Exercise: Repair the Effects of Stress

Exercise can be a 4 letter word for some people. Sometimes I just can't get moving.

A sure way to unplug that brain-cork of mine... is to TURN ON THE MUSIC!  I love to dance, rock, belly dancing, swing, you name it.  A tune with a good beat gets me out of a chair in seconds.

In the Middle East children are encouraged to get up and belly dance to entertain the family.  Hand clapping accompanied my Uncle Yusef playing his Oud and singing, or the radio.

Belly dancing is fun, it touches every muscle group, and is a real workout. It is sensual, so it will elevate your mood too.  (You can look up a few how-to's on YouTube to kick things off.)

If you get into it, you might even put together a belly dance outfit!  I purchased a purple coin embellished scarf to tie around my waist.

In an earlier post I discussed the importance of getting outdoors and allowing Nature to help take care of your stress.  Walking is another way to get your exercise.  A moderately paced walk for 30 minutes a day will do the trick. You can go alone, or invite a neighbor or friend.

I'm not big on joining classes, I seem to drop out after a few sessions. I would rather have a walking buddy to chat with.  But whatever motivates you to get that body shakin' is great.

Below are excerpts from an article on this topic.

Exercise: Improve Your Mood and Repair the Effects of Stress - By Karyn Hall, PhD

Emotionally sensitive people are often advised to exercise to calm their anxiety or to help overcome depression. Grandmothers, psychiatrists, friends and even strangers often suggest, “Exercise. You’ll feel better.”

In our recent survey, 71.4% of the emotionally sensitive have found exercise helpful in managing their mood. Turns out the research, as reported by John Ratey, MD in his book Spark, shows exercise has a strong effect on mood as well as other important functions of the brain.

Exercise is effective in treating anxiety and panic.  Getting active provides a distraction, reduces muscle tension, builds brain resources (increases and balances serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, all important neurotransmitters involved in mood), improves resilience by showing you that you can be effective in controlling anxiety, and breaks the feeling of being trapped and immobilized.

The effects can be equal or even better than medication. The problem is that when people are upset or depressed, they don’t want to exercise.

Establishing a regular exercise program, one that you could maintain when your mood was unpleasant, may be part of the answer. Continuing a routine when you are emotionally dysregulated is easier than starting a new activity.  Regular exercise would also help prevent relapse.

Exercise improves the ability to learn. When you are working on learning new coping skills, new ways of responding, the ability to take in information is obviously important. Dr. Ratey describes an American high school whose students participated in a physical fitness program. They finished first in the world on science and sixth on an international test to compare science and math abilities.  As a whole, US students ranked 18th in science and 19th in math.

Studies have shown that better fitness means improved attention and improved ability to adjust their cognitive performance following a mistake.

How does that happen? Exercise reportedly spurs the development of new nerve cells from stem cells in the hippocampus. Perhaps most importantly, exercise is believed to increase BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), the master molecule of the learning process. Low levels of BDNF are associated with depression.

Exercise increases cognitive flexibility. Ratey defines cognitive flexibility as being able to shift your thinking and to be creative. Cognitive flexibility would be to apply new strategies to solve problems and use information in creative ways rather than rote memorization of facts. Memorizing coping skills may will not be as helpful as being able to able the information in different situations.

Exercise helps relieve and repair the effects of stress on the body. When stressed, the body releases cortisol. Ratey notes that high levels of cortisol make it difficult for the prefrontal cortex to direct the hippocampus to compare memories, like to determine that a stick is not a snake. Thus when cortisol is high it’s difficult to decide what is a threat and what isn’t a threat, so just about everything seems scary. You can’t think clearly.

In addition, high levels of cortisol kill neurons in the hippocampus (where memories are stored), causing a communication breakdown. This result could partially explain why people get locked into negative thoughts–the hippocampus keeps recycling a negative memory.

Exercise helps prevent the damaging effects of stress and can reverse damage that has been done.  All with very few side effects.

Reference

Ratey, J.( 2008).  Spark. New York:  Little, Brown and Company.

Health and Wellness, and Preventing Disease

Maintaining health and wellness and preventing disease are major priorities for integrative medicine. Currently, the majority of our health care dollars are spent after a person is in crisis, when it costs the most to intervene and when the possibilities for full recovery are the slimmest. A recent study found that of the 7 million deaths from cancer worldwide in 2001, an estimated 35% were attributable to nine modifiable risks factors, all of which are controllable and most of which are under an individual’s own sovereignty.

Based on this and other scientific evidence, integrative medicine recommends lifestyle modifications—changes in diet and nutrition, physical activity and exercise, adopting stress management methods, and strengthening one’s social networks—to lower an individual’s risk of specific diseases and improve overall health.

The Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, under the leadership of Dean Ornish, MD, offers a comprehensive approach to lifestyle modification for people who are at high risk for or diagnosed with conditions such as coronary artery disease and prostate cancer. The program’s core components are a low-fat, whole foods diet; moderate aerobic exercise; stress management; and group support. This program, which has been approved by Medicare, is used in hospitals and clinics around the country.

