Can Overwork Ruin Your Health?

There is no question that Americans work longer hours, and have less vacation time, than their European counterparts. This makes us industrious and ambitious, right?

Maybe, but there is a downside, also. Just as with athletic and sports performance, the body needs to be able to recover from anything it does. If working long hours means getting too little sleep, and the stress becomes chronic, overwork may contribute to long-term health problems.

These days you can take work with you everywhere you go, and it takes some discipline to shut down. The blue lights from our electronic devices can interrupt sleep patterns, even when we shut them off for the night. The electro-magnetic influences created by all our electronics may be more taxing than we realize. Some studies indicate that the cell phones and computers are having a disturbing effect on cellular function. The electromagnetic field they emit passes through almost anything, including walls, and interferes with the normal waveform patterns of the body. We don’t know all the effects of this, and may not for many years. No one is regulating these energy fields. The best thing you can do is protect yourself, or balance any damage. Interference at a cellular level has serious potential. http://www.consumerhealth.org/articles/display.cfm?ID=19990303201129

If work is keeping you up at night, due to stress or putting in long hours, your health is at risk. No matter what many people claim, only a very small percentage can sustain themselves on less than seven hours of sleep. Studies show that sleep deprivation shows up in poor performance on tasks, and slower reaction time when driving. 

Long working hours, with insufficient recovery time may increase your risk of heart disease and Type II Diabetes. According to a Finnish study of people from 14 countries, people who worked longer than a 48-hour week were more likely to abuse alcohol.

People also tend to over-eat, particularly high calorie carbs, when tired and stressed. The body is asking for some relief, and the fastest and handiest is the junk food so readily available.

When both parents are in stressful jobs, family life may suffer, as may the quality of life for our children. Families must use daycare, there is no one preparing nutritious meals, and less time is spent together, possibly disrupting the moral and character development of our children, putting  more stress on families.

It has been said that 80% of the U.S. population has stressed adrenals, and the other 20% are in denial. One of the most important things you can do to help your body weather stress is to support your adrenal glands. They have everything to do with immune health, heart health, sleep, blood sugar balance, weight, muscle strength, and libido.

We now have an adrenal scorecard available. Call or email and we will send it to you and you can evaluate your own adrenal health, or that of a loved one. Then we can help you find the adrenal support that will safeguard your health. Ask for the Stress Assessment when you call. This is a good way to help someone you care about to see how stress may be negatively affecting their life.

Keep track of how you spend your time. Carve out more for walks, family, massages and funny movies. Don’t watch the nightly news, and cut back on caffeine. There are a dozen small things you can do to help your body recover from the demands you place on it. And we are here to help.

Fighting That Afternoon Slump?

You know, right around three or four p.m. when you can barely keep your eyes open. You just run out of juice. And you want coffee, sweets or a shot of Red Bull just to keep going.

Since coffee at that hour may interfere with nighttime rest, sweets are not a good solution, and you know that Red Bull is not healthy, what can you do to get through your day? And how can you avoid eating the wrong snacks, when you are tired and your willpower is low?

First of all, how much sleep are you getting? If you are running on empty in the sleep department, your body will give out when it needs more rest.  So, listen to the signals.  If you routinely burn the midnight oil and stay up until one-two a.m. you are doing yourself a serious disservice, unless you can sleep ‘til noon. For the vast majority of us the body needs at least seven hours of sleep per night, and some need more. The consequences of insufficient sleep go beyond the afternoon yawns. Weight gain, lowered metabolic rate and risk of more serious disease states are all possible. http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/consequences

This varies from person to person, but sleep deprivation is not a good way to catch up on your work. You will most often find that you don’t perform as well, drive as smartly, or act pleasantly, when you are sleep deprived. So, hit the sack earlier on a gradient. Get your adrenals checked if you routinely stay up and get a second wind. If you cannot go to sleep earlier, seek help. Call the office and make an appointment so that we can get your body resting well.

Secondly, consider what you eat at lunchtime. A carb-ful lunch may spike and then crash your blood sugar. Instead of a sandwich, pasta or pizza, choose salad and protein. Food intolerances may be revealed by how you feel after you eat. If you feel speeded up, drowsy, or lethargic, or have indigestion, you may have an intolerance to a food. If you are eating the same foods every day, it may be a food you eat commonly. I will be writing more about this in upcoming blogs. I have seen some dramatic improvements in health and well-being when a food intolerance is identified and the offending food omitted.

