EATING FOR STRESS

LOOKING AT STRESS REALISTICALLY
I've spent enough time in practice now to know I would be fooling myself to think that I could ask people to change their lifestyles. Generally most desired changes are brief or of the moment. That's why you see smokers still smoke even after their finger has been amputated. It's hard to beat addictions unless something becomes a lifestyle or a replacement habit for something else. It's actually easier to ask someone to add something to their lifestyle versus change it, which is what I am trying to achieve with today's post.

ANATOMY OF STRESS
There is one extremely easy way to survive stress so it doesn't take a toll on your face and body, but let's first visit WHY stress can effect how we age and our health. In a nutshell stress begins to shut the body's systems down. If you ever watched Star Trek, I liken it to when Captain Kirk would shut down the ship's main system to raise the force fields of the shuttle Enterprise just before it was about to be attacked.

Under stress our body begins to work at a minimum to conserve in preparation for fight or flight. The digestive system is one of the most crucial systems to get shut down because it means that the body begins to stop digesting.

One of two things generally happens to the digestive system. The first is the digestive track shuts down and stores anything you eat in the fat cells for a later date. If you eat carbs during this time it's pretty much a guarantee you'll be packing on the weight. The other thing the body will do is just pass everything through without digesting it. Wish I had the problem of being a stressed skinny versus a stressed fat, but my hormones chose stressed fat!

The point is that nutrients are not getting absorbed by the body because digestion is too much work for the body under stress. The digestive system works at a minimum so even if you eat perfectly there's still a chance your body is still not going to absorb the nutrients that you are eating and thus you cells begin to miss out on the vital nutrients it needs in order to function. Sleep becomes an issue. Energy becomes and issue. Over time health begins to really deteriorate way before its time. Welcome to advanced aging!

THE ANSWER?
Managing stress is easier said than done. Some try to manage stress with meditation or exercise. Some comfort it with a high carb diet. People cope with stress in many different ways. Simply said other than snorting a bunch of essential oils to help calm stress, juicing is the answer. Having fresh cold-pressed juices, especially with kale, beets, ginger, etc can help the body to not only survive, but thrive through stress. Juicing eliminates the need for the body to break down food particles into smaller particles making it easier for the body to absorb what it needs. Juicing first thing in the morning can also increase your body's absorption of nutrients because it wakes up the body's digestive track with the goodies it needs. Add some wheatgrass to your juice and you'll be higher than what a cup of coffee could ever do to you!