Because the food we eat plays such an important role in maintaining health, nutrition has been a key focus for research—not only what to eat but also how to grow and buy the right food and how to prepare it in a healthful way.

“As a rule of thumb, try to include foods in your diet that have less than three grams of fat per serving. Stock foods in your refrigerator that you want to have on your diet. If it’s not right in front of you, you’re less likely to eat it. Cleaning out your refrigerator can be a nice metaphor for cleaning out your body and organizing your life in the way that you want it to be,” advises Dean Ornish, MD.

“Even simple choices can make a powerful difference. For example, two tablespoons of most salad dressings have as much fat as two scoops of premium ice cream. When in a restaurant, ask for the dressing on the side; just dip the tips of your fork in it with each bite, and you’ll get a fraction of the fat that you would otherwise.”

Forward-thinking hospitals have now begun to promote healthy food. Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest nonprofit health plan, opened its first farmer’s market on the grounds of the Oakland Medical Center in Oakland, California in May 2003. Today, a total of 26 Kaiser-Permanente facilities have established on-campus farmer’s markets, which enable the facilities to offer better food choices to both employees and patients and promote awareness about good nutrition.

These and other integrative approaches to maintaining a healthy lifestyle may prevent serious illness and challenging medical treatments. In his book, 8 Weeks to Optimal Health, Andrew Weil, MD wrote, “Many of the common complaints that people have these days respond much better to simple adjustments in lifestyle than to taking medicine.”

Read more here.

Psychological Stress and Cancer: Questions and Answers

The complex relationship between physical and psychological health is not well understood. Scientists know that psychological stress can affect the immune system, the body’s defense against infection and disease (including cancer); however, it is not yet known whether stress increases a person’s susceptibility to disease.

1. What is psychological stress?

Psychological stress refers to the emotional and physiological reactions experienced when an individual confronts a situation in which the demands go beyond their coping resources. Examples of stressful situations are marital problems, death of a loved one, abuse, health problems, and financial crises.

1. How does stress affect the body?

   The body responds to stress by releasing stress hormones, such as epinephrine (also called adrenaline) and cortisol (also called hydrocortisone). The body produces these stress hormones to help a person react to a situation with more speed and strength. Stress hormones increase blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugar levels. Small amounts of stress are believed to be beneficial, but chronic (persisting or progressing over a long period of time) high levels of stress are thought to be harmful.

   Stress that is chronic can increase the risk of obesity, heart disease, depression, and various other illnesses. Stress also can lead to unhealthy behaviors, such as overeating, smoking, or abusing drugs or alcohol, that may affect cancer risk.

2. Can stress increase a person’s risk of developing cancer?

Studies done over the past 30 years that examined the relationship between psychological factors, including stress, and cancer risk have produced conflicting results. Although the results of some studies have indicated a link between various psychological factors and an increased risk of developing cancer, a direct cause-and-effect relationship has not been proven.Some studies have indicated an indirect relationship between stress and certain types of virus-related tumors. Evidence from both animal and human studies suggests that chronic stress weakens a person’s immune system, which in turn may affect the incidence of virus-associated cancers, such as Kaposi sarcoma and some lymphomas.

More recent research with animal models (animals with a disease that is similar to or the same as a disease in humans) suggests that the body’s neuroendocrine response (release of hormones into the blood in response to stimulation of the nervous system) can directly alter important processes in cells that help protect against the formation of cancer, such as DNA repair and the regulation of cell growth.

For the full article click here.

Reduce Your Stress!

My personal feeling from observing friends and family that developed cancer, as well as myself, is that stress may be a trigger. One of the main pieces of advice given to cancer patients by most doctors is: reduce the stress in your life. I opened a Cafe 3 years ago, after getting laid off from a job of 15 years, and the stress of renovating the space, getting city permits and being there all the time did me in.  Within a few months I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

We may not be able to control stress, but we can manage it. Here are some stress-management tips that may help you feel:

• Accept that there are things in our lives we cannot control.
• Religiously guard your positive attitude; don't give in to the brain's defaulting to the negative. Repeat positive affirmations cheerfully and believe them!  ''I will make it through this'', "Nothing is worth feeling stressed about".
• Halt stress in its tracks; if you feel overwhelmed, take a walk or a leisurely drive , or watch a funny movie or video.
• Give yourself time to get things done. Manage the timing of events so you don't have to feel rushed.
• Do things that bring you pleasure, reading, writing, walking or gardening are all good.
• Spend 15-20 minutes each day sitting quietly. Learn and practice relaxation techniques like meditation, yoga or deep breathing.
• Exercise for 30 minutes every day. You can bike, walk, hike, or work out. Your body handles stress better when it is fit.
• Avoid alcohol and recreational drugs. And don't smoke.
• Eat healthy, well-balanced meals.
• Get enough rest and sleep. Your body repairs itself at night.
• Reach out to supportive friends, and family. Invite them for a cup of tea.

Resource: Click here for article on Relaxation Techniques.

~ You will be fine! ♥