How Stress is Effecting Your Health

Your body is hard-wired to react to stress in ways meant to protect you against threats from predators and other aggressors in life or death situations. Such situations are rare today, but that doesn't mean that life is free of stress. 
On the contrary, you undoubtedly face multiple demands each day, such as a huge workload, making ends meet and taking care of your family. Your body treats these so-called minor hassles as threats. As a result you may feel as if you're constantly under stress but the key is to not have the stress control your life or your health.
When you encounter a perceived threat — a large dog barks at you during your morning walk, for instance — your hypothalamus, a tiny region at the base of your brain, sets off an alarm system in your body. Through a combination of nerve and hormonal signals, this system prompts your adrenal glands, located on top of your kidneys, to release a surge of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol.
Adrenaline increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure and boosts energy supplies. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, increases sugars (glucose) in the bloodstream, enhances your brain's use of glucose and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues. 
Cortisol also curbs functions that would be a problem in a threatening situation. It alters immune system responses and suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system and growth processes. This complex natural alarm system also communicates with regions of your brain that control mood, motivation and fear. 
The body's stress-response system is usually self-limiting. Once a perceived threat has passed, hormone levels return to normal. As adrenaline and cortisol levels drop, your heart rate and blood pressure return to baseline levels, and other systems resume their regular activities. But when stressors are always present and you constantly feel under attack, that fight-or-flight reaction stays turned on. 
The long-term activation of the stress-response system — and the subsequent overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones — can disrupt almost all your body's processes. This puts you at increased risk of numerous health problems, including:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Digestive problems
• Headaches
• Heart disease
• Sleep problems
• Weight gain
• Memory and concentration impairment

When we help patients with their stress our goal is to give them the right nutrition to calm the nervous system down, get them out of fight-or-flight response, and to rebuild the adrenal glands that have been producing adrenaline and cortisol for too long of a period.  Here are a few of my favorite supplements to use:

• Drenamin supports adrenal function and helps maintain emotional balance and energy production
• Vitamins C, E and all the B vitamins help regulate stress hormones.
  
• Magnesium provides energy to the adrenal glands.

• Calcium and trace minerals including zinc, manganese, selenium, and iodine provide calming effects in the body.

Besides the right supplements it's important to learn healthy ways to cope with the stressors in your life. Your reaction to a potentially stressful event is different from anyone else's. How you react to stressors in your life is affected by such factors as: 

• Genetics. The genes that control the stress response keep most people on a fairly even keel, only occasionally priming the body for fight or flight. Overactive or underactive stress responses may stem from slight differences in these genes. 
• Life experiences. Strong stress reactions sometimes can be traced to traumatic events. 

You may have some friends who seem laid-back about almost everything and others who react strongly at the slightest stress. Most reactions to life stressors fall somewhere between those extremes. 
Stressful events are a fact of life. And you may not be able to change your current situation. But you can take steps to manage the impact these events have on you and your health. 
You can learn to identify what stresses you and how to take care of yourself physically and emotionally in the face of stressful situations. 
Stress management strategies include:

• Eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise and plenty of sleep 
• Practicing relaxation techniques such as trying yoga, practicing deep breathing, getting a massage or learning to meditate 
• Taking time for hobbies, such as reading a book or listening to music 
• Fostering healthy friendships 
• Having a sense of humor 
• Volunteering in your community
• Seeking professional counseling when needed

The payoff for learning to manage stress is peace of mind and — perhaps — a longer, healthier life.



                        
                               
       

Having Trouble Losing Weight? Learn About Weight Loss Resistance.

Have you every tried to lose weight and you are doing all the right things and the scale isn’t budging?  Or you have lost weight but now you have plateaued and working out harder isn’t making a difference? I have just read and researched this weekend about something called Weight Loss Resistance and it was like the light bulb going off in my head.  I couldn’t wait to sit down and write about it.  I do enjoy writing but usually I can wait so excitement has gotten the best of me!

