wellness

Stress kills. But not all the time, just most of the time. Stress, applied in a healthy way can be beneficial to health. But that’s only when you’re out in the wilderness and a saber tooth tiger wants you for lunchmeat. Then, when your fight or flight instinct kicks in, stress is appropriate. Or when your child runs out in front of a car and that fight or flight kicks in to save the child’s life, it’s okay then too.
Stress is interpreted by the body as a fight or flight instinct. Any function not needed to fight or flee from danger shuts down. This is okay once in awhile. The body is designed for that. But if this mechanism kicks in day in and day out in what we commonly refer to as “stress”, now we’ve got a problem. Now we have the foundation for disease.

It can be argued that everyone has stress. This is true, or at least I’ve rarely encountered someone who says they have no stress (but it happens). It is how you cope with stress that makes the difference. It is also how your body adapts that determines disease. When you enter a fight or flight response, your body releases stress hormones that long time unless you actively use some technique to lower them. These stress hormones cause increased retention of body fat, poor blood sugar control and changes in mood – especially depression, anxiety and feeling stressed. High stress hormone levels also impair memory and learning, and impairs cognitive performance.

Although cortisol (the main stress hormone) gives a quick burst of energy in a survival situation, it squelches your energy when there is chronic stress. If being attacked, it heightens your memory functions, but when chronic worsens it. As part of your anti-inflammatory response, during a fight or flight response cortisol lessens your sensitivity to pain; in chronic stress it interferes with the inflammatory response, resulting in more pain.

Cortisol is one of those hormones that we love it and hate it. If we keep our stress levels healthy, we enjoy homeostasis in the body. We have proper glucose metabolism and insulin regulation. Our blood pressure is perfect and our immune system is highly functioning. When we get ourselves into a
“prolonged stress response” our immune system weakens, we have sugar regulating disease such as hypoglycemia and diabetes and we suffer chronically high blood pressure.

Stress interferes with maintaining a healthy weight. Cortisol tells the body to store more fat. So the more cortisol release due to chronic stress, the more weight we gain and the more difficult to lose it. We see this mostly in the increase in abdominal fat. There have now been drawn some associations between abdominal fat and heart attacks, strokes, a rise in the so-called “bad” cholesterol and a diminishing of the “good” cholesterol. In addition, cortisol suppresses thyroid function which lowers the metabolism and… you guessed it, makes you gain more weight!

Stress, through the release of cortisol, decreases bone density and muscle tissue. This leaves you feeling weak and more prone to associated diseases. When we have a prolonged stress response it has an adverse effect on the entire endocrine system. The endocrine system comprises all the organs/glands that regulate hormones. The adrenal gland is one of the most effected glands. It is a small walnut-sized gland that sits above each kidney and is a part of the renal system. The adrenals secrete a number of hormones that are critical to health.

When continually called on to secrete epinephrine/adrenaline in the fight or flight response, they get a little tired out. So do you. The adrenals help give you sustained energy throughout the day, along with the thyroid. While in a prolonged stress response, the energy gets redirected and you get short-changed. Most fatigue is attributed to “adrenal fatigue”. Although adrenal fatigue is not a medically recognized disease except in its extreme state, most natural health practitioners have found that when they support the adrenals, energy is restored and the negative effects of the fight or flight response are mitigated.

Since we are all under stress, what we have to learn is how to counteract the effect of stress on our body in order to circumvent some of the awful diseases associated with it. To do that we need to eat a super healthy, nutritionally dense diet of whole, unadulterated produce, grains and meats. We need to exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep and relaxation. We need to have fun in life and not take life so seriously. We can manage stress by using some of the great techniques available today such as meditation, yoga, tai chi or qi gong. We can also take some quality herbs and whole food supplements designed to reduce anxiety and support adrenal function. Finally, we need to remember how to laugh- after all, according to several psychology journals.

Laughter is the best medicine of all!

Every year we make a New Year’s Resolution to exercise. We all know that exercise is beneficial, but many aren’t aware of how beneficial it can be. Sometimes a little more knowledge helps us to get up and take action. Other people need tidbits on HOW to get up and take action. This article is meant to address both.

With Education There Is Power
With that in mind, this is what has been learned about physical activity and health from decades of research. Among its major findings:

• People who are usually inactive can improve their health and well-being by becoming even moderately active on a regular basis.
• Physical activity need not be strenuous to achieve significant health benefits.
• Even greater health benefits can be achieved by increasing the amount (duration, frequency, or intensity) of physical activity.