Third, even if you are eating well, if you are even a bit over your ideal weight chances are your metabolism and blood sugar are out of synch. A blood sugar balance program can put you on the right path and help you find out how energetic you can feel when you are eating correctly for your metabolism. You always hear people talking about eating for health, such as veggies and whole foods. These days there is more to it than that. You have to eat so that you don’t release too much insulin, causing the cells of the body to become resistant to the constant high levels of insulin. Insulin is the door opener to the cells to allow fuel (sugar in the blood) to enter. How do you know if your blood sugar is out of balance? Afternoon slump is one sign. And if your waist is bigger than your hips, that is another sign. Get help. Estimates that up to 30% of the population has Diabetes.https://www.diabeteseducator.org/news/aade-blog/aade-blog-details/karen-kemmis-pt-dpt-ms-cde-faade/2017/07/26/the-2017-national-diabetes-statistics-report-is-here

And many more are pre-Diabetic. Many people can be helped so that their Diabetes is arrested and their pancreas repairs. Pre-Diabetics don’t have to progress to a disease state. Diabetes Type II is one of the most easily controlled diseases, but it does take a firm plan and changes in your eating.

Fourth is being significantly overweight. An overweight body is a body that is burdened by the excess pounds that require miles of extra blood vessels and a strain on the muscles and tendons to manage the extra pounds. A pick-up truck is not built to carry the load that an 18-wheeler can handle. And our bodies are supposed to be like small trucks, not the big rigs. It is the crapo-hydrates that pile on the pounds. No one gains weight on greens, broccoli and fish. And when your body needs the extra nutrients to make the miles of new blood vessels and support the tendons and joints you can get hungry. And the more crapo-hydrates eaten, instead of healthy foods, the more hungry a person can become. It is a Merry-go-round ride of hunger, junk food and fatigue. The only answer is to get off. But don’t jump. Stop the Merry-go-round first, by doing a Detox/cleanse. Not only do people lose weight but they report feeling better than they have in years during and after the cleanse. And there is plenty of food allowed, so no hunger.

Find out what your particular needs are and get a game plan to help your body feel energetic all day long. If you are fighting that afternoon slump, we can help. Ask yourself if you really think it will get better if you don’t change something you are doing. Call the office to book. And meanwhile try some of our herbal supplements to give you a natural boost that still allows you to sleep at night.

Keeping Men Strong- June Special

I can’t tell you how many times I hear a female patient tell me that she is worried about her man’s health, but she can’t get him to take care of himself.

Of course, there are exceptions.  Some men are working out and eating a healthy diet. But many are over-weight, stressed from work, and counting on the thing that has always worked before- their strength and ability to just push through.

When that doesn’t work, the first urge may be to push through harder. If that fails there may be some mood issues, like irritability or depression. Hormones rule the body, and the adrenals are where testosterone, adrenaline and cortisol are made.

Just pushing through is a bit like driving your car with a punctured tire. You don't know how long before it shreds or blows, and it won't fix itself.

Testosterone determines the sexual characteristics and gives muscle mass and strength. Adrenaline kicks in with excitement or fear. Cortisol is the hormone that gets us up and out the door in the morning, when levels should be highest. High cortisol at night keeps the body awake. When cortisol is released during a period of stress (freeway driving, for example) but is not used up by physical activity (sitting in your car, then sitting at a desk all day) then cortisol may cause more fat deposits around the belly.

All of these hormones can be disrupted by: 1) andropause/aging 2) weight gain because fat cells produce more estrogen 3) high stress, which depletes cortisol 4) environmental toxins such as plastics and soy products, which are estrogenic 5) high carb and sugar diet, which causes yo-yo blood sugar. When there is too much sugar in the blood, the body signals the release of insulin from the pancreas. The job of insulin is to carry the sugar into the cells or send it to the liver. Continuous release of insulin makes the cells begin to resist the influence of insulin. This is the beginning of Type II Diabetes. The low fat, high carb and sugar diet of the past few decades have given us an epidemic of Diabetes.

The new epidemic caused by low fat, high carb and sugar diet is Alzheimer’s, which is now being called Diabetes Type III. High carbs and sugar also produce inflammation, which is turning out to be the highest risk factor for heart attacks.

The good news is that men have a great advantage over women in addressing these issues. Due to their greater muscle mass, which gives men a faster metabolism, just cutting down on the carbs, snacks and sugar often gives a dramatic result in a short amount of time.

The trick then becomes adopting a healthy long-term lift style so that bad habits don’t creep back in. Eating more healthy fats can reduce the urge to snack in the evening. A protein shake with fruit and coconut oil after dinner works for many guys. With long summer days, going for a walk in the evening can get you out of the house and away from the refrigerator and bags of chips.