I have helped people lose weight for over 11 years now and while most are successful there are the stubborn few that despite eating well, exercising and supporting their body with the right nutrition through whole food supplements that don’t lose weight like expected.  I have seen it take time due to the adrenals being burnt out.  In these situations the first step is to rebuild the adrenals so the body can then drop the weight.  To learn more read The Truth About Weight Loss.

But in Weight Loss Resistance the body has this underlining inflammation that needs to be addressed for the body to let go of the fat.  You still have to watch what you eat and exercise too. But overcoming Weight Loss Resistance makes those changes work like they’re supposed to. And it makes them stick too.

Once you kill your own Weight Loss Resistance, you’ll never struggle to lose weight again. You’ll never feel like your own body is against you.

 

Scientists gathered together a group of 16,616 men and non-pregnant women. They set out to conduct the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. In this experiment they found that overweight people had more of a certain destructive protein in their blood than the thinner people.

This was true for both men and women. And it was true for both young and old too. If one of the subjects was overweight or obese, they tested for higher levels of this harmful protein called C-Reactive Protein, or CRP for short. Excess CRP in the blood indicates one thing: low level systemic inflammation which you will see later doesn’t let the body lose weight. Often CRP is found in people with diseases like gout, arthritis, and lupus. Since these are inflammatory diseases, you’d expect elevated CRP levels. But it was a shock to find the same kind of low-level chronic inflammation in people who had no other issues than some extra weight!

Having this low-level chronic inflammation creates stress on the blood-brain barrier.  The barrier is there to let good things from the blood go in and keep bad stuff out.  The blood pumping through your body right now has nutrients in it. It has oxygen in it. And often it has toxins and bad bacteria too. That’s why we have a blood-brain barrier and it works really well unless you’re overweight! This is because CRP breaks down the blood-brain barrier slightly. It eats tiny holes in the barrier, allowing some of the bad stuff in.  In other words, elevated CRP causes a toxic brain.

Now these are small holes. But they’re big enough to let toxic bacteria get in and damage the brain.  It’s not like brain damage that ruins your memory or harms your thinking ability. But overtime, it’s just as harmful. This bad bacteria that leaks into your brain inflames a gland in the brain called the hypothalamus.  The hypothalamus connects the brain with the hormones by sending out hormone signals that control a variety of metabolic functions like the energy output of your body and nutrient metabolism.  But when your hypothalamus is inflamed, it doesn’t work so well. When it misfires it doesn’t get the signals from the body about how much leptin the body has which is the cause of Weight Loss Resistance.  Leptin is inside every one of our fat cells. The more fat cells we have, the more leptin we have. As we gain weight, our fat cells get bigger. And the bigger our fat cells the more leptin we produce then too. 

Leptin is supposed to signal your brain to put the brakes on your food intake. It’s the hormone that’s supposed to drive us to maintain a healthy weight. Except, as you’ve just learned, when the hypothalamus is inflamed, this pathway malfunctions.  It doesn’t see all the leptin. So, it puts your body in ‘starvation mode.’ And it instructs you to eat more food so you can produce more leptin. This malfunction explains why many overweight people don’t have an ‘off switch’ when it comes to eating and overeating becomes a problem.  Your body is caught in starvation mode, even when you’re clearly not starving.  And no matter how hard you try, your hypothalamus will always be working against you … thinking you’re starving … instructing you to eat more.

So how do we get the CRP level down to heal the blood brain barrier?  We heal this by getting rid of the inflammation.  There are a lot of reasons for inflammation in the body.  It could be our diet.  The most inflammatory foods are white refined sugar, coffee, and alcohol.  It could be heavy metals or chemicals that our body is having trouble detoxing.  It could be immune stressors in the body that the immune system can’t handle like bad bacteria, old viruses, fungus, mold or parasites.  This is why we muscle test for these things in the office.  The whole point of health in the office is to detox the body and with the right nutrition the body can heal.  So besides getting checked for what toxins you have, what is the right nutrition? 

