Today’s stress reduction tip – Think of stress as a ten-pound wight placed on your back. The more you it is on you, the more it hurts.

Providing guided meditation for stress reduction, relaxation technique and beyond. Please visit my web site for more information. instantlyrelaxed.com

Aging can be defined as the progressive loss of the ability to deal with stress. Typically the bodies and minds of old and young work the same, unless presented with stress. Elderly have a more difficult time functioning under stress and recovering from stress when it is over.

Can Stress Accelerate Aging?

Glucocorticoids are a class of steroid hormones, including cortisol, corticosterone and cortisone. They work to provide resistance to stress and to regulate metabolism. An excessive glucocorticoid level is the cause of death during aging in more than a dozen species. Normally glucocorticoid excretion slows down when a certain level is attained. This negative feedback regulation does not work as well in the aging person. This leads to further glucocorticoid exposure and even more damage: a vicious cycle.

More about glucocorticoids later.

So stress accelerates aging and aging accelerates stress. It sounds bad, but the good news is that it can be managed. First let’s look at how the brain and memory are impacted by stress.

Stress and Memory

Mild to moderate short-term stressors actually enhance memory. The sympathetic nervous system arouses the hippocampus (part of the brain that plays a role in short term memory and spatial navigation) into a more alert, activated state. Who doesn’t remember where they were and exactly how they felt during a major stressful event, such as September 11 or when Kennedy was assassinated? (if you are old enough to remember) These situations demonstrate how a short-term stressor can enhance memory.

Memory declines with severe and prolonged stress. With the onset of stress, glucose delivery throughout the brain increases. After about thirty minutes, glucose delivery is no longer enhanced. With continued stress, delivery of glucose to the brain is inhibited. Glucose is the main fuel for our brains.

Stress and the Brain

The cortex of the brain is where memories are stored. The hippocampus accesses memories from the cortex. The retrieval of prior memories seems more vulnerable to stress than the formation of new memories. Another part of the brain, the amygdale, enhances emotional memories. The amygdale is highly activated during major stress and sends messages to the hippocampus, disrupting its function. Factors contributing to smaller hippocampus and thus, more memory problems:

• Major depression
• Post traumatic stress disorder
• Excessive glucocorticoids
• Repeated jet lag
• Neurological insults, leading to higher glucocorticoid levels
• Sensitivity to glucocorticoids

Glucocorticoids

Glucocorticoids include cortisol, corticosterone and cortisone. They work to provide resistance to stress and to regulate metabolism. Excessive amounts can result in Cushing’s Syndrome. The more severe the gucocorticoid excess, the greater the loss of hippocampal volume and the greater the memory problems.

The evidence is good, but not definitive that stress and/or prolonged exposure to glucocorticoids can cause damage to the hippocampus.

Five Components of an Effective Stress Management Program

Nutritional and Herbal Support

A good multi-vitamin and mineral supplement is important. Nutrient losses are much higher than normal during stress. Today it is almost impossible for people to consume enough quality food to meet our nutritional needs. Multigenics Intensive Care provides an essential, comprehensive foundation for optimal health.

Vitamin B-Complex is an anti-stress nutrient. B Vitamins work best in concert with one another, so for most people it’s best to take a B-complex rather than individual Bs. The Metagenics Multi-vitamin provides a balance of B vitamins, but some people need more. Glycogenics is an advanced B-complex formula thatpromotes a healthy stress response, healthy homocysteine metabolism and energy levels. Vitamin C is also known as an anti-stress vitamin. During stress, the urinary system excretes vitamin C at a significantly increased rate. Ultra Potent-C 500 or 1000 is an exclusive, patented formula that is designed to provide high levels of functional vitamin C in a short period of time.

Adrenal support is important. Keeping the adrenal glands healthy will help you handle stress. The adrenal glands are the anti-stress glands. Shrinking of the adrenal cortex is a side effect of continual stress. Adreset features standardized extracts of the adaptogenic herbs ginseng, rhodiola and cordyceps for those who are stressed and tired. Research suggests that these adaptogens aid the body in adapting to various stressful environmental challenges, thus reducing some of the negative side effects of stress. These adaptogens may help promote vitality, immune function, and overall well-being. These are key components of a comprehensive longevity program.

