On this page, we'll look at the effect that mental/emotional stress can have on our nutritional status, and as such, our health; and what dietary factors are important to consider prior to and under conditions of heavy or chronic mental/emotional stress. We'll also briefly mention some potential mechanisms to help you make it through trying times.
Summary of what you'll see below: (1) Our Nervous System: Coordinating the Link Between Mind and Body; (2) How Dietary Elements and Stress Affect the Mind Body Link; (3) What We Ingest Can Actually Cause or Worsen Stress Reactions; (4) Some Diseases Associated With Chronic Stress; (5) What To Do (Making adjustments to improve dietary intake and your quality of your life); (6) Coping Mentally; (7) References; (8) Future Knowledge Links. Estimated reading time, about 20-25 minutes.
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Certainly now, most of us are feeling a new level of stress, imposed atop our usual, daily concerns. We are feeling the pain of the loss of thousands of our fellow Americans, along with the uncertainty of what the future may hold for us as individuals, and as a Nation, in the years to come. The only choice we have is to cope as best we can. Since our minds are inextricably joined to our physical bodies, coping will have to involve both mental/emotional and physical strategies. One very important means of coping on a physical level, necessarily involves dietary considerations. Here's why:
Our Nervous System: Coordinating The Link Between Mind and Body
As you know, our minds are expressed through and affected by our physical bodies, through the action of our nervous system, which consists of three major components: the central, autonomic (or peripheral) and enteric nervous system (CNS, ANS, ENS respectively). Our autonomic nervous system is further separated into sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions. The enteric nervous system itself was fairly recently identified (in 1985) as a distinct system present in our gastrointestinal tract. Our nervous systems provide for voluntary control of movement as well as the automatic function and regulation of vital life processes, such as breathing, heart rate and digestion.
Just as our conscious choices direct functions that are under our voluntary control, our emotional reactions influence our bodies in a very significant manner, through different mechanisms that are not usually under our control. Our emotions, through our autonomic and enteric nervous systems, trigger the release of neurotransmitters and hormones, which can directly impact the function and health of other organ systems in our bodies, including our immune system. Our organs, in turn, can send feedback to our central and autonomic nervous systems, through what are called afferent pathways. Efferent pathways convey messages FROM our nervous system's control centers to our organs. Our immune system can actually communicate with our nervous system's automatic control centers through biomolecules called cytokines. As you can see, events occurring in one area of our bodies will have an impact on other body areas. We are all intrgrated units, despite being composed of different tissues, organs and organ systems.
How Dietary Elements and Stress Affect the Mind Body Link
Amino acids, carbohydrates and fatty acids, as well as vitamins and minerals, are involved in the production of the cytokines, hormones, and neurotransmitters that provide for normal body function, as well as the heightened reactions that can occur under conditions of stress.
For example, say you are walking home from work one day and are suddenly attacked by a big, snarling stray dog. After the sight and sounds of the affront are received and processed by your central nervous system, it will signal your autonomic nervous system to get busy with preparing you to deal with the threat. The sympathetic division of your ANS will thus quickly move to increase your heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac output, respiration, pupil dilation, and glucose and fatty acid availability (for energy); as well as your muscle tone and strength. The sympathetic division will also decrease certain functions, such as gastrointestinal activity and kidney output, which are not required for quick responses to sudden threats. Once you get away or scare the dog off, your parasympathetic system will act to oppose what your sympathetic system initially stimulated, slowing your heart rate, lowering your blood pressure, and restimulating gastrointestinal activity.
With all of the systems affected by a stressor, a problem can arise if you experience chronic, unresolved emotional stress. Chronic emotional stress can negatively impact every organ system in our bodies.
Our nutritional status can also be negatively impacted by chronic stress. For instance, the above mentioned hypothetical state of emergency precipitated by the attacking dog would result in the release of glucocorticoid hormones from your adrenal glands (which sit atop each kidney), such as cortisol, epinephrine (more commonly known as adrenaline), and norepinephrine (noradrenaline. Some of these hormones require the use of vitamin C to be synthesized, stored and released. That's okay for your vitamin C status if don't run across an attack dog regularly; are otherwise a contented person, and consume at least 500 mg of vitamin C daily. But, in the case of chronic emotional arousal, whether it be from having to confront reckless drivers every day on your way to work; or a harrassing supervisor threatening layoffs, your vitamin C status can suffer, because your feelings of rage or fear precipitated by those perceived daily threats involve those stress hormones, which again, use vitamins to be synthesized and released. C vitamin is not the only micronutrient involved in the production of stress related hormones. Some minerals, such as selenium, and other vitamins, particularly the B vitamins, also play a crucial role, and can be depleted as a result of chronic, negative stress (See below for info on the role of B vitamins in stress management).
