Is stress ruining your life? Learn how to tame this health destroying beast with a few simple tips

Stress is such a common occurrence in our daily lives that we have come to the point where we barely question its presence. And yet, when we ignore these heightened states of pressure, our physical, mental and emotional health suffers. But it doesn't have to be this way. Taking a cue from those who are cool under fire, we can transform our daily experience into one that is productive, relaxed and actually enjoyable.

Danger signs of stress

According to the Mayo Clinic, chronic stress leads to heart disease, obesity and diabetes, as well as:

• Headache
• Anxiety
• Over or under eating
• Restlessness
• Anger
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Lack of focus 
• IrritabilityLoss of libido
• Insomnia
• Social withdrawal

Since stress also suppresses the immune system, we are more prone to colds and influenza along with cancer. Risk of stroke increases too. Thankfully, we can break this damaging cycle with a few lifestyle adjustments.

More unflappability, less stress

In "7 Things Calm People Do Differently," Lindsay Holmes pinpoints several specific methods for reducing our daily stress load and orienting ourselves in a positive way.

Find your center

Michelle Carlstrom, senior director of the Office of Work, Life and Engagement at Johns Hopkins University, observes that centering practices like meditation, prayer or focusing on the breath "help a person push pause, reflect and try to stay in that moment to reduce racing thoughts and reduce interruptions. I believe any strategy that aims to do that absolutely reduces stress." Even just a few minutes of centering each day can encourage an unruffled orientation.

Express gratitude

Research has shown that using techniques which inspire positive mental states, such as appreciation and gratitude, reduce health destroying cortisol by 23 percent while increasing health promoting DHEA.

A study published in the journal Integrated Psychological and Behavioral Science found "DHEA was significantly and positively related to the affective state warmheartedness, whereas cortisol was significantly and positively related to stress effects ... The results suggest that techniques designed to eliminate negative thought loops can have important positive effects on stress, emotions and key physiological systems."

Sleep

People who are calm get the recommended amount of sleep each night, between 7-8 hours. Many also take naps, recognizing the habit reduces cortisol and boosts productivity as well as creativity. Just make sure a midday snooze is kept under 30 minutes.

Socialize

When stress hits, those who manage it well tend to spend time with family and friends. Socializing helps reduce tension and anxiety, while buffering negative effects. Calstrom recommends blowing off steam with close friends, workmates or family when life becomes too tense.

Identify stressors

"It's important to realize that everyone is functioning at a really fast pace but carrying a lot of stressors," notes Carlstrom. "Pause, count to 10, and say 'Is this something I need to tackle? How significant is this going to be in three months?' Ask yourself questions to frame it and get perspective. Find out if this stress is real or if it's perceived."

Use vacation time

Besides increasing overall productivity and job satisfaction, taking a break and going on vacation can keep stress levels under control. Holiday trips have been shown to lower blood pressure, improve immunity and even extend lifespan.

Unplug

By taking an email sabbatical, we can dramatically lower our level of stress. A study at the University of Irvine in California discovered a break from email significantly lowered worker's stress and increased focus. Backing away from the computer also allows for more enjoyment of stress relieving, pleasurable activities.

Self-care 

Improving your self care regime is a great way to reduce stress, and there are so many options to try. Popular self care remedies include yoga, mediation, journal writing, or treating yourself to a pedicure. When you have a pedicure you’ll feel completely relaxed and pampered, plus your nail technician can recommend any further health treatments you may need, such as laser fungus nail treatment. With the right self care regime, it’s easier to lift your spirits.

Help Keep Depression at Bay With These 3 Tips

Depression is a condition that is frequently misunderstood. Many times, people who have never experienced it mistake depression for sadness. But the fact is that you don’t even have to be sad to be depressed. And those suffering from the condition often find it difficult to trace their feelings back to a root cause. 

To help clarify, depression is a mood disorder that can manifest in a number of ways, including, but not limited to anger, loss, or sadness. Many do not experience crying jags or bouts of melancholy. Instead, depression is felt as an extreme feeling of lethargy and emptiness. The condition is not uncommon. An estimated 8.1% of adults are depressed—and this is likely to increase as a result of the current pandemic. 

