Posts Tagged ‘breathing techniques’

Stress, Mood and Food

Globally, three out of five doctors visits are down to stress-related issues. That’s a scary statistic if you consider not only the financial drain on society, but also the psychological impact on families and relationships.

Although a lot of the stress we encounter is out of our control, there is much we can do to enable us to deal with it more effectively, from breathing techniques to regular exercise and importantly good nutrition. But to do this, we must understand what stress is and how it impacts the body.

Stress

Stress is the non-specific response of the body to any demand, whether it is caused by, or results in, pleasant or unpleasant conditions.

Acute stress is the most common form of stress. It comes from demands and pressures of the recent past and anticipated demands and pressures of the near future. Acute stress is thrilling and exciting in small doses, but too much is exhausting.

Prolonged exposure to stress becomes a problem and can leave you feeling unable to cope with daily challenges. Heavy workloads, insomnia, physical illness, excessive alcohol and stimulants (tea, coffee, smoking and social drugs) are common physical factors that contribute to chronic stress whilst psychological issues like depression and anxiety are contributing factors.

The stress response is controlled through hormones secreted by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis). The HPA axis regulates many body processes including digestion, the immune system, mood and emotions, sexuality, energy storage and expenditure. Chronic stress will eventually lead to an imbalance in the hormones adrenalin, cortisol and DHEA. Imbalances in these hormones may lead to decreased energy production, blood sugar problems, memory impairment, cardiovascular disease, increased weight gain and reduced immunity. Identifying adverse effects of stress in the early stages can help to prevent more serious problems down the line. Read more…

Ringing in the Ears – Treatments That Work

Ringing in the ears or tinnitus as it is more commonly called affects millions of people. For these people this awful disease makes everyday living extremely uncomfortable.

The good news is there are treatments that can help you live a ring-free life.

The first thing to do is educate yourself. You need to learn everything you can about this disease. The reason for this is that is often found that treating only one of the symptoms of ringing of the ears does not effectively eliminate the problem. So if you have a broad understanding of the disease you stand a much better chance of finally ridding yourself of this nightmare illness.

Remember you need to treat the whole disease not just one symptom – this is often why people think they have an incurable illness – this is just not true. Read more…