Foods for Energy – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 327
Did you know that some foods are better for your energy levels than others? Turn to highly nutritious foods and supplements for longer lasting and higher quality levels of energy.
Tag: green tea
New Evidence That Green Tea Benefits The Flu – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 256
For many decades, research has been published in medical journals about how green tea cuts the incidence of fevers, upper respiratory tract infections, and cold and flu infections. The data is pretty strong.
Nutrients To Help Mitigate The Impact of Stress – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 182
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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What are the long-term impacts of stress and how can you manage your stress in a much more efficient way? So many people deal with stress on a daily basis. It can come in different forms and be caused by a variety of things. Let’s talk about what you can be doing to help mitigate its impact.
STRESS, ANXIETY AND YOUR BODY
In the United States alone, there are over 40 million adults who experience some form of anxiety. Anxiety disorders on a whole are highly treatable, yet only about a quarter of these people are actually receiving proper treatment or therapy to manage their anxiety. People with anxiety disorders are 3 to 5 times more likely to see a physician and 6 times more likely to be hospitalized for different psychiatric disorders. Anxiety disorders develop from a complex set of different risk factors, including brain chemistry, life events, and genetics. It is not uncommon for someone who has stress and anxiety to also suffer from issues such as depression. Panic disorders, social anxiety disorders, and generalized anxiety disorders are all very common. There are people who have specific phobias, as well as people who have issues with PTSD, OCD, depressive disorders, and depressive episodes. These issues activate internal stressors in the body, which can really impact our overall wellness. The occurrence of anxiety can also be heightened in people with certain health conditions. For example, people with irritable bowel syndrome, sleep disruption, insomnia, and fibromyalgia, amongst other medical issues, often experience a comorbid condition of anxiety.
MANAGING STRESS THROUGH COVID-19 – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 58 >>
Regardless of the cause, we have to know how to best manage the chronic stress that we can be under for years. Chronic stress can affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which then impacts many important hormones in the body. For instance, their adrenal gland can be overrun, causing it to excrete excess cortisol. This can then affect the pancreas and insulin levels, as well as the blood sugar. Chronic stress can also impact focus, attention, and memory. This is why it is so imperative to learn to manage it.
HOW CAN YOU MANAGE YOUR ANXIETY AND STRESS
There are many ways to treat anxiety and stress, but oftentimes, they are not treated properly. I find that people frequently overlook food and how much it matters. I go back to the phrases “You are what you eat” and “Let food be thy medicine.” These statements hold so much truth. If someone is under stress and getting fast food as a time-saver, that’s probably not the best approach in terms of re-nourishing and supporting your body at a cellular level. We have to know that foods are first and foremost. For more information about why food is so important for managing stress, make sure to listen to the full podcast episode.
HOW TO MANAGE STRESS AS YOU RETURN TO SCHOOL – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 166 >>
Trying to adhere to a Mediterranean diet is really your best choice because it helps you receive that comprehensive blend of vitamins and minerals that support the immune system. You get antioxidants that are naturally coming from those foods to fend off oxidative stress and ease inflammation. Omega-3 fatty acids are in a higher abundance in a Mediterranean diet. Eating fruits and vegetables is also important, as well as healthy fats. Snacking on things such as walnuts, almonds, and pumpkin seeds throughout the day can be beneficial.
There are certain nutrients, such as the amino acid tryptophan, that are derived from your diet and are essential to the body’s ability to manage stress. Tryptophan is needed to manufacture serotonin, which is the body’s happy neurotransmitter. In the absence of serotonin, we are going to experience higher levels of neuroinflammation, loss of focus, and feeling more on edge. The brain is just one pathway that chronic stress can impact. As it begins to affect more organs and pathways, it also weakens your immune system, diminishing your ability to heal, recover, and adapt. Chronic stress can cause many serious diseases, and if we don’t manage it, we are really setting ourselves up for some really harmful effects.†
We can also focus on what kinds of movement can help us deal with stress and add them into our routine. It could be running, yoga, meditation, or walking. You don’t have to go out and join a gym or become a marathon runner, but you do have to find something that you’re passionate about and something that you can enjoy doing. It could even be turning on your radio and moving to the music. These become means of decompressing. We have to take a mind, body, soul approach to managing stress.
There are also several nutrients that can be advantageous for managing stress.
- Omega-3 fatty acids like fish oil and krill oil are important. People with low levels of this nutrient are more likely to have greater levels of inflammation, stress, anxiety, panic, and depression.†
- L-Theanine, which is an amino acid predominantly derived from green tea, is also important because it supports GABA, which is our calming neurotransmitter. It also helps fend off oxidative stress from the brain, preventing damage to brain cells.†
HOW L-THEANINE RELIEVES STRESS WITHOUT FEELING DROWSY – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST. Listen now >>
It is so important for each of us to take our health seriously and that clearly includes taking care of stress, whether it’s from work, family, chronic disease, or something else. Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
How Green Tea Supports Memory – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 170
Over the last three decades, green tea has been studied for its beneficial effects, including its neuroprotective effects. Studies have shown green tea is a powerful extract for brain health, especially memory.
What You Need To Know About Your Prostate Cancer Risk – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 105
On today’s episode we will discuss things that men do every day that can increase their risk of developing prostate cancer and the lifestyle habits, foods and nutrients that may help to reduce it, based on the results of multiple human studies.
