Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
It’s a debate that has been going on for years – do you eat before you hit the gym or just wait until after to fuel up? Both choices have their strong points and downfalls. If you eat too much before you get on the …
With the use of technology on a steady rise, kids are getting less exercise than ever. Also on the rise? The number of kids diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. The Study Researchers recently took a closer look at a possible link between these two occurrences. In a …
Let’s face it – it’s normal to get a little stressed and overwhelmed sometimes. But overwhelming anxiety and constant worry can take a major toll on your body and mind. Anxiety currently affects roughly seven million people in the US. Those with diagnosed startle easily, have trouble focusing, sleeping and eating, and may suffer from sudden, debilitating panic attacks. Other symptoms of anxiety can include insomnia, fatigue, headaches, muscle tension, irritability, sweating, nausea, light-headedness, and more.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic mental illness characterized by excessive, long-lasting anxiety and worry about nonspecific life events, objects, and situations. GAD sufferers often feel afraid and constantly worry about health, money, family, and work but they have trouble identifying the specific fear as well as controlling their worry.
Meditation
The basics of the meditation, such as listening to your breath or paying close attention to specific parts of your body, are great for relieving anxiety. Meditation can be easily introduced into your daily routine – even just a few minutes of deep breathing can be very beneficial.
Yoga
Through stretching, relaxation exercises, and controlled breathing techniques, yoga can be a major tool to help relieve physical and mental stress. A study at the Boston University School of Medicine found that doing yoga can help regulate brain levels of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is responsible for your body and brain’s response to stress, worry, and anxiety.
How to Thrive (Not Just Survive!) With Stress By Nicole Crane, B.S., NTP
Exercise
On average, patients who exercised regularly reported a 20 percent reduction in anxiety symptoms compared to those who did not exercise. Jerry Hickey, R.Ph, Scientific Director at InVite Health reports, “Exercise has many-many benefits; helping to burn belly fat, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and improve glucose sensitivity. Exercise is also an excellent antidote for stress and anxiety; aerobic exercise can reduce anxiety by up to 50% according to research. Exercise also improves sleep disorders. This is important because adequate rest improves the ability to respond to stress properly. The correct amount of sleep each night for most healthy adults averages 7 to 8 hours.”
Natural Supplements
Omega-3 supplements such as fish oil can reduce anxiety symptoms long-term, if taken on a regular basis. Other supplements that help with anxiety include calcium, zinc and magnesium.
New Study: Fish Oil Capsules Help Major Depression
Eliminate Caffeine, Smoking, and Alcohol
Caffeine, alcohol, and cigarettes can all over-stimulate your body, making your anxiety symptoms worse. All of these unhealthy lifestyle factors also affect your sleep, which is further linked to higher anxiety levels.
Jerry Hickey, R. Ph reports, “Decrease the amount of caffeine you consume; 2 cups of coffee doubles the amount of epinephrine (a stress hormone) your adrenal glands release. Epinephrine is a “fight or flight” hormone, and it plays a central role in the short-term reaction to stress. It is released from the adrenal glands when danger threatens or in an emergency, or if you are stressed out. When secreted into the bloodstream, epinephrine rapidly prepares the body for action in emergency situations. The hormone boosts the supply of oxygen and glucose to the brain and muscles, while suppressing other non-emergency bodily processes such as digestion of food. Epinephrine increases your heart rate, dilates your pupils, and constricts the small blood vessels in the skin and gastrointestinal tract while dilating those in muscle improving the supply of blood and energy to muscle. Epinephrine elevates your blood sugar level. Like some other stress hormones, epinephrine has a suppressive effect on your immune system increasing your risk of upper respiratory tract infection (usually a flu or cold infection).”
Photo by Spencer Dahl on Unsplash We motivate ourselves with goals to work out regularly and stay fit. But sometimes, that overzealous enthusiasm can cost you in the long run. Working out (even though it is healthy) can lead to problems if it’s done excessively. …
All too often, we think of exercising and workouts as a chore. But staying in shape doesn’t have to be boring! Here are some great workouts that are so much fun, you’ll forget you’re burning calories. Hooping You’re probably wondering how hula hooping, something we …
Previous research has shown that intense physical exercise over the course of a year decreases bone mineral density in cyclists. During intense exercise the level of calcium in your blood drops for a number of reasons. As the level of calcium drops in the blood, the parathyroid gland, the regulator of blood calcium levels, senses this decrease and releases more of its hormone to release calcium from your bones, helping to maintain adequate levels of calcium in the blood but causing demineralization of bone.
Interesting new data has just been released from the University of Colorado. Male athletes were supplemented with 1,000mg of calcium and 1000 units of vitamin D thirty-minutes before or one hour after a timed 35 kilometer cycling exercise. Although calcium levels dropped in both groups there was less of a drop in the group taking calcium and D before the exercise. Parathyroid hormone levels that would leach calcium out of the bone were also slightly less with pre-supplementation.
Although this doesn’t yet prove that bone wasn’t affected to the same degree, taking the calcium before exercise leads to less of a drop in blood calcium which in turn perhaps will decrease the migration of calcium out of the bone.
Calcium is the most important nutrient for the bones, and it is often one of the hardest minerals to absorb. Approximately 99% of the calcium in our body is found in the boness. Many people either do not consume enough calcium, or consume poorly absorbed forms. The type of calcium used in supplementation must be well utilized by the body; They are easily ionized, or given an electrical charge, almost always completely broken down, have virtually no toxicity, and increase the absorption of not just calcium but all minerals. These include forms like hydroxyapatite and citrate. It is important to keep calcium away from certain minerals like iron and strontium, as they can bind together and prevent the absorption of each other.