Guest Blog by Tyler Hamel DC- To learn more about a healthy and reduced stress lifestyle you can contact Tyler at www.wellness24.org
If there are two things that people struggle with during the holiday season, they are adapting to stress and getting enough sleep. Most Americans are dealing with lots of stress every day, stress from work, from relationships, and even from the food and drink that they consume. The holiday season puts regular stress on steroids. The body is only able to adapt to a certain amount of stress, and this is based on how healthy you are. Someone who is sick all of the time cannot handle stress very well and it shows up as a low functioning immune system. Healthy people are able to adapt to a much higher level of stress, they are able to go to parties, handle the viruses and bacteria, exercise, get plenty of sleep and as a result they generally do pretty well.
How can we decrease stress, or should we say help our body adapt to stress better? We can eat healthy food and take extra vitamins which give the body the nutrients it needs to deal with stress. There is nothing wrong with indulging in holiday food and drink, as long as it is done in moderation. You can drink some eggnog and still have meat and vegetables for dinner, do not forget the body needs healthy food.
When you sleep at night, it is the only true time that your body can heal, repair and recover from the daily stress it is under. If you are not able to fall asleep or stay asleep then you are probably waking up tired or exhausted every morning. A tired body that is running on fumes is not able to adapt to stress very well and most often will experience things like chronic fatigue, headaches, digestive complaints, brain fog and mood swings.
If you can improve your sleep and improve the body’s ability to adapt to stress; this is the secret to a happy, healthy holiday season. To help improve sleep, right before you go to bed eat a small amount of protein which could be a spoonful of almond butter or an egg white, only protein and no carbohydrates. The protein will help the body regulate blood sugar and this often times will help you fall asleep and stay asleep consistently. To better adapt to stress take whole food supplements, avoid the cheap, synthetic kind; when your body gets the nutrition it needs it will respond accordingly with plenty of energy and a boosted immune system.
Have a happy, healthy and energetic Christmas and New Year.
Dr. Tyler Hamel
DC, ACN
www.wellness24.org