However you experience depression, there is no universal cure. Some recover from the condition, while others learn to live with it for the rest of their lives. A treatment may work for one person, yet have no effect on another. Therefore, managing your symptoms can be a process of trial and error. You may need to try several different options before you find one that works for you. What’s important is that you try to remain as patient and optimistic as possible. 

To get you started, here are three options that can help to keep depression at bay.

Self-care 

Depression can worsen when you have stress or worry in your life, so self-care is crucial. If you have a high-pressured job, consider speaking with your employer about your concerns and find a way to lighten your workload. Time management strategies are also beneficial to help create more relaxing downtime. Whenever you can, indulge in a bit of self-care to brighten your mood. This could include relaxing baths, exercise, a massage, or spending quality time with friends and family.

Therapy

Many people find that taking about their depression is an effective way of relieving their symptoms. Speak with your doctor about options for counseling or cognitive behavioral therapy. If this isn't possible, find a close friend or family member to share your concerns with instead.

Medication

There are several types of medication used to treat depression. Depending on your symptoms, your healthcare provider might prescribe a course of antidepressants, anti-anxiety medication, or antipsychotic medications. It’s important to note that all medications affect people in different ways and their benefits and side effects can vary from person to person. Along with prescription drugs, there are also many natural solutions used to treat depression. These can include herbal supplements, essential oils, vitamins, and medical marijuana, which can be purchased at outlets such as Harvest House of Cannabis. Whichever you choose, it is important to discuss any new medication with your doctor before use.

What Doctors Won't Tell You About Autoimmune Disease

By Dr. Terry Wahls

(MindBodyGreen) It’s finally happened. Your doctor's put a name to your illness. The years of not feeling quite right, of fatigue, achiness, and brain fog finally have an explanation, and it all makes sense. You have an autoimmune disease. Maybe it’s multiple sclerosis, or celiac disease, or lupus, or rheumatoid arthritis, or something else. Whatever it is, you have a name, and you’ve longed for answers for so long that part of you feels like everything is going to be OK now. A diagnosis means a treatment plan … doesn’t it?

You are not alone in your diagnosis, or your thoughts about it. About 24 million Americans have an autoimmune diagnosis. Another 50 million people have not felt well for years, with symptoms of pain and fatigue and autoantibodies, but they do not yet have enough damage to their bodies to make an actual diagnosis.

That means a total of 75 million Americans have immune cells that are inflicting damage to their bodies. That's far more than are affected by cancer (approximately 25 million) or heart disease (also around 25 million). Scientists aren’t sure why, but the rates of autoimmune diagnoses have sharply climbed over the last two decades.

Currently, more than 140 diseases have officially been classified as autoimmune diseases, and the number is steadily rising with each passing year, as we learn more about autoimmunity and its ravaging effects on the body.

Your doctor might be able to give you a name for your disease. We’ve categorized many, but not all, autoimmune conditions. (Some we still call “Unspecified.”) Your doctor can also tell you that an autoimmune problem means that your immune cells are damaging your healthy cells and organs, in a mistaken attempt to rid the body of something it sees as other than itself. Scientists don’t know the precise reason why this happens, but they do know the result: progressive damage to vital organs (like the kidneys, heart, brain, and more) and tissues of the body (like the joints and skin).

Furthermore, your doctor will give you a treatment plan: medication that blocks the immune cells, or a specific step in the immune pathways, in order to slow the damage being inflicted by the immune cells on the body. The first drugs used to suppress the immune cells were a mild poison to the rapidly dividing immune cells, so they were not as vigorous in their attack of "self."

We are developing more potent and effective drugs now, which block specific steps in the immune cell pathways. These new autoimmune drugs are part of a multi-billion dollar industry, and they aren’t cheap. With prices ranging from $1,000 to $45,000 a month (or more), many people have a hard time affording them, or simply cannot afford them. These drugs also come with side effects, ranging from mildly annoying fatigue, mouth sores, heart palpitations, to life threatening infections and more.