Calcium and Magnesium help relax and calm the central nervous system. Cal Apatite with Magnesium provides a 2:1 calcium to magnesium ratio and is a great bone building supplement as well. Antioxidants control oxidative stress, which is increased during times of stress. Vitamin C is one antioxidant. Oxygenics is a comprehensive antioxidant formula including vitamins A, C, E, Zinc, Selenium, Alpha-Lipoic Acid, Grape Seed Extract and more.

The supplements listed above are by Metagenics Nutraceuticals and are available at www.longvibrantlife.com.

DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is an important hormone produced by the adrenal glands. With prolonged stress, DHEA levels can become depleted. DHEA is important in weight management, cholesterol management and the production of other important hormones such as testosterone and estrogen. DHEA levels should be tested by a healthcare practitioner before starting a supplement program. More about DHEA and other important hormones.

Healthful Diet

• · Eliminate or restrict caffeine and alcohol
• · Eliminate refined carbohydrates
• · Increase potassium to sodium ratio in the diet
• · Eat regular planned meals in a relaxed environment
• · Control food allergies

More about healthy foods on my web site listed at the end of this article.

Calming the mind and body

Five to ten minutes daily of deep breathing, meditation, prayer, self-hypnosis or biofeedback. These days, just turning off the news more often can help!

Lifestyle Factors

• Managing stress can help us age successfully.
• The ability to feel in control, displace frustration and make social connections can help reduce stress.
• More predictability in your life may help reduce stress.
• Social support and a strong network of friends can help reduce stress.
• Providing social support to others can help reduce stress.
• Pets (that is, if you like animals!) can help with stress.
• Find an outlet for frustrations and utilize it regularly.
• Time Management can help you feel in control. Organize and set priorities. Maybe let go of some things.

Exercise

Regular exercise leads to increased ability to cope with stress and reduces the risk of stress-related diseases. Yoga is a great way to get exercise and calm the mind at the same time. If you would like to learn more about vibrant health and brain health, please feel free to visit my web site www.longvibrantlife.com.

Sources: Metagenics Nutraceuticals, Health Quest, Why Zebras don’t get Ulcers by Robert M Sapolsky

We build our lives and behaviors around stress. Even children and especially teens have stress. They worry about their friends, their weight, if they are wearing the right clothes or if they have a zit (acne). More Medical Problems are caused by Stress than anything else! Learning the right way to relax and reduce tension can help your body work better and create a healthier life. Your body’s natural processes are affected by stress. Stress can be a killer and reducing your stress should be a top priority in your life.

Stress can cause:

1. Your Body to Age: – Which means all your cells and organs are getting old before their time. When your stomach ages, food sits in it longer and can start to spoil before its even digested. This can lead to colon problems. Your skin and heart can also be affected by stress.
2. Sugar to Build Up: – When humans were hunters and gatherers, they had stress when they were being stalked by a predator. The body understood this stress and released sugars for instant energy so we could flee or fight. Now, when the stress causes the sugars to release, we don’t use them for energy. They go unused and the body stores them as fat instead.
3. Your Blood to Thicken: – Thicker blood allows it to carry more oxygen to help with our fight or flight as previously mentioned. Again we don’t use this feature as nature originally intended and now thicker blood only starts the process of building up plaque on the walls of our arteries.
4. Increased Number of Diseases: – Stress depresses the immune system. Colds and viruses are more common in stressed people. Viruses can cause some cancers, thus keeping a strong healthy immune system is a must. Stress has also been linked to Parkinson’s disease.

99% of all Disease is caused by Stress!

When your body senses stress, it automatically gets you ready to run or fight. This is just part of your biological makeup. First, the natural response causes the stomach and colon to shut down. – Extra blood is needed by the body and it takes it from the stomach and colon. – With no blood, these organs age faster. – Food that was being digested now just sits there and starts to rot. You end up with rotten food in your colon. As you can imagine, eating rotten food can make you sick, so can having it sitting in your body. – 90% of your immune system is battling disease in the colon. Ask any doctor who does autopsies about people’s colons. It’s not a pretty picture.

