Living in the modern world
If, as you rush around preparing breakfast, gulping down coffee and
getting ready to drive to work, you suddenly develop stomach pains and
backache, then there may be an excess of stress in your life causing
negative effects on your body. As a matter of fact, health care
practitioners believe that many general symptoms are stress related.
Stresses, whether physical, mental or emotional, can overlap and lead to
physiological changes.
We definitely cannot avoid stress in our high tech, fast paced society.
Everyday routines like commuting, work, lack of sleep, crowds, traffic,
extremes of temperature, finances, raising a family, physical illness,
smoking and excessive alcohol intake are all common factors that
contribute to stresses on the body.
Even anxiety, resulting from fear or distress, is responsible for a great
deal of stress, especially amongst women, and usually manifests itself as
panic attacks. A herb with the justified reputation as an anxiety-reducing
agent is standardized Kava Kava.
On an emotional level, a person who is overwhelmed with stresses for many
months may no longer be able to adjust to the daily pressures of life,
causing mild to moderate depression. In addition to stress, depression may
be triggered by a traumatic life event or chemical imbalances in the
brain.
Another common reason for depression occurring over the winter months is
known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or the "holiday blues" of the
Christmas season. An excellent natural anti-depressant is the standardized
herb St. John's Wort.
Common symptoms of stress include immune deficiency, high blood pressure,
neck and backache, gastro-intestinal disorders, fatigue, headaches,
irritability, anxiety, depression and insomnia. Many disorders related to
stress may not even be directly related. An increased metabolic rate
during prolonged periods of stress may cause nutrient deficiencies.
Vitamins, such as B-Complex and C, are utilized by the adrenal gland and
recurrent or severe stress will cause their depletion. We need to maintain
a nutritious, well-balanced diet that emphasizes the proper amount of
vitamins, present in Multi Vitamin "50" or Mega Stress B with C, to
replace the nutrients lost to stress. Herbal medicines such as Echinacea,
Goldenseal, and Garlic are also excellent during stressful periods since
they boost our natural immunity to disease, provide energy and speed up
recovery times.
The best treatment for stressful living is, of course, to reduce the
stress in your life. Since, however, it is rarely possible to solve all of
life's problems, it is a very good idea to manage stress by preventing and
treating the symptoms with natural vitamin and herbal supplements.
By Dr. Elvis A. Ali, ND
Dealing with Stress