While B consists of multiple, distinctly different individual entities with different, sometimes overlapping functions, Vitamin C is one nutrient entity with multiple functions. C is very important to the functioning of our white blood cells, which are the primary reactive components of our immune system; C is also critical to the synthesis and maintenance of collagen, a protein that is fundamental to structural and supportive tissues in our bodies. C helps to control reactive molecules called free radicals, that can lead to cumulative tissue and organ injury, and are generated by the metabolism of commonly encountered elements such as drugs and pollution, even foods and exercise ! (See the Knowledge Link below concerning free radicals and exercise for more information). Further, C helps your body to absorb iron, which makes it possible for your body to utilize the oxygen you breath in.
So, wasting vitamin C and other micronutrients through excessive stress reactions, and not attending to proper replenishment, can have multiple, deleterious effects over the long haul. A C deficiency can contribute to diminished immune function, which can lead to increased susceptibility to infectious organisms that can cause colds, flu, and even cancer. Your C intake is thus worth considering and even supplementing if you are experiencing chronic stress. Supplements are particularly beneficial if you consume mainly convenience/fast foods, and little or no fresh, whole fruits and vegetables...
Your B vitamins are crucial to the synthesis of neurochemicals that affect mood and thought processes. They are also involved in the propagation of the stress response, partly due to their role in the metabolism of fatty acids and carbohydrates mobilized by stress reactions. As such, chronic stress, consisting of unproductive emotional reactions coupled with other energy mobilizing activities, such as working late hours and even exercise, can impose a significant strain on your B vitamin status. Since our bodies store only minute amounts of most B vitamins, daily dietary supply is very important.
B vitamins are available in foods that are high in protein and carbohydrates, such as meats and grains. Unfortunately however, our lifestyles and busy schedules often compel us to skip meals or consume meats and grains that have been fried, grilled or otherwise highly processed and altered. This processing often results in the destruction of much of the food's B vitamins. Regularly using such foods as your primary source of proteins and carbs means your diet is likely deficient in the B vitamins you need to fully meet the demands imposed by life's stressors. As such, blood levels of B vitamins, as well as any other small body reserves of these nutrients, will be mobilized to meet stress imposed needs. A diet that consistently fails to supply enough B vitamins to help your mind and body effectively cope can actually add to your stress load. Our bodies just don't maintain large reserves of B vitamins, yet we need them for physical and emotional adaptations to stress. One simple, healthy, therapeutic adaptation is to change your diet or supplement B vitamins. Both supplements and a better diet can ensure healthy amounts of those critical micronutrients during challenging life experiences...
Calcium may also be a concern when one is confronted with chronic stress. Stressed minds can cause inappropriate tension in your muscles, which can lead to higher than normal levels of lactic acid (a product of energy production in muscle). Abnormally high levels of acid in the blood can be neutralized by blood calcium, which is an important acid buffer in our bodies. Since blood levels of calcium absolutely have to be maintained within a certain range in order to maintain life, your body will take calcium from your bones in order to keep blood levels stable. In order to compensate for the extra amount of calcium used to buffer stress related acidity, and protect your bone reserves of the mineral, calcium intake should be between 1000-1500 mg/day. This intake level may be particularly useful for women, since calcium is not a mineral readily absorbed, and women have a greater concern with osteoporosis, due to the adverse impact of estrogen losses on bone during and after menopause. Osteoporosis is an even greater concern for women of Asian and Northern European descent. Men can also suffer from osteoporotic bones later in life. As such, protecting our bones and overall health from the impact of chronic stress requires that we be attendant to our calcium intake (See link below on osteoporosis).
Nutrient Deficiencies Can Worsen or Cause Stress Reactions
Not only can chronic stress contribute to nutrient deficiencies, but deficiencies in some nutrients can lead to the creation or intensification of anxiety and stress...
It's been found that some folks who experience anxiety attacks may be sensitive to increased levels of blood lactate (or lactic acid, mentioned earlier). It is not known if lactic acid precipitates anxiety attacks in these people or is simply related to some other process that does, but studies done back in 1967 (1) actually used an infusion of lactate to induce anxiety symptoms in persons suffering panic attacks.
