Michael Schuneman, DC

Going into the holiday season is a time for joy, happiness, and being together with family and friends.  Unfortunately this time of year can be quite stressful too.  Now while all stress is not bad, the type of “stress” we usually talk about can be a very bad thing.  In our society today we have made our lives quite stressful and I believe this is one of many reasons why we are seeing so many diseases and disorders on the rise.  While stress may not be the sole “cause” for many diseases/disorders it definitely can make them worse.   In this post I will list some things that are associated with stress, but more importantly talk about some things we can do to eliminate some and deal with the rest of the stress in our lives.

It may just surprise you how many different diseases or disorders are affected by chronic and high levels of stress.  The following is a list of some categories of health problems that are related to stress.

• Autoimmune disease
• Behavior disorders
• Cardiovascular disease
• Chronic inflammatory processes
• Chronic pain disorders
• Gastrointestinal disorders
• Immune disorders/Immunosuppression
• Kidney disorders
• Liver disorders
• Mental disorders
• Metabolic disorders
• Musculoskeletal disorders
• Reproductive disorders
• Rheumatic disorders
• Skin disorders
• Substance abuse
• Thyroid disorders

One reason that stress can have such far reaching effects because how the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis works.  Whoa, bringing out some big words.  But basically it breaks down to affecting the neuroendocrine system.  Sorry another big word.  What that means is it affects the nervous and hormonal systems.  This is big because the nervous system controls everything in the body.

So high levels of stress are a bad thing!  So what can we do about stress?  Well there are several things we can do to one, help reduce the stress in our lives and two, help us to handle the stress that will inevitably still be there.

First, and maybe the most important thing we can do is to change our attitude.  What I mean by this is change how we are looking at our life and situation.  Now to be completely honest, this can be very difficult.  But a lot of stress can be from how we perceive the situation.  What is stressful to one person may not be a big deal to another.  Some things to help in this change of attitude are to look at the positives in a difficult situation instead of focusing on the negatives.  There is always something to be grateful for no matter what our situation if you are just willing to look for it.  Also, not worrying about things that you cannot control can make an enormous difference in stress levels.  How somebody else acts is not your responsibility, but how you choose to react to them is your responsibility.  There is enough to worry about with the things that you can control in your life.  Worrying about things like the weather that you have absolutely no control over does not do any good.  It is going to be what it is going to be whether you like it or not, so don’t worry about it. I know, easier said than done BUT it can be done.

Second, take time to plan things out.  You don’t need to have everything in your life mapped out, but taking time to write things down that need to get done and scheduling time to do them can make a difference in your life when it comes to stress.  A part of this is learning to prioritize and do the most important things first.  We all have those unimportant but “urgent” things which we tend to fill up our time with so that the important things that need to get done (but may not be very fun) don’t get done, adding to our stress.  Scheduling can help us utilize our time more wisely.  One more thought on schedules is that we also need to schedule a little time for rest and relaxation.  Now this probably shouldn’t be the majority of our time, but if you are not taking any time to relax and rest you are going to get burned out. PERIOD.

Third, use relaxation techniques.  A great one is deep breathing that can be done anywhere in as little as a few seconds, but it can help us release some stress and relax.  Deep breathing should be done from the diaphragm, not the shoulders and chest, as a lot of people breathe these days.  One way to help with this is placing a hand on the belly to feel the abdomen expand when you breathe in using the diaphragm.  So take a deep breath in through the nose, hold it for a count of three, and then breathe out through the mouth.  Thinking about the stress leaving your body as you breathe out can make it even better.

Fourth, exercise, exercise, exercise!  Exercise is great for stress.  It helps cut down the stress hormone cortisol and releases the “feel good” hormones – endorphins.  Also exercise is a way to help release the tension that gets built up in muscles when we are stressed and can also be a way to take our minds off of stressful things.  What is even better is that there is evidence suggesting regular moderate exercise can actually help us deal with stressful situations better.

And finally, chiropractic care can help the body to deal with stress.  Let me explain.  Everything that we experience is processed through the nervous system, including stress.  If the nervous system is functioning at its best, it is able to process much more without being overwhelmed.  Now when the bones of the spine are misaligned or not moving properly, it can stress and irritate the nerves that pass between the bones of the spine causing interference with the information passed through the nerves.  As a chiropractor, I look for these areas of interference and use an adjustment – a quick thrust – to help restore proper movement and alignment to reduce that interference so the body can function at its best.  This allows the body to be able to respond appropriately to the stresses of our day to day lives and not get so overwhelmed.

Stress is a part of our lives today but we don’t have to let it control our lives.  Remember these few handy tips and use them and you will be on your way, not just to a better holiday season, but to a better life with less stress!

While being overweight obviously can have a negative impact on one’s health, how important is it to monitor your weight?

If using the scale is the main measure of your health, then you may not have the best idea about your health.  There are several reasons that using weight alone to determine health or the success of a diet or exercise routine can be misleading.

Most importantly a scale doesn’t tell you where the weight is coming from.  How much weight is from fat, muscle, water, etc.?  Yes, there are scales that are supposed to analyze your percentage body fat but most measure impedance through your body and can be affected greatly by many factors such as how hydrated you are.  A scale with that feature may give you some more information, but it should not be relied on heavily for its accuracy.

Many diets do not help you to lose fat.  Actually many of the very restrictive diets that don’t include an exercise program often end up in the yo-yo effect of going on and then off and on again and cause loss of muscle and lean tissue as well as some fat.  In fact, this type of dieting leads to more fat in the long run because when you go off the diet the body thinks it was starving and will store more fat when you are eating more.  Also when you go off the diet, without exercise the body will not build the muscle and lean tissue that was lost.  If weight is the main goal of a diet and exercise plan, you may be greatly disappointed when the scale doesn’t change because muscle weighs more than fat.  So with proper eating and exercise you may be losing fat and building muscle at the same time.  This would most likely result very little weight loss, which according to the scale would be “bad,” but building muscle and losing fat  is healthy and should be encouraged.

There are many ways to lose weight, but they all are not healthy.  In some sports with weight classes such as wrestling, athletes will do many things to ‘make weight.’  Often it involves trying to lose large amounts of water, by sweating or spitting it out.  Does it decrease weight according to the scale? Yes.  Is it healthy? Not really and does not lead to long term weight changes.  Why is this important?  Because how much water you have can have a big effect on weight and it can change rather rapidly.  So if you lose two pounds one day and then gain three the next it probably has more to do with hydration status than losing and gaining fat.

So is the scale bad?  No, not at all but the information that it gives has to be interpreted correctly in relation to health.  And if health is what you are most concerned about, eating a balanced, nutritious diet and getting regular exercise will go much further than trying to reach a specific number.  In fact for those that are obese losing as little as five to ten pounds with proper eating and exercise can have great health benefits even if it is not an “ideal weight.”