How to Combat Stress

Dr. Loretta explains what stress is, what really happens to your body when you get stressed out, and how you can alleviate it.

Dr. Loretta: Are you stressed out? You don't have to take a chill pill or relax? You're not alone? Stress and how to cope, that's today on Bod Beat. Welcome to Bod Beat. I'm Doctor Loretta. Times are tough, money is short we need to do a whole lot more in a whole lot less time. I'm actually surprised that more people aren't stressed out at this time. And here's something to really stress you out. Stress can profoundly affect your health and your wellbeing. Do you know that 3 out of 4 visits to the primary care physician are all stress related complaints or disorders? Some people put the figure as high as 90%. Yes my friends, stress does kill. I'm not talking about stress related accidents. I'm talking about Heart Disease, Cancer, Lung Diseases, Liver Disorders can all be brought about by excessive stress. So what is actually happening physically when you get stressed out? Your body is a tough machine like the guys I grew up with in Brooklyn, but if you are walking in dark alley and a guy comes at you with a knife out of there as fast as you can, that's the Fight and Flight mechanism. It gives you the extra energy you need at the moment of crisis. Other bodily functions not urgently needed at that time will shut down and those functions that help you cope with the situation at hands are enhanced, like respirations and heart beat. While a certain amount of stress is healthy and it keeps you alive, chronic prolonged stress causes health problems. Remember, during stress other bodily functions are shut down. So prolonged stress can weaken your immune system and hamper your body's ability to fight diseases. Stress can cause anxiety, digestive problems, sleeplessness, depression and problems with relationships, but there are hidden problems with stress too. Normally Cortisol and Adrenaline are produced in the morning between 6 and 8 o' clock. It would help to get your butt out of bed and gets your day going and it lowers at night so you can go to sleep. When Stress is a constant factor all day everyday cortisol and adrenaline are being produced at inappropriate times throughout the day. Wonder why you can't get to sleep at night? What's more on cortisol is an inflammatory hormone. High cortisol levels increase insulin production from the pancreas, which causes more fat storage to occur. So not only we stress, but we're also gaining weight, okay. And worse high insulin and cortisol levels cause inflammation in the blood vessels. It's kind of like a blowtorch burning through your blood vessels. Not good. We're talking at those and coronary artery disease people. So how do you stop stress? You want to support your adrenal glands as much as possible. B Vitamins are especially helpful; B5 and B6 support the adrenals. Something important here though. Whenever you take a single B vitamin you must take a multi B. A single B vitamin will leach out other B vitamins from your system. There are herbal remedies, there are things like Rehmannia Root, Schisandra Fruit, Chinese Salvia, a little Don Quai, Licorice Root, Ashwagandha, Asian Ginseng, and Rhodiola. These can help maintain equilibrium, restore inner calm, and supports immune function. There are things like Adrenal Adaptogens, which increase energy, enhance mental clarity, promote balance to the hypothalamic and pituitary-adrenal axis function for enhanced ability to adapt the stress Glandular formulas can also provide nutritional support for adrenals by combining high quality nutrients that are involved in hormonal regulations that come from the bovine source. They are extremely effective formulas, but it should only be used for short periods of time. How I deal with stress, I go sailing or I sit on my porch and have a beer with my friends and neighbors. Those are the kinds of things that are valuable too. Want more information go to bodbeat.com for a list of all these remedies and much more. I'm Dr. Loretta, thanks for watching.