If you think you may have a problem with panic attacks, reduce your intake of sugar and caffeine, both of which can increase the production of lactic acid. Alcohol can also increase blood lactate, since alcohol is processed as an alternative energy source, thus diminishing your body's need to reduce pre existing levels of lactate, by processing it into pyruvate, and ultimately into high energy ATP (our body's most important form of immediately useable energy). If you drink alcohol to relieve stress, and your are sensitive to lactate, your blood lactate levels can remain high and you can thus feel even more anxious when you sober up...
Blood lactate may also be elevated as a result of inadequate pyruvate dehydrogenase activity. Pyruvate dehydrogenase is a thiamine (vitamin B1) dependent enzyme that helps to lower lactate by driving the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl coenzyme A (and ultimately to ATP). The removal of pyruvate moves the cycle along such that newly formed or residual lactate can be converted into new pyruvate, and so on.
Additionally, niacinamide, the synthetic form (from supplements) of the B vitamin niacin, may act to decrease lactic acid levels by reacting directly with lactate, once the niacinamide is converted to it's conenzyme form, niacinamide adenine dinucleotide.
Another B vitamin, B6 (pyridoxine), is required for the synthesis of gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), and serotonin. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that is involved in the regulation of anxiety. Serotonin is also an important factor in the etiology of anxiety and depression. As such, theoretically at least, low levels of B6 may contribute to heightened anxiety.
So as you can see here, attention to micronutrient vitamin and mineral intake is important to diminish the impact of stressful situations, and to even help preclude feelings of generalized anxiety, something we don't need any more of these days...
If you are bothered by chronic stress, take some time to assess your diet; try to eat less processed foods; and supplement vitamins B and C, as well as the mineral calcium, to help support your body's coping mechanisms. Your future health depends on your ability to effectively manage stress and stressful situations.
Some Diseases Associated With Chronic Stress
Cardiovascular disease has long been associated with intense, unresolved emotional states. Further, our gastrointestinal system is highly sensitive to our emotional reactions. Indeed, chronic emotional distress can lead to a decrease in gastric (stomach) emptying and an increase in acid production in our stomachs, as well as an increase in colonic motility. In some people, these stress precipitated gastrointestinal conditions can contribute to the development of the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), if the stress is intense and/or chronic enough.
Note also the IBS is not always caused by emotional distress, but almost always has an emotional component. In some cases, food allergies, gastrointestinal hypersensitivies and other causes that have yet to be fully identified, can precipitate IBS and contribute to the derangement of your emotional state. Remember that your GI tract has it's own rather sophisticated nervous and immune systems, which can communicate with areas of your higher level nervous system and emotional centers. This is the reason why your "mood" can be changes when you are constipated or have an upset stomach.
Further, increased acid and decreased gastric emptying precipitated by stress, can contribute to the propogation of certain microorganisms that thrive under such conditions, such as helicobacter pylori, a bug that's been implicated as a significant factor in the etiology of gastric ulcers.
Moreover, a colon that is overly active due to stress (frequent, loose bowel movements) can have a significant, deleterious impact on your nutritional status and long term health, due to a loss of important nutrients absorbed in the colon. As you saw earlier, nutrient inadequacies can precipitate and/or worsen anxiety and stress. A viscious cycle indeed.
What to Do
In view of the above facts, to help you effectively cope with the tribulations we are all currently facing, and rise to new levels, consider gradually reducing your intake of the simple sugars found in pastries, candies and ice cream. Increase your intake of whole, fresh fruits on a daily or weekly basis, until you reach about 4-6 servings per day. Apples and bananas make good convenience snacks and can help you to meet your daily requirement of vitamin C and soluble fiber. Soluble fiber can help to control blood cholesterol and decrease your risk of colon cancer. (See future Knowledge Link for info on how dietary fiber acts to impove your health and decease your risk of disease.)
Eat less fried foods and less breads and cereals made with bleached flours, and consume more whole grain products, in addition to leaner meats that have been baked, boiled, broiled or whatever - just avoid a lot of fried foods.
Eat more vegetables that are either raw, such as carrots and tomatoes (in salads), or cooked only to a point at which some crunchiness still remains. Cooking vegetables till they are soft can lead to the breakdown of the plant components that bind the critical micronutrients, with the subsequent loss of much of those nutrients into the boiling water and steam.
