According to ancient
knowledge everything is connected. 21st century life is very fast paced. Speed
kills, they say, even if you don't own or drive a vehicle.
Let's investigate
speed from the way a normal person conducts his/her life. Here are some wise
words from Marc David (Institute for the
Psychology of eating), "When moving through life too fast we
inevitably eat fast, which destroys our metabolism and creates digestive upsets.
It results in meals eaten under a physiologic stress-response, which diminishes
our calorie-burning power. It allows us little pleasure from food, decreasing
cellular energy production and encouraging us to eat more. It shortens our
breathing, which results in less oxygen intake and more fat accumulation. And,
it prompts us to abandon our deepest self and our true purpose for being here,
leaving us with toxic thoughts and troublesome emotions that age the body and
harden the heart".
Most people feel the
pressure and anxiety to perform leading to issues such as, stress, fatigue, low
energy levels, depression, bad eating habits, and substance abuse and to top it
off lack of movement.
The human body does
not differentiate between physiological stress and psychological stress; it is
all stress. There is a need to keep the Body in Balance amidst all the rushing
between meetings/ errands, temptation to skip meals, or try some new substance
to get extra energy to stay awake which can lead to adrenal fatigue and
depression . Just because you lead a fast paced life, doesn't mean you have to
eat junk. Everything is really connected, and eWellness Solutions says people
must consider the biochemical burden of stress.
What
is Stress? Functional medicine gives a broad meaning of stress and points to a
big path to follow in order to get a better understanding. Stress is the salt
of life; that’s according to Hans Selye. Selye states that, “stress is the
non-specific response of the body to any demand, and a stressor is any agent that
produces stress at any time”. ‘The holy’ book of good medicine (The Textbook of Functional Medicine) IFM
2010 stretches one’s mind by saying “Stressors may be loosely classified as
direct physical systemic threats: e.g. starvation, heat, cold, pain, hemorrhage
or "processive": e.g. psychosocial threats such as social isolation,
helplessness).
While
direct systemic threats are not processed primarily by the cortical and limbic
areas of the brain, psychosocial stressors involve higher brain functions as
part of the primary processing of the sensory input. This is a bit wordy but it
is the best definition of stress. It calls for clinicians to expand the working
concept of stress to include the psychosocial factors like separation, job
loss, cultural context, as well as stress response to episodes of low blood
sugar, chronic pain, or food restriction.
Imagine
the feeling of going to varsity or starting a new job in an unfamiliar
environment. It becomes clear that the quality of social relatedness predicts
general health and mortality, and one’s emotional adjustment to stress.
In
the 21st century society where employment and residence change is the norm, the
reliability of social support which is supposed to have social networks, social
relationships, and social integration as a buffer against stress has
diminished. In Johannesburg, South Africa additional stressors include, crime,
traffic, lengthening commute times in the city Centre, and a starvation diet of
fear. The good physicians ask patients "What are the main stresses in
one's life, how long ago it occurred, how much, when, what is the quality of
relationships?” Other things may include finances, medical illness, education
stress, socioeconomic status, social support networks etc. The young and old
experience stress daily and most stress drives people into depression and
finally suicide.
What
about Depression? There are many
conditions and illnesses that lead to depression such as Hypothyroidism,
Allergies, Hormonal Imbalances, Hypoglycemia, and Nutritional Deficiencies.
Depression is a symptom of Hypothyroidism according to mayoclinic.com. The hormone progesterone has been used in the
treatment of depression, fatigue, anxiety, strange thoughts, poor appetite and
night sweats. Nutrients such as magnesium helps excrete estrogen and promote
estrogen detoxification. Deficiency of these nutrients may cause PMS (post
menstrual syndrome). Estrogen blocks vitamin B6, accelerating metabolism of
tryptophan, making it less available for conversion into serotonin and thus
causing depression.
Women
who are on oral contraceptives have impaired vitamin B6 absorption. Amongst the
youth who are insulin resistant there is a danger of exposing the brain to
excess stress hormones. Vitamin B6 is very important for the conversion of
tryptophan into the feel good hormone serotonin. It has been found out that 75%
of depressed people had inadequate vitamin B6 intake- British Journal of
Psychiatry.
