Chapter 8 8.3 Adopt healthy life style

1. Chapter 8 8.3 Adopt healthy life style

2. Adopt healthy life style • You can increase your resistance to stress by strengthening your physical health. • Exercise regularly. Physical activity plays a key role in reducing and preventing the effects of stress. Make time for at least 30 minutes of exercise, three times per week. Nothing beats aerobic exercise for releasing pent-up stress and tension. • Eat a healthy diet. Well-nourished bodies are better prepared to cope with stress, so be mindful of what you eat. Start your day right with breakfast, and keep your energy up and your mind clear with balanced, nutritious meals throughout the day. (Academic Success Center, Oregon State University, 2011)

3. Adopt healthy life style • Reduce caffeine and sugar. The temporary "highs" caffeine and sugar provide often end in with a crash in mood and energy. By reducing the amount of coffee, soft drinks, chocolate, and sugar snacks in your diet, you’ll feel more relaxed and you’ll sleep better. • Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs. Self-medicating with alcohol or drugs may provide an easy escape from stress, but the relief is only temporary. Don’t avoid or mask the issue at hand; deal with problems head on and with a clear mind. • Get enough sleep. Adequate sleep fuels your mind, as well as your body. Feeling tired will increase your stress because it may cause you to think irrationally. (Academic Success Center, Oregon State University, 2011)

4. Maintaining a balanced, healthy lifestyle is important for… • Healthy lifestyle habits can also help you reverse your stress response, enabling you to avoid or even reverse the negative effects of chronic stress. • Healthy lifestyle habits often bring additional benefits, such as an endorphin rush, a release of frustration, or added longevity. • Many of the healthy lifestyle habits discussed here can also help you to become less reactive to stress in the long run, providing protection against stress you haven't even experienced yet! (Scott, 2016)

5. Healthy Lifestyle Choices • Healthy EatingOne of the most popular changes people like to make to live a healthy lifestyle is to eat differently. Because of the negative health consequences of obesity, the influence fitness has on our self-esteem, and the effects of nutrition on our stress levels and longevity, switching to a healthier diet brings some of the greatest benefits for wellness • Regular ExerciseGetting regular exercise is another wonderful way to keep your weight in check, manage overall stress levels, and stay connected with others. Exercise can also help keep many health conditions at bay, and is well worth the effort. (Scott, 2016)

6. Healthy Lifestyle Choices • Quality SleepPeople often underestimate the importance of getting enough sleep, and getting the right type. However, lack of adequate sleep has many negative consequences--they're subtle but significant. Getting enough sleep isn't one of the most popular changes that people resolve to make, but it should be. Because stress can rob you of sleep, and because many of the techniques that promote sleep can also reduce stress (Scott, 2016)

7. How Exercise help with stress? • Physical activity → improves body’s ability to use oxygen and blood flow → direct effect on brain → ↑brain’s production of endorphins (the “feel-good” neurotransmitters that are responsible for the coveted “runner’s high”) → person experience the sense of well-being and euphoria • The repetitive motions involved in exercise/rhythm of the movements, the person will experience many of the same benefits of meditation while working out and a sense of energy and optimism which help provide calmness and clarity (Madell, 2012)

8. How Exercise help with stress? • Physical activity → help take the mind off worries • Some people notice increased feelings of well-being as they stay committed to a consistent exercise routine. • Regular exercise promotes optimum health in other ways. Improvements to the overall health may help indirectly moderate the stress levels. • By improving physical wellness and heart health, people will have less to feel stressed about. (Madell, 2012)

9. How Exercise help with stress? • Regular exercise can have a profoundly positive impact on depression, anxiety, ADHD, and more. • It also relieves stress, improves memory, helps people sleep better, and boosts overall mood. • And we don’t have to be a fitness fanatic to reap the benefits. Research indicates that modest amounts of exercise can make a difference. No matter people age or fitness level, we can learn to use exercise as a powerful tool to feel better. (Madell, 2012)

10. Additional physical benefits of exercise • strengthen muscles and bones • strengthen immunity, which can decrease the risk of illness and infection • lower blood pressure, sometimes as much as some antihypertensive medications • boost levels of good cholesterol in the blood • improve blood circulation • improve ability to control weight • help sleep better at night • boost energy • improve self-image (Madell, 2012)

11. Mental and emotional benefits of exercise • Sharper memory and thinking. The same endorphins that make person feel better also help him/her concentrate and feel mentally sharp for tasks at hand. Exercise also stimulates the growth of new brain cells and helps prevent age-related decline. • Higher self-esteem. Regular activity is an investment in the mind, body, and soul. When it becomes habit, it can foster the sense of self-worth and make people feel strong and powerful. People’ll feel better about their appearance and, by meeting even small exercise goals, they’ll feel a sense of achievement. (Madell, 2012)

