The nutritional approach
to reducing your stress
Stress is one of our most serious health problems today. It is a debilitating condition affecting our body, mind and behaviour. It stops our body functioning properly and leads to all sorts of illnesses. It is linked to the six main causes of death - heart disease, cancer, lung illnesses, liver cirrhosis, suicide and accidents. It causes many digestive and bowel disorders.
It is often not how stressed we are, but how we deal with it that impacts our health negatively. Some stress can be good for us, such as deadlines which can energise and motivate us. It is stress that causes sleepless nights, worry, anxiety, depression, lowered self-esteem and confidence that has a serious impact on every part of our life.
The theory of embryology indicates that the embryo starts as a tube which is the digestive system, and as the embryo grows, all other organs begin as small growths along the tube. There is therefore a strong link between the digestive system and every part of the body.
If we eat poor quality food or an unbalanced diet, our body and health will suffer. We would not put poor quality or dirty petrol into our car, as it would not function properly, yet we have no hesitation in putting low-quality or harmful food into our bodies.
One of the greatest general stresses we can place on the body is nutritional deficiency. This forces the body into a balancing act where it must constantly redirect energy. This leaves our body functioning in a limited capacity and something is bound to break down.
It is easy to see or feel, on a daily basis, when the foods we eat do not meet our nutritional requirements, through the state of our skin, hair, nails, energy levels, gut performance, and other conditions such as nausea, irritability, allergic symptoms, bowel disorders. But many people are not aware that their food could be causing their problems, particularly those who rely heavily on their doctors to sort out their minor health problems. There is still much ignorance among the medical profession about the symptoms of nutritional imbalance and poor diet, with a tendency to treat these problems with medication and other procedures which often make the situation worse and the cause of the problem never being discovered. Many people choose to ignore the signals from the body that all is not well, because they believe that changing their diet or lifestyle would be too difficult or just not convenient.
A healthy body begins with the health of each and every cell of the millions of cells which make up every part of our body. Each cell needs to be able to receive healthy nutrients, expel waste, breathe, grow, rejuvenate and reproduce. A healthy diet provides the cells with essential nutrients in a balanced form which encourages correct functioning of the cell. An unhealthy diet provides harmful substances, a build-up of toxic excess which is not excreted efficiently, and which impairs the correct functioning of the cells and leads to stress and degeneration.
Healthy food is the simplest and most ancient form of treatment that we have for ill health and for relieving stress and stress-related conditions. We must always be aware that there is a direct connection between what we eat, how we feel, whether we get ill and how we can help ourselves.
A healthy diet means eating foods which are good for us, in the right proportions, and eliminating harmful foods. The diet should be varied and good quality food, as organic and fresh as possible, with plenty of vegetables of each type, a selection of fruit, essential fatty acids, complex carbohydrates and protein. A plentiful intake of water will prevent dehydration which leads to bowel problems, and eating plenty of plant fibre will keep waste moving efficiently through the intestines, keeping the bowel healthy. With a healthy diet, adequate vitamins and minerals will probably be eaten, but we need to focus on the best food sources of these. Vitamins B and C and minerals magnesium and zinc support the adrenals, which are responsible for our ability to deal with stress. We need to reduce caffeine, alcohol, fizzy drinks and sugary foods which over-stimulate the adrenal glands, keeping us in alert mode and interfering with nutrient absorption, also mucous-forming foods such as dairy and wheat products which reduce the efficiency of the digestive system.
As well as eating the right foods, how we eat them is important. A healthy diet also involves making time to plan, prepare, and eat healthy meals in an environment that is not stressful. Meals need to be taken regularly to keep blood sugar levels stable, boost energy, improve mental efficiency and deal with stress. Eating 'fast food' on the run is stressful to the body in many ways. In addition to providing nutritionally deficient meals, eating high-calorie, high-fat, high-salt, high-sugar, and highly processed or overcooked foods often leads to weight gain, which places additional stress on the body and can lead to cycles of binge-eating, starvation, malnutrition and more over-eating.
When we adopt a healthy diet, we rectify nutritional imbalances in our bodily system and our body gets rid of toxins effectively and replenishes deficient vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other nutrients. We begin to have more physical and mental energy, our digestive system feels good, our mind becomes clearer, we feel more emotionally balanced, our health starts improving and we have an on-going feeling of well-being. This makes us feel more peaceful and less turbulent within our body, happier, calmer and more able to cope with stress situations. In fact, some of what we perceived to be stress may no longer even exist.
Eating a healthy diet not only boosts our general health, but also relieves or even cures many stress-related conditions. Further, through improving our general health and well-being, the way we look and feel will improve, which will give a tremendous boost to our self-esteem, which, in turn will help to relieve our stress.
A healthy diet leads to a generally healthy state of being. This, in turn, leads to the desire for a healthier lifestyle in general, with more exercise, fresh air, relaxation periods and more things that give us pleasure and less of those that make us feel stressed. Life still goes on but we will feel good about it instead of bad.
more about nutrition:
Home-Study Course: Nutrition for Life
Good health and managing stress begins with the type of food we eat and the way in which it is used by the body. Our personal food choices determine our ailments, but also our health, well-being and quality of life.
Home-Study Course: Nutrition for Stress
It is never too late for some self-help in reducing or eliminating the causes and symptoms of stress and ill health. Medication doesn't always have the solutions, and no medication comes without side effects, some of which create added stress and health problems. Sometimes even a small change in the diet can bring amazing results in the way you feel.
Home-Study Course: Nutritional Healing
If you regularly feel ill, have no energy, can't think straight, don't know what the problem is but just don't feel right, then get your diet right and you'll improve on all these and more.
