Exercise Archives - Page 4 of 8 - Plattsville Natural Health Clinic

Adrenal Support: Diet and Lifestyle Changes to Combat Stress

April 12, 2016 by elisha

The adrenal glands are located on-top of the kidneys, and are responsible for secretion of hormones related to stress (including cortisol). When stress is perceived in a positive way and is short-lasting, it can be beneficial. In fact, recent research has suggested that individuals who are stressed but have a positive association with that stress, are healthier than individuals who have no stress at all. When on the other end of the spectrum, where you may be overly stressed with a negative appraisal of it, your health could greatly suffer as a result. When stress is taken out of the context of moderation and not perceived well, many can run into problems. Stress that is long standing can cause stress hormones circulate for longer, causing destruction and harm to one’s body. This might look like increased blood pressure, increased weight or weight gain, increased blood sugar levels, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, indigestion, and the list goes on. Your diet and lifestyle can play a large role in how your organs manage this stress and how you manage stress on a mental – emotional level. These diet and lifestyle changes may include:

Dietary Changes

Consume lean protein with every meal
Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and high – sugar beverages such as Gatorade
Avoid processed sugars
Follow an anti-inflammatory diet
Consume adequate amounts of water
Eliminate sources of food sensitivities, or sources of inflammation, from the diet
Include a variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet – specifically peppers, dark-green leafy vegetables, oranges, guava and papaya.
Consume a breakfast that includes a carbohydrate combined with a protein

Many of these dietary factors are focused on balancing blood sugar levels, decreasing burden on organs for processing and digesting, decreasing stimulating foods which can trigger cortisol spikes and wear you out physically, decreasing sources of inflammation which can contribute to mental-emotional upset (i.e. depression, anxiety, stress).

Lifestyle Changes

Eat regularly timed meals
Practice mindful eating by taking time to eat and enjoy the food that is put in front of you, making sure to chew adequately
Manage your stress through various methods including:
- Journalling
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Reading
- Deep breathing
- Exercising
Adopt regular sleeping habits
Partake in regular exercise
Adopt a lifestyle of balance (work versus play)
Seek a health care provider to help you to combat the effects of stress i.e. Naturopathic Doctor, Counselor, Registered Massage Therapist, Medical Doctor, etc.

Many of these lifestyle factors help one to be able to manage stress effectively and the physical effects of stress. If you are in need of help to manage stress, support your adrenal glands, combat depression, combat anxiety, or to manage the effects of stress; please consider consulting myself or another health care provider. Do not suffer alone.

Have you benefited from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.

Some of the information provided above may not be appropriate for everyone, please consult with your doctor before trying any of the above. If you are interested in Naturopathic Medicine and wanting a different approach to your health care needs, contact Dr. Elisha Cook ND by calling 519-537-7058 and book your appointment today!

Health Benefits of Walking

March 5, 2016March 1, 2016 by elisha

Walking has a vast array of health benefits that extend beyond the norm of exercise on its own. It can offer time for companionship if you are walking with someone, a time for distressing, or even time in nature. All of these on their own have their own merits and only increase the effectiveness of walking as a therapy. For this particular article, I am going to focus on three particular areas where walking has been shown time and time again to be quite beneficial: Mental Health, Heart Health, and Weight Management.

Mental Health

Walking can provide some relief for those experiencing various mental health concerns including anxiety, stress, and depression. Walking can provide an opportunity to get outside, to breathe in fresh air, and to debrief from the stress of the day. Specifically, in the area of depression, walking has been shown to improve self – esteem and depression overall; and those who do walk outside on a regular basis are less likely to report depression or symptoms of depression.

Heart Health

The heart is a vital organ that is impacted by so many different parameters including cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, etc. Each of these areas can be improved through walking and thus decrease the risk of heart disease. Studies on walking have suggested that it can increase HDL (good) cholesterol, decrease body weight, improve insulin sensitivity, decrease blood pressure, and decrease LDL (bad) cholesterol. Overall, as mentioned above, this translates into decreased risk of heart related disease and heart related death. The results were seen with walking more than 1 mile per day, walking more than 10,000 steps per day,

Overall Weight

Any discussion on walking is incomplete without discussion the health benefit of weight loss as a result of walking. Walking at least 30 minutes for 4-5 times per week can aid weight loss. In addition, research has shown that brisk walking is just as effective as high intensity jogging for weight loss. Walking may even be superior to jogging due to decreased potential injuries related to exercising.

Have you benefited from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.

