Eating for Lowering Your Stress!

11 Tips to Help You Reduce Fibromyalgia  Symptoms

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Did you know that certain foods and eating habits can be serious stressors to the body?  It's true!  Foods have an effect on stressed nerves and what you eat can influence how you manage that stress including how swiftly your body can be ridden from its negative effects .

Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional or psychological strain.  Not all types of stress are harmful or even negative.  There are a few different types of stress that we encounter:

Acute Stress, is very short-term type of stress that can either be positive or more distressing; this is the type of stress we most often encounter in day-to-day life (example: dealing with traffic, or skiing down a slope).

Eustress, is a type of stress that is fun and exciting, and keeps us vital (example: racing to meet a deadline or skiing down a slope).

Episodic Acute Stress, where acute stress seems to run rampant and be a way of life, creating a life of relative chaos (example: the type of stress that coined the terms 'drama queen' and 'absent-minded professor').

Chronic Stress, the type of stress that seems never-ending and inescapable, like the stress of a bad marriage or an extremely taxing job (this type of stress can lead to burnout).

Stress can trigger the body's response to perceived threat or danger, the Fight-or-Flight response.  During this reaction, certain hormones like adrenalin and cortisol are released, speeding the heart rate, slowing digestion, shunting blood flow to major muscle groups, and changing various other autonomic nervous functions, giving the body a burst of energy and strength.

The Use Of Adrenal Cortical Extracts In Adrenal Fatigue
By James L. Wilson DC, ND, PhD

Note: The information on this website is not a substitute for the advice of & treatment by a qualified professional.

“With our present partial knowledge of the function of the endocrine chain of glands, it appears as though the suprarenals were the first to show signs of fatigue, for the simple reason that they seem to have most of the work to do in the auto-protective functions.” (McNulty, J., New York Medical Journal, 1921, XCIII, pg. 288)

The purpose of your adrenal glands is to help your body cope with stresses and survive. In this article we will take a look at what happens when your adrenal glands get stressed out and what you can do about it. Normally, the adrenal glands secrete minute, yet precise and balanced, amounts of steroid hormones. But because your adrenals are designed to be so very responsive to changes in your inner physical, emotional and psychological environment, any number of factors can interfere with this finely tuned balance. As a result, physical, emotional and psychological stress can cause a decrease in the output of adrenal hormones, particularly cortisol. This reduction in adrenal activity is called hypoadrenia. “Hypo” simply means lower and so hypoadrenia is a general term referring to the whole range of lowered adrenal activity from zero to almost normal.

Insomnia and fatigue are now considered America's top health problems. Researchers have identified lack of sleep as a cause of serious disorders ranging from diabetes to high stress levels. The results show that it is taking a huge toll on the quality of life -- and the health -- of millions.

Sleeping only four hours a night can cause weight gain, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Those who sleep fewer than six hours a night don't live as long as those who sleep seven hours or more. For whatever reason, Americans today often sleep less than six hours a night, making them highly vulnerable to sleep disorders, the stress syndrome, and to multiple health problems Sleeplessness costs the U.S. economy $150 billion a year in higher levels of worker stress and reduced productivity, estimates the National Sleep Foundation.

Stress and Insomnia:
Millions of Americans are using tranquilizers to reduce stress during the day, and sleeping pills to induce sleep at night. You don't induce a natural state of sleep with unnatural, synthetic, and in many cases highly addictive, products. It is recommended that patients who suffer from insomnia restore a balanced rest/activity cycle by practicing the Mantra meditation techniques, which has been shown in a number of studies to reduce stress and insomnia.

Ideally, you should wake up refreshed in the morning without the use of an alarm clock and feel energetic all day. If not you may find some good tips below.

Sleep deprivation is a large proportion of the problem is due to the high paced lifestyle causing the lack of time to get the sleep we need. When we do not get the amount of sleep we need we accumulate a sleep debt. This sleep debt has to be paid back or sleepiness will continue to worsen. Many people try to pay back the debt on the weekends resulting in the disruption of their circadian rhythm.

Here are some Tips that may help.

• Sleep is as important as food and air. Quantity and quality are very important. Most adults need between 7.5 to 8.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. If you press the snooze button on the alarm in the morning you are not getting enough sleep. This could be due to not enough time in bed, external disturbances, or a sleep disorder.
• Keep regular hours. Try to go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time every day. Getting up at the same time is most important. Getting bright light, like the sun, when you get up will also help. Try to go to bed only when you are sleepy. Bright light in the morning at a regular time should help you feel sleepy at the same time every night.

•  Listen to music that makes you feel good or reminds you of a joyous time in your life.

• Take a time management course.

• Clean or organize clutter.

• Get more sleep. If you can’t sleep later in the morning, go to bed an hour earlier.

• Learn how to meditate with a book, tape, teacher, or class. Meditate daily.