Second, your metabolism changes. – The body needs energy and it needs protein. – It goes to the muscles to get it. – If you don’t replace the protein and all the amino acids and enzymes, you lose muscle. – You lose body shape when you lose muscle. – The body replaces the muscle with FAT! I have just described a majority of the human population. We are stressed out and because of the stress we are battling colds, the flu, allergies, you name it because of our reduced immune system. So What Can I Do to avoid this downward spiral?

Dealing with stress is something we can manage. There are several steps that can reduce stress and when that becomes too difficult, there are things we can do to counteract the negative effects stress has on our bodies. First and foremost, the best way to alleviate the problems associated with stress is to get rid of the stress in our lives.

Some things you can do include learning relaxation techniques and ridding yourself of stressful habits. Everyone is different and deals with everyday situations in different ways, but we can all learn to reduce the stress in our life. Second, because it is impossible to get rid of all stress, we need to give our bodies the things it needs to be healthy and overcome the ill effects that stress creates.

These can include:

1. Provide you body with the nutrients it needs. While this sounds simple enough, when you body is under stress , the stomach shuts down so even if you are eating a good diet, your body isn’t getting what it needs.

Supplementation is the answer. However, not all supplements are created equal. Make sure your supplements can be used by the body when it is under stress. This means they get the nutrients to your cells where they are needed and not just take them on a nice ride through your digestive tract.

2. Boost your immune system.

Stress makes our bodies more susceptible to disease. It lowers the overall immunity and creates a situation where a majority of the immune system is battling disease in the colon.

3. Get more protein.

Most people don’t get enough protein. Stress causes the body to need more of it and so your body raids the muscles to get what it needs. When there is nothing to replace the muscle protein it gets replaced with fat. We slowly lose our shape and definition as we lose muscle.

Adding more meat to our diet is not the best solution. Today, almost all commercial meat is contaminated in some way. The beef, pork and chicken you buy from the supermarket is pumped full of antibiotics. A better solution is soy protein. This is a plant protein that has all the amino acids a human body needs.

I read a great article once about everything I ever needed to know I learned in Kindergarten. It said something like “Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.” It’s amazing, if we think back to when we were young and now as adults followed some of those same rules how much better our lives could be. I can hear my Mom saying “Eat your vegetables and Take your vitamins”.

We can all learn a thing or two about life and living if we sit back and watch little kids. So relax, listen to your body and learn how to reduce the stress and its effects on your health. This could be the most important action you can take towards living a longer, healthier and more enjoyable life.

THINK ABOUT IT!

Google Tech Talks March 8, 2007 ABSTRACT Jon will describe the revolution in medicine that has occurred over the past 30 years that has integrated the mind back into the body and developed a remarkable range of practices for integrating one’s experience, reducing stress, healing the body, coping more effectively with emotions such as anxiety, anger, and depression, and cultivating greater well-being and happiness. His work has been instrumental in bringing Buddhist meditative practices.

Stress is ubiquitous and on the rise. How we learn to manage it can have profound effects on our health and well being. This series explains how our bodies experience stress and demonstrates effective strategies to help you thrive in a fast-paced world. On this edition, Richard Harvey discusses strategies to reduce stress beyond medication. Series: “UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public” [3/2008] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 13720]

Chewing Gum just to freshen your breath is a thing of the past. The use of chewing gum as a delivery system vastly improves the rate of absorption of the product into the body, as compared to capsules or tablets which have to enter the digestive system before they can be absorbed into the body. Stress Gum is a chewing gum that has been uniquely formulated with a variety of natural herbal ingredients known to help relieve stress.

Being superior to a pill, Stress Gum is absorbed into the bloodstream immediately to give the powerful results you want. Stress Gum also helps fight tooth decay and cleans teeth after meals, provides a no-calorie snack, improves concentration, relaxes and eases tension, freshens breath, and improves digestion. Chew Stress Gum the next time you’re on a plane to counteract the effect of air pressure changes on your ears.