12. Mental and emotional benefits of exercise • Better sleep. Even short bursts of exercise in the morning or afternoon can help regulate the sleep patterns. If a person prefer to exercise at night, relaxing exercises such as yoga or gentle stretching can help promote sleep. • More energy. Increasing the heart rate several times a week will give people more get-up-and-go. Start off with just a few minutes of exercise a day, and increase the workout as a person feel more energized. (Madell, 2012)

13. Mental and emotional benefits of exercise • Stronger resilience. When faced with mental or emotional challenges in life, exercise can help a person cope in a healthy way, instead of resorting to alcohol, drugs, or other negative behaviors that ultimately only make your symptoms worse. Regular exercise can also help boost your immune system and reduce the impact of stress. (Madell, 2012)

14. How Much Exercise Do We Need? • The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity every week. • They suggest breaking it down by tackling 30-minute workout sessions at least five days a week. If we’re short on time, and can’t fit in a full 30-minute session, three 10-minute workouts have been shown to work almost as well as 30 minutes at once. • Start with 20 minutes of aerobic exercise, three days a week, and increase gradually from there (Madell, 2012)

15. What Types of Exercise Help With Stress? • consider moderate aerobic exercises such as: • biking • brisk walking or jogging • swimming or doing water aerobics • playing tennis or racquetball • dancing • rowing • muscle-strengthening exercises: weight lifting or activities with resistance bands • Gardening, climbing the stair (Faulkner & Taylor, 2012)

16. To make it work Activity should: • Be enjoyable. • Help to feel more competent, or capable. • Give a sense of control over life. • Help to escape for a while from the pressures of life. • Be shared.  The companionship involved can be just as important as the physical activity.  (Faulkner & Taylor, 2012)

17. Tips for staying motivated • Focus on activities you enjoy • Be comfortable • Reward yourself • Make exercise a social activity • In and around your home • At work and on the go • With the family • Just for fun • Make exercise a fun part of everyday life. (Robinson, Segal, & Smith, 2017)

18. Diet and Stress • "Many people think a calorie is a calorie, but this study suggests that two women who eat the same thing could have different metabolic responses based on their level of stress. • There appears to be a stress pathway that works through diet – for example, it could be similar to what we see in animals, where fat cells grow faster in response to junk food when the body is chronically stressed." Kirstin Aschbacher, PhD, the University of California at San Francisco Department of Psychiatry, 2015

19. 10 Best Foods to Eat for Stress • 1. Green Leafy Vegetables: • Dark leafy greens are rich in folate → body produce mood-regulating neurotransmitters, including serotonin and dopamine. • One 2012 study found people who consumed the most folate had a lower risk of depression than those who ate the least. • Department of Psychology researcher Dr. Tamlin Conner said: • "On days when people ate more fruits and vegetables, they reported feeling calmer, happier, and more energetic than they normally did.“ (Mercola, 2015)

20. 10 Best Foods to Eat for Stress • 2. Organic Turkey Breast • Turkey is a good source of tryptophan, an amino acid (protein building block) that the body converts into serotonin. Research shows that argumentative people who consumed tryptophan become markedly more pleasant. • "Tryptophan significantly decreased quarrelsome behaviors and increased agreeable behaviors and perceptions of agreeableness" • Pumpkin seeds, nuts, and free-range organic eggs are also rich sources of tryptophan. (Mercola, 2015)

21. 10 Best Foods to Eat for Stress • 3. Fermented Foods • Unhealthy gut flora can have a detrimental impact a brain health, leading to issues like anxiety and depression. Beneficial bacteria have a direct effect on brain chemistry, transmitting mood- and behavior-regulating signals to the brain via vagus nerve. • For instance, the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus was found to have a marked effect on GABA levels in certain brain regions and lowered the stress-induced hormone corticosterone, resulting in reduced anxiety- and depression-related behavior. (Mercola, 2015)

22. 10 Best Foods to Eat for Stress • 3. Fermented Foods • Women who regularly ate yogurt containing beneficial bacteria had improved brain function compared to those who did not consume probiotics. • They had decreased activity in two brain regions that control central processing of emotion and sensation: • The insular cortex (insula), plays a role in functions typically linked to emotion (including perception, motor control, self-awareness, cognitive functioning, and interpersonal experience) and the regulation of body's homeostasis • The somatosensory cortex, plays a role in your body's ability to interpret a wide variety of sensations (Mercola, 2015)