• Incorporate short bursts of exercise and physical activity in your day.
• Take a stress management class at work or through your health plan.
• Incorporate deep breathing exercises throughout the day. Breathe in through the nose; breathe out through the moutn.  Make each breath last as long as possible.
• While at work - get up and walk around frequently; stand while talking on the telephone, stretch your neck, arms, back for a couple of minutes.
• Incorporate stretching exercises throughout the day. Stretch muscles that are tight, or just stretch because it feels good
• Relax your shoulders, a common place that people (especially computer users) hold tension. To release your shoulders, hunch them up by your ears and quickly release them as far down as they go. You may need to do these 2 or 3 times to really relax them. 
• Use your commute to and from work to read a book, listen to a CD, or listen to relaxation tapes with sounds of the ocean.

One of the most insidious factors that afflicts people is stress. Everyone who works, has children, commutes and basically lives in western industrialized societies is subject to it. Stress even controls a large part of our economy as evidenced by the endless ads for headache relief, antacids, laxatives, diarrhea aids, tranquilizers, stimulants and so on. Stress has also been linked to more serious conditions, such as chemical dependency, heart disease and even cancer.

There are many different types of stress. There is structural stress, such as wearing bad shoes, having a spinal problem or poor posture. We also can have chemical stress. This can include dietary deficiency or excess. Then there are mental stresses, such as emotional stress originating from any situation which creates fear and anxiety. Many times one stress triggers another. For example, a self-inflicted stress, such as setting unrealistic goals or external pressures from work or family, can shut down our digestive system. This may then cause intestinal stress with associated back pain. If we don't relieve the aggravating situation that caused all this, we set up a vicious cycle of unrelenting stress.

There are also external stresses, like physical and environmental. Physical stress can be caused by the inactivity of our sedentary lifestyle or by repetitive activity, similar to that of a factory worker or assembly line worker. It can even be caused by too much activity, such as over-exercise.

STRESS RATING  - STRESS SYMPTOM SCALE

Rate the frequency that you experienced the items listed below in the past two weeks.

0 = Never 
1 = Sometimes 
2 = Often 
3 = Very often

Physical Symptoms

• Fatigue or tiredness ___
• Pounding heart ___
• Rapid pulse ___
• Increased perspiration ___
• Rapid breathing ___
• Aching neck or shoulders ___
• Low back pain ___
• Gritting teeth/clenching jaw ___
• Hives or skin rash ___
• Headaches ___
• Cold hands or feet ___
• Tightness in chest ___
• Nausea ___
• Diarrhea or constipation ___
• Stomach discomfort ___
• Nail biting ___
• Twitches or tics ___
• Difficulty swallowing or dry mouth ___
• Colds or flu ___
• Lack of energy ___

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There is quite a lot of evidence to show that fibromyalgia may represent a primary disorder of the autonomic nervous system, making it stress related.  Many FM sufferers have a history of chronic overdoing which may manifest itself in fatigue and muscle pain.  This may reflect emotional and physical stress which often cause anxiety and stress, which in turn increase the pain and fatigue, thus creating more stress.

Stress affects your body as much as food and exercise.  In fact, many people have undetected food allergies which may start the ball rolling for putting undue stress on the entire body.  Any prolonged stress weakens a person over time leaving them wide open and susceptible to even more stress both physically and emotionally.  This in turn can have a series of downward spiraling health effects just like the straw that broke the camels back until finally, the person buckles under all the pressure and becomes ill.  The term “stress” refers to any response or alteration to the way we think, perform, or feel as a reaction to a physical, mental, social, or emotional stimulus. 

Haven't you ever seen a distraught person holding his head in his hands? Or when overcome by great surprise, how we often instinctively hit the forehead with our hand? 

The body does not perform these instinctive acts by mistake On the skin of the forehead are located neurological "circus; breakers" which are associated with mental and emotional stress overload. Just as when there is a power overload in your house, and a circuit breaker blows, a similar pattern takes place m the body when it encounters an overload of mental or emotional factors. And just as we may easily reset the circuit breaker m our house, so may we reset the emotional stress overload circuit in the body.

Dr. George Goodheart, the founder of applied kinesiology made the first observations of these emotional stress overload circuits (at the time he called them "emotional neurovascular reflexes") in 1968. He found that lightly holding these areas with the fingers could act as a treatment to reset these circuits. The contacts should be held until a slight pulsation (like taking your pulse on your wrist or your neck) is felt in both fingers simultaneously. This usually takes from 30 seconds to a couple minutes. Once the pulsation is felt, the contacts may be held for a few more seconds and then released. The procedure is then complete.