But there is more to know about autoimmune disease—much more. And now we get into what doctors won’t tell you about your disease. What doctors usually don’t tell their patients (unless they are functional medicine doctors) is that hundreds, perhaps thousands of studies have demonstrated that all autoimmune conditions are a complex interaction of a person’s genes and the environment. Each individual gene known to increase the risk of an autoimmune condition increases that risk by only 1 to 2%. The rest of the risk comes from the interaction between those the genes and the environment.

This is significant. It means that autoimmunity has a genetic component, as we have long suspected, but it's very small. It also means it has a major lifestyle component.

Therein lies the good news for you, so it’s a shame more doctors aren’t spreading the word. Seventy to 95% of the risk for getting autoimmune conditions (as well as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer) is due to what you do: What you eat, how much you move, how you live your life, how much support you have, and what you're exposed to every day, from agricultural chemicals and industrial toxins to pollution.

The potent drugs doctors prescribe so easily will not address those environmental factors. Nor will they compensate for a diet that fails to provide the necessary vitamins, minerals, and fats that your cells need to keep your body healthy. Nor will those medications do anything about the solvents, pesticides, mercury, lead, arsenic, or any of the other toxins stored in your fat that dramatically increase the reactivity of your immune cells, making whatever disease you have more difficult to control.

And this treatment is free, or mostly free.

The health and vitality you long for requires an optimal environment for your cells. That means you must:

• Consume a maximally nutrient-dense diet that avoids foods you react negatively to.
• Reduce your toxin exposure.
• Activate and use your muscles.
• Control your stress hormones.
• Maintain or build connections with supportive people.

I have found that taking these inexpensive and comparatively small steps are the most effective way to reduce symptoms of nearly every chronic disease that afflicts modern society.

It is time that we stop blaming our genes for our poor health, using medication as a crutch so we don’t have to change our lifestyles, and address the 70 to 95% of the reason why we became ill in the first place.

About the author:

Dr. Terry Wahls is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa where she teaches internal medicine residents, sees patients in a traumatic brain injury clinic, and conducts clinical trials. She is also a patient with a chronic progressive neurological disorder, secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, which confined her to a tilt-recline wheelchair for four years. But thanks to the power of the Wahls Protocol™, which is based on functional medicine and the Wahls Paleo™ diet, Dr. Wahls restored her health and now pedals her bike five miles to work each day. Dr. Terry Wahls is the author of THE WAHLS PROTOCOL: How I Beat Progressive MS Using Paleo Principles and Functional Medicine, co-written with Eve Adamson.

LocalBites Cooking Classes: Bringing Fresh Recipes to Life

This weekend I tried a new online cooking platform—LocalBites—and had so much fun! It's a far cry from the YouTube cooking videos we all seem to be addicted to these days. Since I've never taken a virtual cooking class before, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to find an interesting class and register. The entire process was seamless and smooth. 

The site has many unique filters to locate classes that perfectly fit your needs, like "For Busy Moms", "Guy or Girl", "College Student", and "Slow Cook". There's a range of special diets to choose from as well as specific regional cuisine. I personally appreciate the "Health Conscious" and "Whole 30" tabs. You can also choose the price range and class size. 

While it was tough to pick a single class because so many looked intriguing, I finally decided on a session for a gorgeous Peach Mascarpone Greek Yogurt Tart. I like that Jenny, the instructor, has a Ph.D. in nutrition and experience with special diets. She reached out a few days before the class to introduce herself and ask if I had any dietary limitations. She went above and beyond by creating a gluten-free adaptation of the recipe when she discovered that my daughter and I can't have wheat. We couldn't be happier! 

On the day of the class, we connected easily via a Google Meet link sent with the LocalBites confirmation email. Jenny is very detailed in her instruction and answered my questions throughout the session. We went step-by-step through the recipe beginning with the tart crust, which uses a mixture of almond flour and almond meal, butter, and egg for the binder. Next was the mascarpone cheese and Greek yogurt filling that was hand whipped with sugar and a touch of pure vanilla extract and bourbon. She gave helpful tips about refrigerating the crust for ten minutes before baking and why you don't want to use an electric mixer for the filling (hint: the fat in the mascarpone will separate). The fresh peaches followed. 