23. 10 Best Foods to Eat for Stress • 3. Fermented Foods • Toxicity in gut can flow throughout the body and into the brain, where it can cause symptoms of poor mood, autism, depression, schizophrenia, and a whole host of other mental and behavioral disorders. • Nourishing gut flora (by eating fermented foods and avoiding processed foods and sugar) is extremely important to support a positive mood. (Mercola, 2015)

24. 10 Best Foods to Eat for Stress • 4. Wild-Caught Alaskan Salmon • Found in salmon, sardines, and anchovies, or supplement form, such as krill oil, the animal-based omega-3 fats EPA and DHA play a role in emotional well-being. • One study in Brain Behavior and Immunity showed a dramatic 20 % reduction in anxiety among people taken omega-3, while past research has shown omega-3 fats work just as well as antidepressants in preventing the signs of depression, but without any of the side effects. (Mercola, 2015)

25. 10 Best Foods to Eat for Stress • 5. Blueberries • Anthocyanins are the pigments that give berries like blueberries and blackberries their deep color. These antioxidants aid the brain in the production of dopamine, a chemical that is critical to coordination, memory function, and mood. • TIME reported: • "Research has also shown that blueberry eaters experience a boost in natural killer cells, 'a type of white blood cell that plays a vital role in immunity, critical for countering stress,' (Mercola, 2015)

26. 10 Best Foods to Eat for Stress • 6. Pistachios • One study found eating two servings of pistachios a day lowered vascular constriction during stress, which means the load on the heart is reduced since arteries are more dilated. Not to mention, the rhythmic act of shelling pistachios therapeutic, as doing a repetitive activity can help quiet racing thoughts in the head. • Pistachios are at high risk of contamination by a carcinogenic mold called aflatoxin and may be bleached or fumigated during processing; choose organic pistachios and avoid those that are dyed, bleached, or show signs of decay. (Mercola, 2015)

27. 10 Best Foods to Eat for Stress • 7. Dark Chocolate • People usually get a nice mood boost whenever sink the teeth into a bar of pure, unadulterated chocolate, it is not happenstance. There's a chemical reason behind it called anandamide, a neurotransmitter produced in the brain that temporarily blocks feelings of pain and depression. Chocolate is that it not only produces this compound, it also contains other chemicals that prolong the "feel-good" aspects of anandamide. • Chocolate has even been referred to as the new anti-anxiety drug. One study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology also revealed that drinking an antioxidant-rich chocolate drink equal to about 1.5 ounces of dark chocolate daily felt calmer than those who did not. (Mercola, 2015)

28. 10 Best Foods to Eat for Stress • 8. Sunshine • It's not technically a food, but a daily dose of sunshine might help stabilize mood. Serotonin, the brain hormone associated with mood elevation, rises with exposure to bright light and falls with decreased sun exposure. In 2006, scientists evaluated the effects of vitamin D on the mental health of 80 elderly patients and found those with the lowest levels of vitamin D were 11 times more prone to be depressed than those who received healthy doses. • Low vitamin D levels are also associated with an increased risk of panic disorders. While we can get some vitamin D in foods like salmon, egg yolks, and mushrooms, your best solution for optimizing levels is through sensible sun exposure. (Mercola, 2015)

29. 10 Best Foods to Eat for Stress • 9. Seeds • Magnesium, which acts as a precursor for neurotransmitters like serotonin, is well-known for its role in helping to regulate emotions and enhance well-being. Dr. Carolyn Dean, a medical and naturopathic doctor, has studied and written about magnesium for more than 15 years. The latest edition of her book, The Magnesium Miracle, details 22 medical areas that magnesium deficiency triggers, including anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. • Seaweed and green leafy vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard can be excellent sources of magnesium, as are some beans, nuts, and seeds, like pumpkin, sunflower, and sesame seeds. Avocados also contain magnesium. (Mercola, 2015)

30. 10 Best Foods to Eat for Stress • 10. Avocado • Avocado provide close to 20 essential health-boosting nutrients, including potassium, vitamin E, B vitamins, and folate, and, according to research published in the Nutrition Journal, eating just one-half of a fresh avocado with lunch may satiate a person and will help prevent unnecessary snacking later. • Those who ate half an avocado with their standard lunch reported being 40 % less hungry three hours after their meal, and 28 % less hungry at the five-hour mark compared to those who did not eat avocado for lunch. The study also found that avocados appear helpful for regulating blood sugar levels. This combination of satiety and blood-sugar regulation can help keep mood steady, even in times of stress. (Mercola, 2015)