Curcumin (which is found in turmeric spice) has been proven over and over again in clinical studies spanning more than 50 years to be a powerful anti-inflammatory.  In fact, it is the strongest anti-inflammatory I know and it’s been shown to be more powerful than many harmful medications that we take every day. But that doesn’t mean you should be rushing out to the grocery store to buy turmeric. If you’re going to sprinkle turmeric on your food or drink golden milk it will help but if you are going to take a turmeric supplement, you have to make sure it contains curcumin. And it should contain at least 60% curcumin.

So if you are having trouble losing weight at your next visit let’s test what toxins may be causing inflammation and then test curcumin and other natural anti-inflammatory supplements and reverse Weight Loss Resistance!

How to Eat to Manage Stress and the Adrenal Glands

Chronic stress is a major culprit in the lives of New Yorkers, contributing to ongoing cycles of fatigue, poor nutrition, waves of exhaustion, mood swings, and hormonal imbalance. When I ask my patients what they think is the reason for their symptoms, their answers have one common thread: too much responsibility that is impossible to manage. Trying to help themselves through each day, many people find themselves overloading on caffeine, sugary or salty snacks, alcohol, and even sleep aids to manage stress, all of which can disrupt our body’s normal rhythms.

Research shows that when we experience chronic stress, our adrenal glands, or the tiny glands that moderate the stress response as well as regulate other hormones, will suffer. The adrenals, which are the size of walnuts, have an enormous job. They produce many hormones that regulate our body’s functioning, including cortisol, a hormone activated when our stress levels rise, signaling our body to enter a heightened state of emergency. But high cortisol levels are intended to be short term, not remain elevated.

When our cortisol levels stay elevated, people feel like they are stuck in the 'fight or flight' response and it interferes with many functions in our body, including immune function, digestion, sleep, and even the ability to produce other essential hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and thyroid hormones. This can lead to high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess abdominal fat, and inflammation. In the meantime, our health is compromised, along with our moods, and even our sex drive.

When the adrenal glands continue to be compromised long term, they have a decreased ability to produce cortisol, and instead produce extra adrenaline, causing us to feel irritable, shaky, lightheaded, and anxious. Adrenal fatigue is a syndrome that can, over time, cause low blood pressure, allergies, and pure exhaustion.

These issues, although very concerning, can also be relieved when adrenal dysfunction is healed. And the good news is, it can be healed. Along with decreasing chronic stress, adjusting our emotional responses to stressors, and changing what, when and how we eat, we can reverse adrenal fatigue. Let’s take a look at some of the dietary approaches we can utilize to not only support our adrenals, but also improve our energy and promote better sleep.

First: Time Your Meals and Snacks

When we go for long periods without food, our adrenal glands work hard to release more cortisol and adrenaline, to try to maintain the body’s normal functioning. When our blood sugar dips for extended periods, this creates a stress reaction, taxing the adrenals. It’s important to know that our body always needs energy, even when we are sleeping. Cortisol works to moderate blood sugar in between meals and at night, so regulating our cortisol levels by eating timely, healthy meals and snacks is key.

Cortisol levels begins to rise around 6 am, peaks around 8 am, and then throughout the day naturally rises and falls as needed. It tapers off at night, and reaches its lowest levels while we are sleeping.

Timing our meals, and how much we eat, can help regulate cortisol and its natural cycle. Eating larger meals earlier in the day naturally helps support cortisol levels, while eating smaller, lighter meals at the end of the day helps maintain hormonal balance.

Exercise will also increase cortisol levels, so enjoying lighter activities while trying to heal adrenal fatigue is important. To keep cortisol levels as smooth as possible, heavier exercise is recommended in the morning or early afternoon when cortisol is higher, and lighter exercise, such as walking or gentle stretching such as restorative yoga, is better in the evening.

