excess stress Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Reduce Stress & Promote Detoxification with One Easy Exercise

The AHA! Team — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 21:54:10 +0000

Dena Schmidt via NaturalHealth365 – Breathing is something many of us take for granted. However, most people tend to breathe in a shallow way, contributing to stress and limiting oxygen intake. On the other hand, deep breathing activates the body’s relaxation response, supports circulation, and promotes overall well-being. Why is deep breathing so important? Proper breathing helps oxygenate the body and supports the movement of the lymphatic system, which plays a key role in immune function. While the body primarily eliminates toxins through the liver, kidneys, and digestive system, deep breathing can aid in overall detoxification by improving oxygen exchange and circulation. Reduce stress by activating your body’s detoxification system The lymphatic system neutralizes and transports toxins from the cells and dumps them into the circulatory system. The toxins are then cycled through the liver and kidneys and eventually excreted. However, while the circulatory system is pumped by the heart, the lymph system does not have such a pump. Breathing and body movement are required for it to work effectively. Without sufficient bodily activity and deep breathing, effective detoxification isn’t possible. The lymphatic system becomes sluggish, resulting in fatigue, inflammation, weight gain, and high blood pressure. Fortunately, deep breathing exercises are one simple exercise that can make all the difference to the health of the lymphatic system. Best deep breathing exercises to promote detoxification Eastern cultures and yogic traditions have long been aware of how important deep, mindful breathing is to health and well-being. The breath is central to practices like yoga and tai chi. Deep breathing brings a wealth of benefits to health and well-being. Here are some of the top reasons to remember to breathe deeply: Stimulates organs and lymph flow: The expanding and contracting effect of the diaphragm during deep breathing massages the internal organs and the lymphatic system. Cellular detoxification and oxygenation: Deep breathing naturally stimulates the body to rid itself of toxins, allowing more nourishing oxygen to reach the cells. Relaxation: Deep breathing exercises also trigger the parasympathetic nervous system, called the “relaxation response.” This promotes a calm sense of well-being. Breathing is a natural way to reduce stress and its effects on the body and mind. Fitness and weight loss: Breathing is essential to cardiovascular capacity and maximizing the effects of each workout. By reducing stress, deep breathing also encourages increased fat burning, so the body doesn’t burn glycogen instead of fat. Deep breathing exercises can be performed anywhere, anytime. Strive to cultivate the habit of breathing deeply as much as possible throughout the day, not just during your fitness routine or yoga practice (although it’s extremely beneficial during these times as well). For optimal benefits during deep breathing exercises, exaggerate your breath, lungs’ expansion, and diaphragm movement. Expand your belly and abdominal muscles during each inhale, and empty your lungs completely when you exhale. Even just a few minutes a day of this type of breathing can work wonders for the body, mind, and spirit. Sources for this article include: NIH.gov To read the original article click here.

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Work-Related Stress Linked to Increased Risk of Future Sick Leave in Middle-Aged Women

The AHA! Team — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 09:08:18 +0000

University of Gothenburg via News-Medical – Middle-aged women who experience work-related stress have a significantly increased risk of future sick leave, a University of Gothenburg study shows. Lack of influence and conflicts at work are clear stress factors. The aim of the current study, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, was to investigate whether work-related mental stress can be linked to sick leave among middle-aged women in the labor market. The data used in the study consists of information about 573 women of two different ages, 38 and 50, taken from the comprehensive Population Study of Women in Gothenburg, PSWG, at the University of Gothenburg. This was combined with register data on the women’s sick leave from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. Job conflicts are a significant risk factor When the study began, the majority of the participants (504 women) were employed and in work. Three out of four experienced work-related or general mental stress, or both. During the following year, 16% had at least one instance of sick leave lasting for two weeks or more, and the sick leave patterns were clear. Of 21 specific work-related problems, job conflicts and a lack of influence over decisions at work were most clearly associated with sick leave. In terms of job conflicts, this applied whether or not the women themselves were involved. Women who had reported job conflicts were more than twice as likely (a factor of 2.31) to take sick leave during the follow-up year. After adjusting for general stress, previous sick leave, age, sleep quality, wellbeing, and physical activity, the risk remained twice as high (a factor of 1.98). A lack of empowerment was also accompanied by a significantly greater risk of sick leave (a factor of 1.71 after adjustments). The importance of a better work environment One of the main authors in the study is Kirsten Mehlig, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Senior Lecturer in Health Science Statistics at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg. “Little scope for decision-making and conflicts in the work environment can predict sick leave, independent of general mental stress and previous periods of sick leave,” she explains. “Improving the work environment is therefore important in order to reduce sick leave among women in the labor market.” The research team behind the study was led by Dominique Hange, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in General Medicine, and general practitioner at Närhälsan’s Tidan primary care center in Skövde. “Regardless of women’s own involvement, the effects of conflicts at work may also suggest a specific vulnerability among women that may be interesting to address in the future.” – Kirsten Mehlig, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Senior Lecturer in Health Science Statistics at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg Source: University of Gothenburg Journal reference: Mehlig, K., et al. (2024). Exploring the impact of mental and work-related stress on sick leave among middle-aged women: observations from the population study of women in Gothenburg, Sweden. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care. doi.org/10.1080/02813432.2024.2380925. To read the original article click here.