References:

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=393937

http://www.annalsofepidemiology.org/article/1047-2797(94)90072-8/abstract

http://storre.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/4767/1/sys_rev_depression_and_walking_for%20STORRE.pdf

http://www.jclinepi.com/article/S0895-4356(06)00256-3/abstract

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/18/6/775.short

http://atvb.ahajournals.org/content/33/5/1085.short

Heart Healthy Habits

February 16, 2016 by elisha

As some of you may know, February is Heart Health Month. Your heart is a very important organ, and its health can be impacted by and impact many other organs. Rather than only including information on some heart healthy habits, I thought it might be interesting to provide some insight into the heart from a Traditional Asian Medicine perspective (please note that this perspective looks at more of a metaphorical heart and pathologies do not specifically correlate to physical heart issues, e.g. heart blood stagnation does not mean you literally have blood stuck in your heart). In Traditional Asian Medicine, the heart has a very important role in controlling personality, and joy. If there is an imbalance in this organ it can lead to excessive or deficient joy (mania, depression), anxiety, or insomnia. With this mental – emotional perspective in mind, it may give more fuel to the research findings below that connect depression with an increased risk of heart disease (this is of course in addition to much research between various other connections between depression and other factors which lead to heard disease). With that being said, below are some findings and habits that may help you to adopt a more heart healthy lifestyle:

Exercise: Exercise helps keep your heart healthy on many different levels. Firstly, it improves your cholesterol levels by increasing good cholesterol and decreasing bad cholesterol. In addition, exercise can also help to decrease blood pressure. All of these parameters can contribute to heart disease if left unchecked. Exercise also combats depression, which can be a risk factor for heart disease. For more health benefits of exercise, consult my previous blog: https://www.plattsvilledoctor.ca/the-benefits-of-exercise/
Avoid Smoking: Smoking has several negative impacts on the heart which include stiffening the arteries and causing plaque build-up in the arteries, which could lead to atherosclerosis. By avoiding smoking, one can significantly reduce their risk of heart disease.
Laugh: Laughter can help improve heart health by decreasing blood pressure and helping to combat depression (as mentioned above, a risk factor for heart disease). Some find that laughing can help them to cope with stress as well. For more health benefits of laughter, consult my previous blog: https://www.plattsvilledoctor.ca/laugh-out-loud-health-benefits-of-laughing/
Eat lots of fruits and veggies: Fruits and vegetables provide a hefty source of antioxidants, fiber, and nutrients, all of which can decrease one’s risk of heart disease and improve heart health overall. Many of the nutrients can also protect arteries and help the body become more resilient especially with stress. In addition, fruits and vegetables can help to decrease blood pressure and promote healthy cholesterol levels.
Manage Stress: Stress can have a negative impact on the heart by increasing blood pressure, increasing blood sugar, increasing cholesterol, and increasing fat retention (which makes the heart have to work harder by having to pump blood further to more tissue). By managing stress more efficiently, one can decrease their risk of heart disease and improve heart health overall.

Have you benefitted from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.

Keeping New Year’s Resolutions

January 3, 2022January 5, 2016 by elisha

It is estimated that 80% of individuals make New Year’s resolutions, but as many realize, very few keep them. It is easy to make plans of being healthier and living healthier lives when we have the spark of motivation, but when we are faced with the 5am alarm clock going off to go to the gym, the snooze button can become a more viable option.

This blog is meant to give you tips and encouragement to help you through the rough points when you want to throw in the towel on those New Year’s resolutions. In addition, it is my hope that these tips would help make your efforts more successful. Because the number one new year’s resolution is weight loss, many of the examples I provide below will relate to that realm.

Make realistic resolutions.

One of the biggest barriers to overcome in my opinion is the barrier of preconceived expectations of ourselves. Regardless of what you have achieved in the past in regards to activity level and healthy eating habits, start out slow. If you are not exercising at all currently, do not expect to simply be exercising every day for one hour. For some individuals this works for them, but it is important to work your way into a schedule that works for you.

Prepare in advance for your resolutions/changes.

Many individuals struggle with keeping their resolutions, because life gets busy and old habits tend to be resorted to. If one prepares in advance, it is easier to avoid resorting back to these old habits.

Be forgiving of yourself. When you fall short, get back on track quickly and keep going.

Ultimately, New Year’s resolutions require habit changes. Habits can be very hard to change, and so, slip – ups are common and happen. Be kind to yourself and forgive yourself if you fall short. The changes you are making could be very new to you, and it is okay to fall short. I like to give the example of babies that are learning to walk. When a baby is learning to walk they often fall. You wouldn’t yell at a baby and be unforgiving towards them because they fell. You would applaud the 3 steps that they made regardless how small. Treat your successes as such and be quick to get back up and try again.

Be patient.

Change takes time and the results you want may not happen overnight. Be patient with this process. If you are finding you are reaching a plateau in results, it may be best to consult a health care provider such as a Naturopathic Doctor to see if there may be something more preventing progress.

Have a source of accountability.

When we have someone or something that we make ourselves accountable to, this can help with success. Many times, individuals want to please others and if this acts as motivation, use it! Sources of accountability can include different apps, friends, family, or even your Naturopathic Doctor; especially if you are doing weigh in’s or measurements.

Have you benefitted from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.