Prostate problems, belly fat, heart disease, low libido, high blood pressure, Diabetes, GERD and other “diseases of modern civilization” are not normal or inevitable. They are all preventable or reversible with the right natural approach. This is a case when wisdom becomes power and knowing how to manage a body takes wisdom, when powering through no longer works.

To celebrate Father’s Day, we are offering hormone testing, plus body and nutritional analysis, for men. Find out your testosterone, estrogen and cortisol levels. If your hormones are out of balance, natural medicine and herbal medicine can restore them to normal levels, boost metabolism, and give guys back their stronger selves.  

The June Special is Male Saliva Hormone testing plus consultation for $200, 30% off the regular price. Saliva testing tells us what hormones are left, after they have interacted at a cellular level. Blood tests tell us about the presence of hormones in the blood. But hormones must lock onto the cells, in order to carry their message.

Also in June, a new male patient consultation, without Saliva Testing, is $100, $35 off the regular price. If you have been thinking about getting on top of your health, June is a great time to do that!

Adrenals can be repaired, testosterone can be boosted, excess estrogen can be cleared out, and blood sugar can be stabilized, all without drugs. GERD is easily remedied and stress levels can be dramatically improved with herbs like Kava. Adrenals respond beautifully to nutritional medicine, weight drops off with dietary changes and detoxification and blood sugar can stabilize. We can use herbal preparations like Tribulus, which boosts testosterone in men, or we can use topical creams for Testosterone or DHEA. DHEA is another adrenal hormone that peaks at 18 and declines with age.

Men of any age can be strong, and healthy, with the right game plan.

Lower Blood Pressure Naturally

The standard advice for elevated blood pressure has been to reduce salt intake. However, salt is a vital mineral and the human body cannot function without salt.

Even if you reduce salt to a minimum, the salt content of the blood remains the same as someone who over-salts their food. The body maintains a consistent level of salt in the blood.

New research indicates that the benefits of cutting out salt are debatable, and may even increase your risk of heart disease. ?ttp://www.medicaldaily.com/sugar-hurts-heart-health-more-salt-mostly-heart-disease-and-blood-pressure-313780

Of course, no one is suggesting that you should eat processed or fast foods, which do contain levels of sodium that are off the charts. But salting your whole, natural foods to taste, with sea salt or Himalayan salt,  both of which contain other trace minerals, appears to be beneficial. And if your adrenals are weak, salt is even more vital. http://www.drlam.com/articles/adrenal_fatigue_and_blood_pressure.asp

How can you safely lower your blood pressure? By reducing sugar. Eating 25% of your calories from sugar can triple your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. Sugar causes inflammation which is more damaging to your arteries than salt.

Fruit sugar is not the culprit, although I suggest limiting your fruit intake to 1-2 servings per day to see if your body responds better. Fruit juice should be completely avoided. High fructose corn syrup and agave should never be used. Agave is just anther form of high fructose corn syrup, made from cactus.

Honey in moderation should not pose too much risk, and real maple syrup may be enjoyed. If you also have Diabetes, even these sweeteners should be used only in the smallest amounts.

Bread and other simple carbs like rice, oats, and corn also break down into sugar in the blood, so regard these as foods to avoid.

If you are on blood pressure medication, and you increase your healthy fats, and limit sugar and grains, you will have to monitor yourself carefully because your need for medication may diminish or cease altogether.  Work with your prescribing physician to adjust your medication accordingly.

One diet plan that you can try is the Ketogenic plan. It is Paleo to the extreme and will challenge all we have been taught about healthy eating. Ketogenic eating causes your body and brain to operate off ketones instead of glucose and it is how many people like Inuits (Eskimos) have eaten traditionally. The Inuits had no history of heart disease, cancer, obesity or Diabetes. So they were on to something! To calculate your ratio of carbs to fat to protein and calories you should consume, you can use the Ketogenic calculator. http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/  Check it out-you may be surprised what it says.

One factor in blood pressure appears to be the flexibility of our veins and arteries. Naturally aging and poor diet can make arteries stiff and brittle. Blueberries consumed daily appear to reduce inflammation, measured in blood work as C-reactive protein, and to reduce blood pressure over an eight-week period. Frozen blueberries may be used, so you may want to include blueberries as your daily serving or fruit.  http://www.medicaldaily.com/blueberries-may-help-control-blood-pressure-321276

My theory on aging is that it is all about keeping the body supple and hydrated, with water, good oils and minerals. How you eat has everything to do with how your feel and how well your body functions. We don’t treat our cars as badly as we do our bodies. A new car only becomes a vintage collectible when someone gives it the proper maintenance all its life!