So what are those health benefits? Regular physical activity that is performed on most days of the week reduces the risk of developing or dying from some of the leading causes of illness and death in the United States. Regular physical activity improves health in the following ways:

• Reduces the risk of dying prematurely.
• Reduces the risk of dying from heart disease.
• Reduces the risk of developing diabetes and improves control of blood sugar.
• Reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure.
• Helps reduce blood pressure in people who already have high blood pressure.
• Reduces the risk of developing colon cancer.
• Reduces feelings of depression and anxiety.
• Helps control weight by increasing your metabolism to help prevent obesity.
• Helps you sleep better.
• Reduces some of the effects of aging.
• Helps build and maintain healthy bones (including the prevention of osteoporosis), muscles, and joints.
• Helps older adults become stronger and better able to move about without falling.
• Promotes psychological well-being. It helps treat depression and relieves stress and anxiety.
• Increases your energy and endurance.
• Reduces the risk of breast cancer by 40% in those who exercise 3 times weekly.

Fitness Is Critical To Weight Loss
In order to increase your metabolism and burn fat, you need to build muscle. If you lose weight by diet alone, on by aerobics alone, or by aerobics and diet together, but neglect muscle building/strengthening exercises, 40% of the weight that you lose will be muscle. Muscle burns fat. In fact, every pound of muscle burns between 50-100 calories per day, at rest! If you are like the average American and lose 60 pounds (without the addition of strength training), 24 pounds of the weight you lose is muscle! 24 pounds of muscle burns between 1200 and 2400 calories per day, at rest! The next time you gain the weight back, it is all fat, not muscle. Then you diet again. It is more difficult to lose the weight this time because you have less calorie-burning capacity. Again 40% of the weight that you do lose is muscle. Then you gain the weight back again because your metabolism is so much slower. Each time it gets more and more difficult to lose the weight because you have less and less muscle to rev up your metabolism and help you burn the calories. Now you can see the yo-yo cycles most people fall prey to. If you have a history of dieting, then your muscle mass is probably low.

When you do strength training (using hydraulic equipment or weights), you add muscle. More muscle means that you burn fat faster. Every pound of muscle that you add to your frame will increase your metabolism by 50- 100 calories per day! When you start working out, you jump-start your metabolism, resulting in more calories burned. As your muscles become tight and firm you will notice a loss in inches, especially in your waist, tummy and hips. In fact, when most people start strength training with hydraulic equipment, they lose 5-10 inches in the very first month!

So, How Do We Incorporate Exercise Into Our Lifestyle?

• Determine where you want to be – what are your goals?
• Evaluate what results you would see if you continued to be sedentary (i.e. more weight gain,
increased risk of heart disease, less energy, more shortness of breath and fatigue, more depression, etc.).
• How would those results change if you exercised (i.e. more energy, improved body and body image, happier, more control over your health, less health risks, etc.)
• Make the commitment to get healthier, which means also to exercise.
• Call a reputable fitness center and make an appointment to visit it. Have them use state of the art equipment to determine where you are now. In other words, get a fitness Evaluation.

To Make Exercise a Habit

• Stick to a regular time every day.
• Sign a contract committing yourself to exercise
• Put “exercise appointments” on your calendar.
• Keep a daily log or diary of your activities.
• Check your progress. Can you walk a certain distance faster or further now than when you began? Or is your heart rate slower now?
• Determine the best exercise program for you, such as what type of exercise to do, how often to exercise and for how long.
• Join a health club. The cost gives some people an incentive to exercise regularly.

How Do We Know Which Gym To Go To?
You want to enjoy your workout. Choose a gym that is FUN. Upbeat music, fun personnel. Meet and get to know the personnel – they can either make or break your experience. Make sure you can get ongoing training and support any time you need it. You shouldn’t have to pay extra for this service! The best gyms are those that incorporate hydraulic equipment with aerobic exercise. The term “hydraulic” has been used very loosely in the fitness industry. Most gyms use automobile style shock absorbers to cut costs and produce an inferior product with an inadequate “one size fits all” work out. Attend gyms that use hydraulics specifically manufactured for the fitness industry. Use facilities whose cylinders YOU can easily ADJUST, within seconds.