Op-Ed | How to Stay Healthy This Fashion Month

Business of Fashion

Fashion month can be an endurance test both physically and mentally. Runway model-turned-nutritionist Sarah Ann Macklin shares some simple but effective tips for staying healthy.

As a former catwalk model, I have experienced first-hand the roller-coaster that is "fashion month" with its avalanche of shows, presentations and parties. To be sure, the shows came with a rush and, at times, joy. But they also meant red-eye flights, 18-hour working days and the mounting pressures of social media scrutiny. When I stopped walking fashion week and started covering it as a wellness editor, it was obvious that other professionals, from journalists to buyers, were subjected to similar pressures. What’s more, we all suffered from poor eating habits, daily alcohol consumption, lack of sleep, anxiety and restlessness.

Sadly, health is not on the fashion week schedule, and it’s time for the industry to have an honest conversation about what we are doing to each other. But short of wholesale change, there are some simple but effective nutritional choices that can help you stay healthy this fashion month.

What to Eat

Busy periods inevitably raise our stress levels. Some of us can thrive under this stress. But for many of us, prolonged stress results in hyper physiological levels of cortisol in our bodies, weakening our immune and inflammatory responses. During fashion month, try and steer clear of foods that increase the production of inflammatory cytokines. This means avoiding sugar, refined carbohydrates (white flour, white rice and white potatoes), processed meats, trans fats, monosodium glutamate (MSG), food additives, processed vegetable oils and artificial sweeteners.

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