Stress: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

This time of year can be very stressful: a long season of gray wet weather, lots of colds and flus still making the rounds, and yes, the return of tax time. While natural medicine can't help much with Revenue Canada, it does offer many modalities to help you deal with stress, and ultimately take charge of your own health and wellness.

What role does stress play?

Stress can be good or bad. You can use it to fire you up, to give you an edge, or it can use you, and leave you feeling drained and fatigued.

For our ancestors, stress meant it was either time to run or time to fight. Whatever the outcome, it was over relatively quickly. During times of such immediate need, our bodies release stress hormones, empowering us temporarily with superhuman strength and endurance that our ancestors would have used to run or fight.

The problem is, modern stress is seldom over quickly Most of us live with ongoing pressure in a world that just keeps going faster and faster. Our bodies don't cope well with long-term stress. The same stress hormones which in the short-term prepare you for fight or flight will, in the long-term weaken and fatigue you. Thus you become less and less able to keep up with things which leads to more stress. It becomes a vicious cycle. Typical effects of long term stress include fatigue, catching more colds and flus, slower recovery, sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, forgetfulness, allergies, hormonal imbalance(s), digestive disorders, blood sugar problems, and increased risk of diseases such as heart disease and arthritis.

Can you protect yourself from stress?

There are many ways to protect yourself from stress. Must of us know that eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep are all very important. But how can you find the time to do all of that, if you already feel like you can't keep up? Taking stock of yourself, where you are, and where you are going, is the first step. What's really important and necessary in your life? What's not? What can you do to maximize the former, and minimize the latter? Evaluating yourself and what it is you really want from life is the beginning. From there, you can start to develop a plan to achieve your goals.

Optimizing your health and attitudes allows you to pursue your goals. And when you reach those goals, you want to be well enough to enjoy the rewards. This means adopting a whole new perspective, that of wellness and health. Look at it as an investment in yourself.

How to protect yourself from stress

Learn which foods are both enjoyable and nutritious. Choose those which are high in the vitamins and minerals you need to maintain energy and health. Specific vitamins such as C, and the B-complex vitamins are needed at higher levels during stress. Herbs such as Siberian Ginseng have endurance promoting activity. Other herbs can be used to improve concentration and performance as well.

Adopt a suitable exercise program; one that you like. It does not need to be overly strenuous: as little as walking 30 to 40 minutes four times per week is great. Find a way of exercising that fits with your lifestyle and who you are, so that you will be able to maintain it in the long term.

Increasingly, work places offer wellness programs. But for those in business for themselves, or in a work place with no wellness program, where can you get reliable guidance on dealing with stress in your life and optimizing your health? Dr. Isis van Loon offers comprehensive, individualized programs to help you to achieve optimum health and wellness.

Ten tips for dealing with stress

1. Decide what is really important in your life, and what is not.
2. Eat at least five servings of vegetables per day.
3. Remember to drink water every day; ideally, 6 to 8 glasses.
4. Take a high quality stress vitamin supplement.
5. Find time every day, even if it is only 5 or 10 minutes, to take a mini-holiday - get outside, nap or meditate, pretend you are on a sunny beach, or whatever makes you feel good.
6. Exercise - remember, 30 to 40 minutes of exercise will decrease your stress hormones, and help you feel more relaxed.
7. Plan a special treat, like a massage, or a hot tub or a sauna, and do it.
8. Talk to others in your position, they may have some good ideas which are particularly relevant to you, and most of us feel better when we realize we are not the only ones who are going through a particular process.
9. Eat regularly, and eat well.
10. Remember, if you need assistance, the Royal City Natural Health Clinic is pleased to offer our services.

This article is of a general nature and is not intended as treatment advice. Please contact your health care provider before undertaking any course of treatment.

Copyright 2000 Dr. Isis van Loon.