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Study Expands Link Between Childhood Stress and Chronic MS Symptoms

The AHA! Team — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 08:46:29 +0000

Duke Health – DURHAM, N.C. – Childhood stress may predict pain, fatigue, and mental illness in adults with multiple sclerosis, according to a study led by a Duke Health researcher. The findings, appeared online in the journal PLOS ONE, support efforts to integrate trauma-informed care and screenings for stressors into clinical practice. Childhood stress and adversity has been linked to numerous adult health outcomes This could help providers better conceptualize patient backgrounds and potential disease trajectories to create personalized approaches to patient care. “Since the original Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study in the late 90’s, childhood stress and adversity has been linked to numerous adult health outcomes, including many of the leading causes of mortality in the U.S.,” said lead author Carri Polick, Ph.D., a clinical associate in the Duke University School of Nursing. “This is, in part, due to the physiological stress response and how it sets the tone for how people experience stress and cope over their lifetime.” Researchers analyzed data from 719 adults with MS who responded to an online self-report survey deployed by the National MS Society. Researchers analyzed data from 719 adults with MS Stressors were categorized into emotional stressors, physical stressors, and environmental stressors. They were then analyzed with hierarchical modeling to show accumulation while retaining insight into specific types of stressors. This study is unique in that it moves beyond stressors that are traditionally measured, such as abuse and neglect, to capture environmental factors such as housing instability, discrimination, and the impact of living in an unsafe neighborhood. This is also the first study to include nuanced stressor data like duration and severity of exposures within the context of clinical symptoms of MS. The study found childhood emotional and physical stressors were significantly associated with the presence and severity of both fatigue and pain in adulthood. Environmental, emotional, and physical stressors were significantly associated with mental health challenges including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other psychiatric disorders. Environmental, emotional, and physical stressors were significantly associated with mental health challenges “From a preventative perspective, teasing out which stressors are potentially most impactful during childhood is important to help inform intervention and policy efforts to decrease the stress experience and promote healthy trajectories from childhood into adulthood,” Polick said. Additional authors of the study include Robert Ploutz-Snyder, Tiffany Braley, Cathleen Connell, and Sarah Stoddard. The study received funding support from the National Institutes of Health (T32NR016914). To read the original article click here.

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10 Ways to Destroy Heart Health

