleep so you don’t always have to make up for it in large doses of caffeine.

5. Improving gut health

As research continues to progress, gut health is becoming more talked about beyond our doctor’s office. A balance of gut bacteria is important for digestion and overall physical and emotional health. But, figuring out how to improve our gut health isn’t the easiest task since everyone consists of different bacteria.

However, there are some things you can do to understand and improve your gut health. For instance, you can start by altering your diet by restricting things such as sugar and artificial sweeteners. You may also consider doing an elimination diet to discover which foods cause you to have an unhappy gut. Taking prebiotics and probiotics are other great solutions to changing your gut health. Last but not least, talking to your doctor about your gut health is an important role in having a happy gut.

While most trends come and go, I think it’s safe to say that the ones on this list are worth testing out for more than just a few days this year.

Photo by Form on Unsplash