Farmer Longevity: Tools for your Health Arsenal

We got a great response from our last video, which discussed ways to ensure you stay healthy, keeping the top priorities on REST and the health of your family relationships at home. 

Today, we’re diving into some more practical tips to prioritize your health, so you can keep operating your farm per usual.

Eating & Nutrition

We’ll start with the one that probably comes to everyone’s mind when we talk about health: eating and nutrition.

There are as many diets out there as there are people. No fat, no carb, keto, intermittent fasting…the list goes on. One of the easiest and most effective strategies to maintain healthy eating as a lifestyle is simply moderation. Now, it does take a lot of fuel to get a grower through a normal day, but you need to make sure you aren’t getting too much “excess” fuel by consuming more calories than your body needs. Not all calories are the same. It’s about choices. You don’t have to go crazy and deprive yourself, but there are some things that are better for you than others.

Using an app on your phone is an easy way to get a finger on the pulse of your current eating habits and make adjustments. MyFitnessPal is one of my favorite apps that helps with calorie counting. You can add your info and goals, and it will help you keep track. 

Supplements

Even the healthiest diet can benefit from taking a supplement. A good multivitamin would probably be the first one you ought to consider taking. For those of us getting older, magnesium is a good supplement. It does wonders for muscle cramps, especially leg cramps at night. Turmeric is one you may not know much about. It has many benefits, but the greatest is its anti-inflammatory properties. There are SO many we could mention, but these are some of my favorites. 

The last one is apple cider vinegar. Yes, it helps humans too. It actually does more for humans than it does for birds—everything from keeping blood sugar stable to helping digestion to improving skin issues. Raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar is what you want to look for. Bragg is a great one, but there are other brands as well. 

Immune Support

Probiotics are a good place to start for a boost in immunity. Just like probiotics help your birds in this ABF environment, probiotics will help build your resistance to disease-causing bacteria. 

We all know the power of vitamin C when you feel a cold coming on, but there are other things that also help. Antioxidants play a big role in immune support, and they come from many different fruits and vegetables. Other things like elderberry, echinacea, garlic, ginger, olive leaf and even zinc help build your immune system. 

One of my favorite supplements is a product called Wellness Formula by Source Naturals. It is a huge help come cold and flu season. 

Exercise

As we said in the last video, most poultry growers get plenty of exercise as part of the job. Because your body will adapt to a task performed repetitively to reduce the effort to perform that task, it’s good to add in a little extra.

One of the main goals of exercise is to get your heart rate up and keep it up for about 20 to 30 minutes a few times per week. I’ve had people ask me over the years, “What type of exercise do you recommend?” I always say, “Whichever one you will DO.” Will power is an exhaustible resource. If you enjoy it, you will keep doing it.

That might feel like a lot to approach all at once. Don’t try to make huge radical changes. Instead, pick a few things that you can add to your daily routine and make them habits. 

Contact Us

We hope these thoughts have been helpful. As always, we are here to chat about anything related to making your farm successful. Connect with me, Allen Reynolds, at 800-608-3755 or allen@southlandorganics.com. 

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If you liked this video, check out The Secret to a Successful Poultry Operation.