AHA Publisher — Wed, 09 Feb 2022 08:00:51 +0000

Dr. Don Colbert – Who needs a healthy heart, right? While this is a ridiculous question, millions of Americans engage in everyday habits that destroy heart health. Or, they ignore those that support it. Are you destroying yours? How can you reverse it? Here are 10 ways to destroy heart health, and how to reverse your risk. 10 Ways to Destroy Heart Health 1. EAT A DIET HIGH IN INFLAMMATORY ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS Our foods are literally killing us. Many foods in plastic packages and boxes can destroy heart health, increase blood sugar issues, and even increase the overall risk of death (1) according to a recent study of 100,000 participants. How? Ultra-processed foods are those commercial, processed foods that contain a lot of processed fats and sugars. Most of these fats are hydrogenated oils or soybean oil. Believe it or not, soybean oil is considered one the most-consumed modern toxins, and works against heart health by hurting: Metabolic Health. Lab studies show that soybean oil is one of the most detrimental foods to metabolic health (2). Cardiovascular Health: Soybean oil has been shown to cause harmful abnormalities to cholesterol and triglycerides (3). Overall health and inflammation: Many studies have concluded that concentrated sources of omega-6 fats increase inflammation in the body (4). Don’t let ultra-processed foods destroy heart health. Reverse Your Risk: You can take steps to reduce your consumption of ultra-processed foods by following the Beyond Keto Book. This is an amazingly heart healthy plan that also supports whole-body and gut health. This is the best start! In addition, look for soybean oil in all foods you buy and rid your diet of it with these tips. 2. AVOID SPICES, FRUITS & VEGETABLES Along with eating ultra-processed foods, avoiding all vibrantly colored spices, fruits and vegetables can destroy heart health. Vibrant plant foods are full of antioxidants. Antioxidants support cellular health, arterial health, and whole body health by reducing the effects of free radicals and oxidative stress. Specifically in the cardiovascular system, antioxidants work to reduce cholesterol plaque formations and elevated blood pressure (5). Additionally, foods high in antioxidants support brain cells (6), and may reduce harmful cell overgrowth. (Many studies also back up the health benefits of berries (7). Reverse Your Risk:You can reverse your risk of poor heart health by eating foods high in antioxidants! The best place to start is Divine Health® Fermented Green Supremefood®. Also, here is a great list of our top 10 antioxidant foods! 3. NEVER GET YOUR HEART RATE UP We all know sedentary lifestyles are bad for heart health and exercise is beneficial. But, how and why? Exercise forces our hearts to pump a great volume of blood through our arteries. This forces our arteries to stay flexible and elastic, which is a healthier state than stiff or inflexible arteries. Any exercise that increases heart rate can be beneficial to heart health. For example, both endurance training at lower intensity and higher intensity workouts benefit blood pressure and heart health (8/). Resistance training exercises (weight lifting) also supports heart health including heart variability. This remains true for both heavy weight lifting and high-rep, low weight exercises (9). Sedentary living, on the other hand, can destroy heart health. Reverse the risk: Start moving! Choose an exercise you like, and get your heart rate up. You can even use walking at a higher pace for better heart health. Here are 10 amazing benefits of walking! 4. ALLOW STRESS TO BUILD High levels of mental stress can be devastating to your heart, brain, immune system, and overall health. In fact, chronically elevated cortisol levels can affect all our body’s systems. How? Cortisol is a hormone that’s released by the adrenal glands when the body faces stress. In modern times, this stress is often more mental than physical and usually has no outlet. For many, it’s chronic. It builds. And, it does damage. High blood cortisol levels are correlated with weight gain and impaired loss, negative impacts on mood, sleep and energy, an increased incidence of blood sugar, potentially lower brain volume and impaired memory, and heart health issues including altered blood pressure (10). Don’t let stress bring you down. Reverse the Risk: You can learn to fight high cortisol each day. Try our 10 effective tools to combat daily stress! Make sure to add Nature’s Best Stress Relief: Dr. Colbert’s Nano-Science Hemp Oil. 5. STIFFEN UP EVERY YEAR YOU AGE In addition to ignoring cardiovascular exercise, ignoring flexibility can destroy heart health. Amazingly, the flexibility of your spinal cord and spine directly correlated with the flexibility of your arteries. Again, flexible arteries are crucial for healthy blood pressures and overall health. As crazy as it sounds, researchers have found that poor trunk flexibility is associated with stiff arteries. This means that keeping your body flexible enough to touch your toes means better artery health and blood pressure (11). Incredibly, one study of a stretching program found better blood pressure results from stretching than from walking (12)! In addition, a strong, flexible spinal cord allows you to maintain good posture, with your head and neck upright, rather than forward. It promotes better range of motion of your limbs, making it easier to lift, walk up and down stairs, stay active, and remain injury free. Reverse Your Risk: Stay flexible by working on trunk, spine, and limb flexibility every day. Do this in addition to other exercises. 