Many Strokes Are Preventable – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 72
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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Strokes are quite common. They are a leading cause of loss of mobility and independence. Yet many strokes are preventable by making simple adjustments to your lifestyle and changing some of the foods you eat.
What are strokes?
Strokes are a leading cause of long term disability, loss of mobility, loss of independence and even death. A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain is reduced or interrupted. When this happens, your brain does not receive enough oxygen or the nutrients it needs to function and your brain cells start to die. Now a TIA – a transient ischemic attack – is really a warning sign that you can have a major stroke in the future. The symptoms pass quickly; frequently, by the time you get to the emergency room, the symptoms may be gone. This is why it is referred to as a mini stroke.
Why Cocoa Is A Superior Heart Health Superfood. Listen Now >>
The most common stroke by far is due to a blockage, called an ischemic stroke. It could be a blood clot or just an embolism that could just be a piece of plaque that broke of the lining of your arteries that went into the brain and blocked the major blood vessels in the brain. Less frequent is a hematocrit stroke. This is when there is bleeding in the brain, which commonly occurs in vegans and vegetarians but also in smokers and people who abuse alcohol.
Warning signs and symptoms, using FAST:
- F – your face droops
- A – your arm gets weak
- S – speech becomes difficult
- T – time to act
Additional warning signs include:
- Confusion
- Numbness
- Sudden vision changes
- Mobility issue
- Sudden headaches (different than a migraine)
The Stats
Every 40 seconds someone in the United States has a stroke. Strokes tend to impact women more commonly than men. They occur twice as often in African American men than white men. Typically, almost 800,000 people a year in the United States suffer with a stroke.
50% of the factors that increase your risk of a stroke can be controlled by a healthier lifestyle. 80% of recurrent strokes can be prevented with the recurrent steps, such as controlling blood pressure and blood sugar.
Preventing A Stroke
First and foremost, you have to work with your doctor on the best methods for you personal health. Generally, the first step is to get your blood tested. You have to treat your diabetes and maintain normal blood sugar, as diabetes is a big risk factor for a stroke. You want to have your cholesterol under control by eating the right foods, exercising regularly and sometimes taking medication. Listen to our Sterols Episode, if you are someone who cannot take a statin drug.
You want to keep your triglycerides under control. High blood pressure is the number one cause of a stroke, following that is atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is when the top chambers of the heart that pump the blood to the bottom chambers of the heart are quivering or beating faster than normal.
A couple of things not normally looked into but should be:
- Uric Acid Levels – listen to this podcast episode by clicking here!
- hs-CRP Blood test – listen to this podcast episode by clicking here!
Other healthy lifestyle changes:
- Follow a healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet that includes vegetables, whole grains and tea
- Ask me about the MIND diet by emailing me at [email protected]
- Quit smoking
- Regular exercise
- Cut down on salt and avoid sugar and processed food
- Cut down on alcohol
- Reduce stress
- Control your triglycerides, blood pressure and blood sugar
There are certain drugs that increase the risk of a stroke:
- Birth control pills
- hormone replacement therapy
- EnzyDes
- Decongestants from cough or allergy medications
Nutrients and Foods That Support Brain and Heart Health
Minerals commonly found in vegetables and fruits like Potassium are extremely important. Only 2% of Americans get sufficient amount of Potassium in their diet. Magnesium found in fish and fresh vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables is important. Low Magnesium levels has been shown to increase your risk of stroke by about 25%. My recommendation? Magnesium Glycinate can supply a lot of Magnesium in one tablet and it is by far the best absorbed Magnesium you can purchase. A second option is Magnesium Citrate, which still has a great deal of Magnesium and is well absorbed but is not quite as good as Magnesium Glycinate. The difference is that Magnesium Citrate is also a stool softener and will work as a laxative. Magnesium Glycinate will not have this effect. Folate or Folic Acid is found in plants but it is hard to absorb. Oddly, a vegetarian eating plants all day long could still be low in folate. Plus, some people cannot convert folate to its active form and a lot of multivitamins out there use that synthetic, inactive form (folic acid). You want to use Methyltetrahydrofolate, which is already the active form of Folate.†
Cocoa gets processed into chocolate through a process called dutching that adds milk fat and sugar that creates the chocolate we all love to snack on. Unfortunately, when this process occurs, a lot of the beneficially ingredients for the heart and brain in cocoa gets damaged, especially flavonols. Cocoa in its original form has been shown to be great for circulation, the heart and the brain. Cocoa found in supermarkets can be tainted with sprays and a heavy metal called cadmium that has been connected to breast cancer. Cocoa as a supplement has to be checked for bacteria, heavy metals and things of that nature. Invite Health takes that steps further by ensuring our ingredients are not sprayed by chemicals, allowing us to offer a non-GMO cocoa supplement.†
A study by UCLA researchers reports that three cups of Green tea a day reduced risk of stroke by 21%. A meta-analysis of nine human clinical trials of 195,000 people concluded that six cups per day reduced the risk of a stroke by an additional 21%, so that means that if you have six cups of green tea a day, according to this study, you cut your risk of stroke by 42%. And the effect was consistent.†
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
