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Using Stress to our Benefit

Oct 07, 2022

STRESS THE CELLS   ---   REGENERATE BODY AND MIND

Stress is not just a product of modern times. Human beings have been under stress since the beginning of times, fighting wild beasts, surviving natural catastrophes, epidemics, and wars. What is happening today? Why do we suddenly see so many diseases emerging from stress? Why have we become so vulnerable to it? 

We have forgotten how to use stress to our survival advantage. Instead, we have become afraid of it.

Physical and mental stress can actually be good for us, provided that we regenerate from them. This means that we don’t live with more stress than we can handle and take the time to relax. Ongoing mental stress is responsible for many chronic health issues, and in our accelerated world, we need tools to help the mind to calm down. 

You might be surprised that the latest studies in Anti-Aging Medicine are focusing on “cellular stress” for health and longevity. We are made of trillions of cells and we are only as old and healthy as our cells are. What we are discovering is that the cells in our body need to be stressed to a certain level to become resilient and to regenerate. This means that we are programmed to survive extreme stress.

Stress itself is not “bad” for us. It is how we process it that matters. We need to be able to fully relax after experiencing a stressor for the body and the mind to regenerate. Then we can use stress to our advantage and thrive from it.

What happens is that stress triggers fear in most people, and keeps them from taking a relaxing break. They often keep going under stress until they become exhausted or sick. 

Using our stress to our benefit is a secret for good health and longevity.

How do we stress the cells and regenerate from stress?

1- FASTING

Being hungry is actually good for you! In order to keep our food intake to meet our physical requirements, we only need two balanced meals a day. We have become so used to the reflex of snacking that we have been creating the cycle of feeling hungry between meals. This means that our digestive system is overly stimulated and we are ingesting more calories than we actually need.

A 6 to 8 hour fasting period in between meals and an overnight fast of at least 12 hours are great ways to starve the cells, detoxify the body, and start losing weight.

Intermittent Fasting between 12 to 16 hours is widely recommended in Anti-Aging medicine as a way to boost metabolism and detoxify the body.

Being hungry means that your cells are stressed by starvation, and we understand now that it makes them stronger. This also increases our metabolism and helps maintain a healthy weight. Moreover studies show that calorie restriction slow aging by inducing Sirtuins, proteins that regulate metabolism. 

2- BREATHWORK

Breathwork that combines deep breathing and movement energizes the body and calms the mind.

The Mitochondria in our cells need oxygen to produce energy. When we breathe superficially, we feed them minimal amounts of oxygen and our metabolism efficiency slows down. Holding your breath stresses your cells and lengthens your life.

During breathwork we alternate between various breathing sequences that energize the cells.

When we practice deep and rhythmic breathing, we alternate between starving the cells from oxygen to delivering large amounts of it. As a result, the cells become stronger and produce more energy which in turn boosts the metabolism. 

Yogi have known it for a long time: the fewer and deeper breaths we take, the longer we live.

Taking in a deep long breath and holding it before exhaling is much healthier than taking many short breaths. 

However, we can’t spend our days in full awareness of our breathing like yogi do so we need to have a regular breathwork practice for our health.

3- HIGH QUALITY SUPPLEMENTS 

The quality of our foods is not what it used to be, as we have overexploited the soil in the past decades to produce more and to produce it faster. This makes it harder to obtain all the nutrients and vitamins we need in our meals. We still benefit from a plant-based diet with fibers and some vitamin content, especially when it is grown consciously and organically, but we need vitamins to complement our nutritional needs. 

Vibrant health starts with a good nutrient balance that often requires the addition of supplements. We need optimal doses of nutrients to function The list of supplements available on the market is growing exponentially and you need guidance on what to take and how to take them. Many patients are on multivitamins that are missing essential vitamins and minerals or don’t contain enough.

  • First and foremost, choose supplements tested and recommended by physicians. They have the direct experience of their efficacy on their patient base and the knowledge of how it can interfere with your medical history and other medications.
  • Supplements that are consistently reviewed for their efficacy, long term effects and improved over time with the new updates from medical research, and the current needs according to changes in our environment. For instance adding more Zinc, vitamin D and vitamin C during the Covid 19 pandemic.

We need to replace the missing substances in the body so it can function properly but we have to be aware that taking too much a of nutrient can adversely affect our health.

Identify deficiencies through blood testing before deciding to take a supplement, and especially a hormone. What works for one person may not work for another because we all have different needs. Know what you are missing and have an experienced doctor who can help you replace it in the right doses.

Some people still think of supplements as “expensive urine”, and also that whatever the body doesn’t need, will be eliminated. It is not always the case, some nutrients can build up in the body and become toxic. For instance, too much calcium can cause kidney stones and we now think that it can cause calcifications around the heart. Excess of fat soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, D, E and K can cause health issues. So you shouldn’t take supplements for long periods of time without medical advice.

4- MEDITATION

How do we regenerate from stress?

We need to reach a state of COMPLETE physical and mental relaxation. As you may know, it is much easier to put our body than our mind to rest. We are often so bombarded by thoughts of things we have to do or are concerned with. We feel that if we dare taking a moment to step away from our thoughts, we are losing control over our lives. It is actually the opposite. The more we develop the ability to empty and recharge our minds, the more in control of ourselves and our lives we become. Therefore we need tools that can shut down the thinking process for at least 20 minutes a day. 

This is what we call meditation, and it just means emptying your mind and relaxing your body.

It is helpful to use breathwork to prepare for meditation. Sometimes we need to breathe louder than our thoughts so we can suppress them. I encourage you to practice the morning and night breathwork in our HighBe programs and feel better and better every day.

 https://www.highbe.org/offers/epA3oxJt/checkout

 

In Vibrant Health, 

Dr Evee

Evelyne Leone DO, FAARFM, ABAARM