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The study of appetite regulation is primarily concerned with attempting to find a way to alter the inherent biological drive to eat. For several decades, researchers have been trying to pinpoint a primary mechanism within the body governing hunger and satiety in order to ascertain whether the selection of food has any specific physiological origin, or if there is even an overall caloric homeostasis in man. The outcome of work to date indicates that hunger is not the result of one single factor, but is instead elicited by many factors involved in a final common pathway.

In certain primitive societies, greater or lesser body mass was essential to survival. A long canoe trip across miles of ocean required that the traveler store food in his own body in the form of adipose tissue. In the African veldt, leanness was essential for the required quickness of running down and capturing prey on foot. In our modern, basically sedentary society, however, optimal weight is almost irrelevant for physical survival. It is instead involved with our concepts of health and longevity-and very often societal or cultural preferences. So-called normal weight, therefore, seems to be a concept dependent on the context to which it is applied.¹

There are treatment options that can relieve depression without swallowing pills. Many of the symptoms of depression can be directly linked to vitamin and mineral deficiencies in the standard American diet, which is largely comprised of empty carbohydrates, caffeine and sugar. Depression, mood swings and fatigue often have a common cause: poor nutrition. Avoiding depression or recovering from a depressive episode is often as easy as changing your diet and boosting your consumption of key foods that deliver brain-boosting nutrients and help regulate brain chemistry.   Our top 10 foods for beating depression are:

Fish oils:
Contain omega-3 fatty acids. Research has shown that depressed people often lack a fatty acid known as EPA. Participants in a 2002 study featured in the Archives of General Psychiatry took just a gram of fish oil each day and noticed a 50-percent decrease in symptoms such as anxiety, sleep disorders, unexplained feelings of sadness, suicidal thoughts, and decreased sex drive. Omega-3 fatty acids can also lower cholesterol and improve cardiovascular health. Get omega-3s through walnuts, flaxseed and oily fish like salmon or tuna.

Avocado:
Is a good source of potassium and low in sodium which helps reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke.  Adequate intake of potassium can help guard against circulatory diseases, heart disease and stroke, all of which leads to higher levels of depression.  Not only are avocados a rich source of monounsaturated fatty acids including oleic acid, which has recently been shown to offer significant protection against breast cancer, but it is also a very concentrated dietary source of antioxidants, in particular the "carotenoid lutein".  A few slices of avocado in salad, or mixing some chopped avocado into salsa will not only add  a rich, creamy flavor, but will greatly increase your body's ability to absorb the health promoting carotenoids that vegetables provide.

Part 1: Eating for Energy

One thing's for certain with fibromyalgia, your body is experiencing an energy shortage.  Let's take a look at and learn some of the ways your system creates and uses energy so you’ll have a better shot at ramping up production to meet demand.

Popeye made it look so easy. Whenever Olive Oyl sounded the distress cry, he’d grab a can of spinach, rip it open and toss it back. In seconds flat, he’d be bursting with all the energy he needed to save the day.

We might chuckle at Popeye’s exaggerated transformations, but are our own energy-sourcing antics so different? Consider your typical day. Mid-morning, when your energy starts dragging, you probably reach for a quick fix. Maybe it’s a cup of coffee. Maybe it’s a doughnut, a chocolate bar or a soda. By mid-afternoon you’re likely trying to muscle through another dip — perhaps with a repeat of the morning’s strategies, perhaps employing sheer willpower. Depending on where and when fatigue strikes, you may rely on all sorts of different techniques to help you push through.

Studies show that poor cellular energy production due to poisoning of the energy-producing machinery of the cell (the mitochondria) is a common characteristic in both fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.  In studies at the Abington Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania, rheumatology researchers found that fibromyalgia patients suffer from a condition that could be described loosely as “muscle toxicity”, in which structures called mitochondria within muscle cells were inefficient in their production of energy.  In addition, fibromyalgia sufferers were found to have smaller than normal muscle fibers that exhibited misshapen mitochondria that were not found in normal subjects.

Magnesium is the most versatile mineral in your body and is known to be required for several hundred different functions. One of the principle functions of magnesium in the body is that it enables muscles to relax. Without sufficient magnesium in the body, the muscles cramp and we can feel tense, nervous and jittery. In fact, anything that is tight, irritable, crampy, and stiff – whether it is a body part or even a mood – is a sign of magnesium deficiency. When this happens to the heart muscles, for example, the heart does not go through a complete relaxation phase. This results in rapid heartbeat and irregular heart rate known as arrhythmia and can eventually lead to other more serious problems such as chronic degenerative heart disease.

According to the Nutrition Almanac, “Magnesium deficiency is thought to be closely related to coronary heart disease, including myocardial necrosis. An inadequate supply of this mineral may result in the formation of clots in the heart and brain and may contribute to calcium deposits in the kidneys blood vessels, and heart. Heart failure resulting from fibrillation and lesions in the small arteries is linked to a deficiency of magnesium, as is vasodilation, which is followed by hyperkinetic behavior and fatal convulsions.”