You can accomplish the above changes by gradually replacing parts of your daily meals until at least one whole meal consits of lean meat or fish; whole grains and lightly cooked vegetables. Gradually change over another meal until at least two full meals are devoid of fried, processed, overcooked or heavily preserved foods. These changes should be made gradually because sudden changes can be resisted by our bodies, due to our habituation to the longstanding use of certain food types.
Supplement your diet with at least 500 mg of vitamin C. A full gram is better, but if you've never taken supplemental C before, start by taking 500 mg for 3-4 days, then add another 500 mg to make a full gram. Take your C with food or as part of a multiple vitamin, since large amounts of the vitamin can irritate your bowel when taken alone, unless purchased in buffered form.
Also, supplement at least 30-50 mg/day of the B vitamins, which should contain: B1 (thiamin); B2 (riboflavin); niacinamide; B6 (pyridoxine); B12 (cobolamin); pantothenic acid; inositol; choline; folic acid and biotin to be complete.
Martino's Supplement Resources, www.vitamin-tim.com, can provide you with a Stress Formula that is specifically designed to deliver 1200 mg of vitamin C, as well as all of the B vitamins listed above. The Stress Formula further provides vitamin E, which helps to protect all of your body's lipid containing components from oxidation. Extensive, protracted oxidation of lipids in our bodies can contribute to the development of several different diseases, such as atherosclerosis (See Knowledge Link below, Exercise and Free Radicals, for info on free radicals and oxidation). The Stress Formula is prepared using food components as a base, including alfalfa, rice bran, rose hips, lecithin, parsley and watercress. There are NO synthetic excipients or fillers. Go to www.vitamin-tim.com, click on "Catalog Index", then "Multiple Vitamins", to view the product and obtain a full disclosure of it's contents. All orders are security encrypted for your protection!
Additionally, you should consider supplementing at least 1000 mg of calcium a day. If you are a woman of Asian or Northern European descent, and less than 25 years old, consider a total intake of 1500 mg per day (including foods), particularly if you are unable to consume dairy products and or have a "convenience food" lifestyle. Though you may have stopped growing at around 18 years of age, your skeleton continues to mature until you are about 25. The closer you are to your maximal skeletal growth potential, the longer you'll have before bone mineral losses after menopause negatively affects your bone density. You can thus possibly delay or prevent osteoporosis altogether, by increasing your intake of calcium at an earlier age, through a combination of diet and supplements.
Martino's Supplement Resources can also provide you with a variety of calcium formulas. Just go to www.vitamin-tim.com, click on the "Catalog Index", then "Chelated Minerals", to view the products and a full ingredient list. Again, all orders are security encrypted to protect you.
Coping Mentally
As a result of the evil actions taken on 9/11/01, we are all having to try to manage feelings of anxiety and rage, with seemingly little opportunity to directly affect the consequences those evil actions seem to be having on us.
Given such stressful conditions, there are some who would tout meditation, and/or muscle relaxation and/or visualization techniques to help you to settle your agitated emotions. While these practices can positively impinge upon bad feelings or tight muscles, they can take some time before they have any lasting effect. The challenges that precipitated the stress reactions are waiting for you when you finish chanting, visualizing or tensing and relaxing your muscles. Why not hit two birds with one stone, and take some positive actions while quenching emotional stress?
How do you do that? Well, any old psychologist will tell you (and you can reason for yourself) that one cause of stress is a sense of lost control over areas of your life that you deem critical. For a teenager, acceptance by the peer group with which they identify is important; for an adult, monetary stability and security is very important. If you are an adult who has concerns about income, personal security etc, FEAR NOT! and thank God you are living in the US of A! There are vast resources available to you in this Nation. We're just going to have to make the effort to adjust, by seeking resources different from those to which we have become accustomed, and find new ways to use old reserves. For many of us, that may mean that we have to seek new sources of information of alternative sources of income. This will necessarily involve using resources such as the net, magazines, journal articles, books, newspapers, television, and your Government, among other things, for more than just entertainment and political prate. Use these sources of info for the purpose of learning about aspects of your life that have been affected by the malicious acts of Sept 11. Look for the positive options and opportunities that are available now. Try to never dwell on the negative aspects of life events. Your mission is to identify and act on positive options, negative events will take care of themselves, they don't need your input to occur.
For example, you can learn for yourself how the economy really works, instead of swinging on the opinions of "experts", and choking up when one economist presents a gloomy forcast; while another says things won't be so bad. Regardless, this is a land of abundant resources. Learn how to find positive niches for yourself within that abundance.