As an experienced cook, I honestly didn't think I would learn anything all that new during the class. I was wrong. Take the peaches. Cutting a peach into slices is pretty straightforward, right? Well, Jenny showed me how to cut the fruit in a very specific way so that each slice was uniform. She also explained about the different types of peaches and which variety was best for the recipe. I've never given much thought to "clingstone" versus "freestone" but the type does make a difference when you are cooking with peaches, rather than just eating the fruit directly. She arranged the peach slices in a stunning spiral on top of the tart. It's downright beautiful. The final dessert looks as if you have spent hours in the kitchen but the recipe itself is simple with a handful of ingredients. 

We wrapped up the class in an hour. Jenny then emailed me the adapted recipe and said to reach out if I had any additional questions. The classes are designed so that you can cook alongside the instructor (an ingredient list is provided beforehand on the site) or simply watch and ask questions. 

There really is a need for these interactive classes as people are searching for new and innovative ways to engage their hobbies and interests. LocalBites offers both in person and virtual sessions, so there's tremendous flexibility. It would be fun to organize an online class with far-flung friends. Gifting a session for the foodie's in your life is another idea. Since LocalBites is a peer-to-peer cooking site, anyone can join or host a class. What's more, the site has generously offered a referral discount for guest and/or host fees for ThriveLiving readers. Use the code CAROLANNEBITES 5% when registering. 

Unclog the liver and dissolve abdominal fat with these tips

With spring upon us, now is an excellent time to cleanup the diet and detox the body. Cleansing the liver should be a top priority. When this organ is working properly, unwanted body fat disappears—especially around the abdominal region. With a few supplements, dietary additions and mild exercise, slimming down and boosting health will kick off the new season on the right foot.

The link between excess fat and a sluggish liver

Almost a third of the American population suffers from fatty liver disease. Obesity, diabetes, accelerated aging and heart disease are all associated with a distressed liver. When the liver—becomes clogged with excess fat and toxins from a poor diet, it begins to store fat within itself— contributing to a continuing downward spiral of inefficiency. Extra pounds then begin to appear around the abdomen. Sugar and refined carbohydrates are the main culprits, although excessive alcohol consumption can play a part in fatty liver disease as well.

Since metabolism is severely affected by a weak liver, other organs become stressed and overactive. The pancreas creates more and more insulin—eventually creating insulin resistant cells and type 2 diabetes. Metabolism slows down and toxins build in the digestive tract, triggering further weight gain and ill health. But there is a simple solution for this slew of maladies.

Change for the better

By revamping the diet, getting off the couch and utilizing a few basic supplements, the liver can be cleared and health renewed. Curbing carbohydrate consumption is the first step. Once the liver has become congested, adiponectin production is compromised. When levels of this hormone are low, insulin resistance sets in. Poor metabolism of carbohydrates follows along with excess body fat. Lowering carbohydrate intake prompts the breakdown of fat in the liver—clearing out the troublesome blockage.

Quality protein, like organic whey, is also important. Since protein unclogs the liver and activates fat burning, it is a vital to the diet. Whey protein in particular contains special peptides that raise glutathione—one of the most potent detoxifiers for the liver. Moderate exercise supports a healthy liver as well. Research has shown that regular exercise encourages glucose metabolism. This in turn improves liver function and assists in healing fatty liver disease.

Several supplements are also helpful. Acetyl-L-carnitine metabolizes fat out of the liver—enabling cells to utilize it as fuel. Pantethine, when used for six months at 600 mg per day, lowers triglycerides and heals a fatty liver. Green tea, quercetin, theanine, curcumin, hawthorn and resveratrol also mitigate this disease. Milk thistle and dandelion are excellent choices too.

Additionally, adequate fiber intake is crucial. As the liver heals and fat is dissolved, toxins are released into the digestive system. Consuming a tablespoon of supplemental fiber three times per day sweeps these poisons out of the body before they are reabsorbed.

Keeping the liver in top shape not only maintains a slim body, but overall well-being is enhanced too. When this hard working organ is clean and efficient, the only loss is excess weight. And the only gain is exceptional health.

Learn more: www.naturalnews.com/038498_belly_fat_liver_cleanse_tips.html