I met with a client yesterday afternoon (I’ll call her Maddie) who reported being under significant stress. 

She’s putting on weight, having trouble sleeping, she’s gassy all the time and craves carbs like crazy.  Her periods are extremely heavy and painful, and she suffers from migraines.  She also catches every cold and bug around.     

From a holistic perspective, here is what I suspect is going on:

Maddie’s chronic stress is causing her adrenal glands to crank out the hormone cortisol, and this is triggering her carb cravings and resulting weight gain. 

Plus stress and high cortisol levels are causing imbalances in her other hormones and this can affect her sleep and her periods, and can also trigger migraines.

Since stress takes energy away from digestion, that’s likely causing her gas.

Lastly, stress causes harmful changes to the gut microbiome (where most of the immune system is), so it’s no surprise Maddie is constantly sick—her body literally can’t fight off infections and viruses as well.

What Maddie heard from her doctor:

Maddie had gone to the doctor for a check-up, reported her symptoms, and also asked for genetic testing for Alzheimer’s (since other family members had suffered from the disease).

Thankfully she tested negative for the APOE genes, plus all her other bloodwork was within normal limits as was her blood pressure. 

So she got a clean bill of health. 

When she asked about her poor sleep, painful periods, migraines and weight gain, she was offered pain relievers, sleep drugs and told to go on a diet.

This, my friend, is a perfect example of a failure of modern medicine.

Modern medicine is symptom-focused

Modern medicine focuses on anything BUT health--instead its focus is on alleviating symptoms, typically with medications, with little regard as to WHY those symptoms are occurring to begin with.

But health is NOT merely symptoms being controlled with drugs or bloodwork within normal limits--it’s a state of balance where your body is working like it's supposed to!

Plus it’s important to realize that all of your body’s systems are connected and affect each other. 

Looking at Maddie: Her emotional stress (the nervous system) affected her adrenal glands and hormones (the endocrine system), it triggered gas (the digestive system), and impaired her gut flora (the immune system).

So to just “pick and choose” symptoms and write prescriptions without looking at the entire picture can cause many an over-medicated, chronically ill individual.

So what IS the answer?

If you’ve been in a cycle of poor health, given one medication after another and never seem to improve, it’s time to take the bull by the horns and start to focus on real health:

Ask questions

Don’t be afraid to ask your doctor questions or get second opinions.

Ask about medications side effects or get on the internet and check them out yourself.  

Ask about trying lower, safer doses of drugs you may be on, or natural alternatives to medications (such as fish oil like VitalMega-3 for high blood pressure, high cholesterol or arthritis). 

If your doctor refuses to answer your questions, find another who will.

Reduce stress

Do whatever works for you—even some deep breathing 3-4 times a day can help. 

Also there is counseling, prayer, essential oils (especially lavender), taking up a hobby, adopting a pet, massage and acupuncture.

Plus you can’t beat regular exercise when it comes to stress relief—just be sure to get your doctor’s OK first.    

Eat your way to better health

I know it’s not easy to change old habits, but even small steps in the right direction can make a big difference in your health!

• If you’re a soda lover, try swapping one of your sodas for water or club soda with a splash of lemon or lime.
• Try pan-seared meats instead of deep-frying. There are many delicious spice mixes out there.
• Reach for protein snacks like nuts, cheese, yogurt or a hard-boiled egg instead of chips or crackers. They’ll help even out your blood sugar.
• Try to work in one green vegetable every day—even a small tossed salad!
• Switch out your bagel or donut for oatmeal or scrambled eggs for breakfast. You’ll stay fuller longer and be better nourished.

And if you really want to pave the way for pain-free, smooth digestion, check out my Great Taste No Pain system. 

Great Taste No Pain will show you what foods to pair together to support more efficient digestion, plus you’ll get a collection of my delicious classic recipes!

Bring your gut into balance

Stress and the Standard American Diet can be murder on your gut flora, where the majority of your immune system resides!

Without the full functioning power of your immune system, it’s just a matter of time before sickness or disease will strike.

So it’s important to help repopulate your supply of friendly inhabitants and support better immune health with a full-spectrum daily probiotic formula like Super Shield.

See how much better you can feel when you focus on creating health!

To your health,

Sherry Brescia

 

The information in our articles are NOT intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and are not intended as medical advice.