6. DON’T PAY ATTENTION TO BLOOD SUGARS OR WEIGHT Exercise and healthy eating promote healthy body weight and blood sugars. On the other hand, not engaging in these activities can destroy heart health. Being in a state of overweight or obesity directly impacts heart health. In fact, excess adipose fat is correlated with impaired blood sugars and poor cardiovascular outcomes. Elevated blood sugars contribute to stiffened arteries (13). What’s more, while your starting total cholesterol is highly influenced by familial history, age, sex, and ethnicity (13), changes in total cholesterol are primarily achieved by weight loss (if overweight), diet, and exercise (14). You can make changes rather than destroy heart health! Reverse the Risk: The best place to start in achieving a healthy weight and blood sugars is Beyond Keto Book. Also, read these tips on healthy weight and tips for breaking a plateau. 7. SKIMP ON SLEEP Sleep is an elixir for many ailments. Lack of sleep, on the other hand, can destroy heart health. In fact, a new study of 1,654 participants aged 20-74 years looked at sleep and its effects on those with chronic health conditions. It followed these participants for 20 years. The researchers found that participants with existing high blood pressure or Type 2 diabetes, who slept less than 6 hours per night, were 1.8 times likely to die of heart disease or stroke. Unfortunately, 45% of Americans have these conditions, and the majority do not get enough quality sleep (15). The study was published earlier this month in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Improve your heart health with better sleep. Reverse the Risk: Not sure how to get better sleep? Look no further than these tips for a better night’s sleep. 8. ISOLATE YOURSELF Loneliness can strike anyone, even those surrounded by people. Unfortunately, loneliness can contribute to worsened heart health. It’s never been more important to seek out others and prioritize relationships. Why? Your heart depends on it. In 2010, a loneliness study shocked researchers. A research team from Brigham Young University looked at 148 studies, representing more than 308,000 participants for mortality risk factors. The researchers found a 50% increase in survival for those who were NOT lonely and had strong social relationships compared to those who didn’t. This finding was consistent with other strong risk factors of premature death, including known cardiovascular risk factors (16). Next, the same lead researcher performed a subsequent meta-analysis in 2015, representing more than 3.4 million people and found similar results. These included a 29%, 26%, and 32% increased risk of premature death for social isolation, loneliness, and living alone, respectively (17). Yet another study from Denmark found that heart health patients who were also lonely were about twice as likely to die from heart attacks and/or heart disease than those who were not lonely. Tragically, this is indeed very similar to the mortality rate of smoking cigarettes. Reverse the Risk: Do whatever necessary to reach out to others and prioritize relationships. Look at church groups, healthy social groups, and friends, whether in person or online. 9. FORGET GRATITUDE It can be easy to forget gratitude. Some days, months, or even years roll by that feel more dismal than others. However, gratitude, even when forced, can change everything including heart health. There is emerging scientific evidence to support the idea that a simple daily practice of gratitude can dramatically affect our susceptibility to cardiovascular issues. How? Gratitude affects both cortisol and our motivation for a healthy lifestyle. By first lowering stress, it supports heart health directly. By improving our outlook and mood toward healthy lifestyle habits, it improves heart health indirectly (18, 19, 20). Reverse the Risk: You can work on gratitude starting right now! Try just listing 2-3 things you are grateful for each day, and continue to build the list. Small things, big things, anything. To learn more about gratitude, try our 15 tips for making gratitude stick. 10. IGNORE TRIGLYCERIDES AND SUBTYPES OF CHOLESTEROL When most people think of heart health indicators or lab tests, they think of total cholesterol, LDL, and HDL. Interestingly, more and more practitioners are looking elsewhere. The ratio of triglycerides (TG) to HDL is emerging as one of the most important cardiovascular risk factors. In fact, when you calculate this ratio, you can infer your health risk of cardiovascular issues, blood sugar issues, inflammation and more. In addition, there are very important subtypes of cholesterol, called subset A and subset B. These numbers are extremely important (21, 22). Looking only at total cholesterol and ignoring triglycerides can destroy heart health. Reverse the Risk: Learn everything you need to know about cholesterol, subsets, and triglycerides! Take our quiz now! Bottom Line: Don’t destroy heart health this year! Instead, reverse your risk. Our simple tips can help you bolster your heart health, starting today. To read the original article click here.

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