Even better, learn more about yourself! What hobbies do you have that requires or conceals talents that could make you a more successful and productive American in these changing times? What skills and talents do you need to acquire in order to fill your current needs, reach your future goals, and rise to new levels in life? The personal focus required to really identify key, specific needs, and then pursue whatever objectives are required to fill those needs, leaves little time to waste worrying or feeling anxious, especially if you are emotionally charged and fiercely determined to succeed.
You'll soon begin to realize that the more you learn, the less you'll fear, because you will start to uncover the myriad positive options available to you in this land of abundant resources. You can only be threatened by the future if you are short on the knowledge you need to take control of and direct your life! Knowledge is Power! That's why you are reading this Knowledge Link!
If, after embarking on the path to knowlege of subjects that impact your life, you still need to find an edge to help you to further relieve stress and anxiety, consider moderate, regular exercise. If you've never exercised before, obtain an evaluation of your cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems - at least - by a health care professional who is trained to properly test you, before taking on an exercise routine.
Moderate, aerobic exercise, something as simple as running in place for 15-20 minutes, can actually elevate levels of circulating hormones that provide for increased confidence and clearer thinking. Right after you exercise and cool down, you may even want to try some meditation, visualizations and positive affirmations. You'll likely find it a lot easier to relax and focus after your workout.
While meditating, you can try calmly reflecting upon what it is you are anxious about. Are you really threatened by a future encounter with some person, situation or condition that is so overwhelming, there is NO hope? Likely NOT! Even if there are some really tough encounters in your future, you have NOW to PREPARE to handle, and NOT worry about them. Your motivation to NOT worry is the fact that worry cripples the productive preparation required to rise to new levels when tested. Reasoning along these lines, in most cases, you'll find that your anxiety is baseless and irrational, especially when evaluated in terms of your ever increasing knowlegde of the facts required to control your life conditions. You'll then find it easier to dismiss your fears, or at least feel less anxious, while feeling motivated to be more active in taking control of your life. You'll have the tools -knowledge- to effect the necessary changes...
Finally, in order to avoid feeling tense or stressed WHILE pursuing your objectives, understand that you WILL succeed if you are doggedly persistent. Being persistent involves being consistent, that is, establishing routines that serve as steps towards reaching your goal and/or reinforcing productive habits. For instance, studying at regular intervals or routinely practicing whatever skill is relevant to your objectives, is the type of behavior required to establish the foundation for success. Don't feel pressured into changing your lifestyle or rising to new levels. Instead, find some real reason to feel GOOD about being able to create exciting new opportunities for yourself when facing any challenge...
Further, productive habits MUST include rest and recovery. Your mind can get tired from concentrated efforts just as your muscles can. You'll therefore need to provide for some mental recovery time in order to avoid mental fatigue and boredom, which can contribute to feelings of frustration and emotional stress. MAKE time for a favorite hobby that's different (even sligthly so) from the goals you are pursuing.
Finally, note that the main objective of life is not to avoid all forms of stress. Stressful conditions can't and shouldn't be avoided. Without stress, our growth and development would cease. We need to be exposed to forces that provide for productive, positive changes in our minds and bodies.
What needs to be minimized however, is excessive stress, either in a real physical or perceived (mental) sense.
For example, physical labor that exhausts your energy reserves and continues without recovery time, is obviously excessive physical stress that can severely disrupt us physically AND mentally.
Similarly, mental/emotional stress can precipitate some of the same physical responses as the physical stress, but is often more amenable to our perception of the situation with regards to severity and our ability to exert control over it. Those emotionally generated responses provide for our readiness to confront challenges. But if we don't have any real challenges to confront, or are constrained from physical action by social norms, we are obviously gonna have to work on our perception of the situation, as well as control of our own reactions, in order to preserve our physical and emotional health over the long haul...
Any question about nutritional supplements? Would you like to have a certain topic addressed in a future Knowledge Link? Email me by clicking on the Martino's Supplement Resources link below. The email address is at the base of the MSR page.
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Future Knowledge Links include information on weight loss supplements; nutrition for pregnancy; senior nutrition; best nutrition for our children; dietary fiber and health and more!
References:
(1) Pitts FN Jr, McClure JN Jr. Lactate metabolism in anxiety neurosis. N Engl J Med 277(25): 1329-36, 1967
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