The old adage about breakfast being the most important meal is actually true. Eating a nutritious breakfast that includes protein within an hour of rising will help balance your metabolism and cortisol throughout the entire day. But it’s hard to eat when we don’t feel hungry, even if we know it’s important.

Here are reasons we may not feel hungry in the morning:

1) Corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) levels can dull the appetite when it enters the bloodstream at a fast rate first thing in the morning.

2) Decreased liver function can accompany adrenal fatigue, which also can quell morning hunger.

Here are some tips to help support your natural cortisol cycle:

-Eat breakfast within an hour of getting up, or by 8 am to restore blood sugar levels that were depleted during the night.
-Eat a healthy snack around 9 am.
-Try to eat lunch between 11 am and noon to prevent a large dip in cortisol levels.
-Eat a healthy snack between 2 and 3 pm to help off-set the natural cortisol dip that occurs around 3 or 4 pm. Many people notice this dip every day and reach for extra caffeine or carbohydrate-loaded snacks, which will actually impede hormonal balance.
-Try to eat dinner between 5 and 6 pm and although it may be difficult at first, try to eat a light meal. Eventually your body will enjoy digesting less food in the evening.
-Eat a nutritious, light snack around 9PM.

Stress and exhaustion, when combined with hunger, can impede our ability to make healthy choices. When we aren’t aware of the effects that too much caffeine and refined carbohydrates have on our bodies, we may not realize we are affecting our hormones and how they function, as well as our sleep patterns by consuming them.

In addition to cortisol levels, our serotonin may also be off balance, signaling our body to rest. That doesn’t always mean sleep — sometimes deep breathing or a 10-minute walk outdoors can help boost serotonin and ward off fatigue.

My patients are always surprised when I tell them to give in to their cravings of salt during periods of adrenal fatigue. Salt cravings in adrenal insufficiency are related to low levels of a steroid hormone called aldosterone. This hormone helps the body maintain salt and water as a way to help regulate blood pressure. When cortisol goes up, aldosterone goes down. Like cortisol, aldosterone fluctuates throughout the day, and is also influenced by stress. Chronically low levels of aldosterone can impact electrolyte balance, and sodium intake is one way to help correct this imbalance.

If you experience lightheadedness when you get out of bed in the morning, you may have low blood pressure. This is a common side effect of adrenal insufficiency, so adding good quality-salt, such as a pinch of Himilayan salt to your drinking water, could be helpful to manage those symptoms.

Vitamins and minerals are essential to restoring adrenal health, and supporting the entire endocrine system. Not only can they help the healing process, but they can provide extra nutrition to our cells, and support proper adrenal functioning every day. Here are some important ones.


Drenamin supports adrenal function and helps maintain emotional balance and energy production
Vitamins C, E and all the B vitamins help regulate stress hormones.
Magnesium provides energy to the adrenal glands.
Calcium and trace minerals including zinc, manganese, selenium, and iodine provide calming effects in the body.

Herbal support is also a consideration when treating adrenal fatigue. Adaptogens are herbs that actually adapt to the individual needs of your body, providing the additional essential support your adrenals need. Begin with the first two herbs listed below, along with B vitamins. If you do not notice improvement within a few weeks, be sure to consult with a naturopathic or functional medicine provider for evaluation and a program that evaluates your specific needs.

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)
Eleuthero / Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus)
Astragalus root (Astragalus membranaceus)
Schisandra (Schisandra chinensis)
Rhodiola rosea
Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra)

It’s amazing to think that the adrenal glands have so much power over our functioning. When they are working properly they offer balance – providing us with energy when we require it, and helping us feel relaxed when it’s time to rest. The burden is great on our adrenals, and they can become impaired under the heels of long term stress. But we can make small choices that can dramatically impact their functioning for the better. With proper nutrition, exercise, relaxation, and sleep, our body’s natural rhythms will be supported. By reducing stress levels, our adrenal glands will work in harmony with us, and our energy and vitality will be renewed.