Monthly Archives: April 2011

The Effects Of Stress On Health

Posted by tradrmick on April 14, 2011 Comments Off

If you have ever gone through a period of extreme stress you know it leaves you physically exhausted and not feeling well. This is because during the stressful event your nervous system responds flooding your body with adrenaline, cortisol and other hormones. The effect of these hormones is to prepare your body for emergency action so it raises your heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate and heightens your senses. Your body is now ready to deal with the enemy using the primitive “fight or flight” response.


Since your body can not distinguish the difference between a physical or psychological stress event it reacts the same in both situations. The problem is created by the fact that when there is no physical fight or flight the stress hormones don’t get burned off the way they were intended. You are left with elevated blood pressure and an anxious feeling which is why some vigorous exercise after a stressful day will often make you feel better.

The more often this type of stress occurs in your life the easier it becomes to trigger the hormonal responses. Someone living with chronic stress may find that they have high blood pressure, a weak immune system, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, anxiety or depression. It can even lead to premature aging as you often see with those who have severe legal problems or even U.S. presidents. Have you noticed how much older our presidents look after 4 years in office?

In addition to aches, pains and general discomfort the effects of stress on blood pressure can also lead to a higher risk of heart disease or stroke. It can lead to changes in your bowels such as diarrhea, constipation or something more serious such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Colitis. Long term stress also lowers your sex drive and can even contribute to infertility.

One of the biggest contributors to stress in our society is financial stress. As Americans we tend to over spend and under save leaving us vulnerable to changes in our income or investments. Most people don’t set anything aside and therefore go through life without a safety net. Over the past few years I’ve showed people how to get out of debt by reducing their “wants” and supplementing their income. If you stop and think about it, how much happiness do we derive from the things we buy? Most things bring a short term boost but then we actually have more to organize and take care of which leads to additional burden. Then we also have to do additional work to pay for something of fleeting value.

If you are currently under financial stress I encourage you to sit down and evaluate your wants and needs. If you haven’t done so, take the time 3 times per year to request your 3 free credit reports to keep an eye on your financial picture. Next, determine if there are things you would rather sell than take care of and get rid of them. Use the proceeds to pay down debt and try to put more thought into future purchases. Most people find much more happiness by getting their financial house in order instead of purchasing additional toys.


Turbulence Training

Glycemic Index Charts

Posted by tradrmick on April 11, 2011 Comments Off

When I first started having trouble with my blood sugar I began investigating the glycemic value of different foods.  I noticed if I had pancakes and syrup for breakfast, my blood sugar would always crash a few hours later and it would ruin my morning.  It turns out that high glycemic foods tend to spike blood sugar levels and in me my body would over compensate and send my sugar levels too low.  This is referred to as “reactionary hypoglycemia” and it’s annoying because I start to see stars and it takes quit awhile to come out of it completely.


When you first look at the glycemic index it’s a little crazy that some of the items which are normally associated with dieting such as Rice Cakes are 77 and Pretzels are 81 whereas Fettucini which I assumed would be high glycemic is only 32.  So it’s a little harder than one would think to make the best choices when your are trying to avoid high glycemic foods.

Another surprising thing is that a spoonful of table sugar has a glycemic index of 64 and fructose is 22 but dates are 103 which actually above straight glucose!  I actually started using agave syrup in my lattes and on french toast because it is equally delicious but has a very low glycemic index of 15 (maple syrup is 54, raw honey is 30).

In most cases there is a substitute that is is almost as pleasing to the taste buds but doesn’t cause a spike in your blood sugar.  Since it’s difficult to guess which foods are best you will want to start out using a good low glycemic foods list until you become more familiar with the concept.

Also, just because something is low glycemic doesn’t mean that it is necessarily healthy.   Just because a Snicker Bar has a glycemic index of 40 doesn’t make it more healthy than a slice of multi-grain bread which is 48.  It simply means that because of the peanut and fat content in the Snickers it releases the sugar more slowly into your blood stream.  You still have to watch the calories of the food as well as the glycemic index if you are concerned about your weight.  If weight is not a concern and you are only concerned about blood sugar then just try to focus on foods with a glycemic index of less than 55.

NOTE: When looking at sugar substitutes you will see that fructose has a very low glycemic index of 22 but this does not apply directly to High Fructose Corn Syrup.  HFCS which is found in soda and many packaged foods is a combination of fructose and glucose making it more in line with regular sugar on the glycemic scale.

 


Turbulence Training