Each piece of gum contains a revolutionary sustained release system that orally delivers the 120-mg proprietary blend of active ingredients that are absorbed directly into the bloodstream. This delivery system relies on micro-sized beads that are released by chewing the gum and are immediately absorbed into the tissue of the lining in the mouth through the capillaries that lie close to the surface. Over four safe, carefully chosen herbs are used to manufacture this gum. Stress Gum comes to the rescue with a completely NATURAL herbal formula that REDUCES the symptoms associated with stress, anxiety and depression.

Stress Gum is safe and effective thanks to a scientific blend of old-world herbs. Best of all, Stress Gum leads to none of the harsh side-effects associated with expensive prescription drugs. The gum requires no prescription and is easily affordable for everyone. It is an innovative gum that provides you with most effectiveway to calm stressed nerves and promote a sense of well-being naturally.

Conclusion

Everyone knows that stress relief is becoming more important as our world becomes increasingly stressful. Paying close attention to body signals, recognizing the prodrome of an outbreak and immediately beginning anti-viral treatment, cool baths, pain relievers and stress relief is the start of control. Finding ways to provide stress relief is important and vital to our long-term health. Stress Gum is an all natural supplement that effectively addresses the diverse and debilitating symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression.

Do anxiety related conditions dominate your life? Charles Linden, author of The Linden Method explodes the myths surrounding the disorders such as Anxiety, Panic Attacks, OCD, Stress & Phobias and shows sufferers how they can eliminate their anxiety, quickly and permanently without the need for drugs or therapy. The Linden Method has helped tens of thousands of people worldwide to permanently eliminate their anxiety.

Here are some facts about Stress and the affects on your body.

When you look at these facts it is hard to deny that we all need to learn how to manage our stress more effectively. Some of these facts include: * 75-90% of all doctor visits are stress-related

• 43% of all adults have health problems related to stress
• Stress is known to cost American businesses more than $300 billion each year
• 82% of workers are at least a little stressed in the workplace

Seven Ways Your Body is Affected By Stress

There are two kinds of stress. The “good” stress is called eustress but we generally only hear about the “bad” stress known as chronic stress or distress. Chronic stress creeps up on you and gradually affects your health. At first, you may not even notice the symptoms of chronic stress at all! And if this stress is not managed, the symptoms will get worse and its effects may even be irreversible. Seven ways in which stress may manifest itself in your body are:

1. Anxiety. Those who are stressed are likely to deal with uncontrollable levels of anxiety. Anxiety and depression often go hand in hand, and this can cause many different changes in the physiological functioning of the body.

2. Depression. When you are stressed out, it is very common for people to become depressed. There are only so many chemicals in the brain to help a person deal with stress, and when they are used up, they’re used up. This can lead to a person becoming profoundly depressed in what seems like a relatively short period of time.

3. Diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest growing epidemics in the world and both mental and physical stress can cause rapid fluctuations in blood sugar levels. The long-term effects associated with this include heart disease, blindness, liver problems, kidney disease, and more.

4. Heart disease. Stress is very closely linked to heart attacks and death associated with cardiovascular disease. When stress is not managed, the body breaks down quickly and the heart is often profoundly impacted.

5. Obesity. We often cope with stress by consuming unhealthy, fattening foods. Plus, stress prohibits the control of necessary chemicals that are needed to break down fat, which can lead to obesity.

6. Sexual dysfunction. Stress is one of the most common reasons associated with impotence in men and lost libido in women.

7. Hair loss. We often tease our friends and family when they begin to lose hair, but this can be a symptom of unmanaged stress. If your hair is falling out prematurely don’t blame genetics, look closely at how you are dealing with the stress in your life and see if there are things you can do to control it more effectively.

As you can see, stress can affect your health in many ways. This is by no means an all-inclusive list of how stress affects your body and health. You may also suffer from hyperthyroidism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, tooth and gum disease, ulcers, and even cancer. Stress is serious stuff! This is all the more reason to start actively managing your stress today. Little things add up! Even if your stress seems overwhelming, start trying to change things by adapting small strategies to combat your stress. Every little positive thing you do can lead to a big change!

Dont let sress affect your health and get onto it now!