Hunger is a natural response by the body when it has used up the caloric intake from our last meal and we need to replenish. When we are in a constant state of hunger, or hungry very shortly after our last meal, this can signal a health problem such as hormonal imbalance or other either genetic or chronic health conditions. The hormones from the thyroid, pancreas, reproductive glands, and pituitary or adrenals glands are all possible contributors to constant hunger.
There are also other factors that can play a large role as well. A diet that is very low in fat can create a constant hunger. Our bodies require a certain amount of fat each day to regulate our metabolism and these healthy fats (such as avocado, nuts or olive oil). These fats trigger a hormone called leptin that curbs or stops the appetite.
When any one of many things that can create imbalances or that can override the body’s normal metabolic function occurs, we can short circuit the body’s ability to sustain normal appetite and food consumption. Most commonly these are hormone or neurotransmitter imbalances that create hunger due to the interruption of the normal hunger/hormone chemical.
Stress can play a large role in this condition, as well as excessive or chronic long term carbohydrate intake. Excess carbohydrates can result in both a decrease and an increase in insulin secretion which can then trigger several metabolic problems and syndromes.
If you are experiencing, chronic persistent hunger it is important to consult with your physician. There are many situations that can also contribute to your hunger such as hyperthyroidism, menstrual irregularities, Von Gierke disease, bulimia, Prader-Willi syndrome, diabetes, medications or hypoglycemia.
Join the conversation. If you enjoyed this article, be sure to follow NIWH on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates filled with useful health coach certification information for holistic nurses and health advocates.
For more whole health discussions like this, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama available on iHeartRadio.
Do you know anyone who is often bored? Do you find yourself feeling bored? A study, conducted in the United Kingdom identified a connection between individuals who experience chronic boredom and a shorter life expectancy. The expression being “bored to death” has some literal truth in it, according to the 1980’s UK study that followed 7,500 civil servants in the UK for a period of 25 years. In this blog, NIWH explores the study to see what applications can be derived from the results.
Bored To Death
The study conducted interviews on the civil servants, recording their attitudes and outlook on life. The updates continued until 25 years after the initial interviews. The data found that subjects who stated they were bored in the original interview screening were almost 40% more likely to have died during the 25 year period than those who found life to be interesting.
This same study revealed that people living with “high levels of tedium” were 2.5 times more likely to die of heart disease than those who lived a more varied lifestyle. This particular study is a wonderful example of the connection between our mind and body and how our thoughts and feelings have a huge impact on our health and even longevity.
Examining Discontent
According to Daily Health News journalist Lauren Zander, most of us live with experiences of boredom, but when our lives take on a chronic sense of boredom, the effects can be destructive to our work, relationships and, ultimately, our health and longevity. When we are willing to examine what aspects of our lives feel “boring,” we can identify in which areas of our life we feel stuck, frustrated or unfulfilled. This allows us to make a plan and take action toward change.
Boredom is a loss of interest or enthusiasm for aspects of your life. You “go through the motions” rather than being engaged and enjoying life. For instance, in personal relationships, it is easy to get in a rut and not look for new ways of enjoying the company of the people we care about most. By taking a step back and looking at our relationships as if we were meeting the person for the first time, this brings a renewed perspective and interest in what we may take for granted on a daily basis.
Renovate Your Life
This information lends to several suggestions. If your work, family life, or love life is leaving you disinterested or bored, try “renovating” your relationship by adding new and imaginative ways to refresh your communication or shared experience. Kiss your special someone in the car instead of waiting to get home to physically connect. Bring home some special “treats” your kids or partner will love and serve it with breakfast, lunch or brunch instead of going out to eat. Plan a lunchtime activity at your office with co-workers or a mystery party at home with your friends to liven up rapport.
Find new ways to refresh your relationships and your life. Encourage those around you to do the same. It’s not only fun, but this can help you live a longer and healthier life!
For more whole health discussions like this, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama available on iHeartRadio.
A statement by the well-known mind/body physician, Herb Benson, M.D. says that 60-90% of all visits to the doctor’s office are due to stress. We all hear about stress, experience stress, but what exactly is stress? Most of us think of stress as the emotional conflicts we experience in our daily lives, but our emotions are just one category or one type of “event” explored in health coach certification that can cause us to experience stress.
In order for us to survive in our ever-changing environments, our bodies are designed to adapt and it does so through a series of biochemical reactions. These chemical reactions are natural and necessary, but they are the wear and tear of living that we call stress.
Here’s an example I like to share in our whole health program because it gives a clear vision of this principle. When I was living in New York City, I drove my little stick shift through the stop and go traffic. Imagine the wear and tear (stress) on the clutch.
There are many events that might cause similar stress to our bodies. Some may surprise you.
Weather
Excess Exertion (such as too much exercise or lack of sleep)
Trauma or Injuries
Allergies and Immune Insults
Infections
Reproduction Related Events (monthly cycle, pregnancy, childbirth, nursing, etc.)
While the common nature of these events does not sound encouraging, there is some good news. If we have a stress response that is short term, like when the phone rings and the nurse tells you that your child had been vomiting, our bodies do just fine.
It is the prolonged stress, like anticipating for two whole weeks a root canal or that pesky “annual office evaluation.” That does us in! In our whole health education programs, students learn that this extended stress affects our digestive system, immune system, cardiovascular and even reproductive systems. Couple this with poor eating habits or insufficient sleep, and we are not happy campers.
While excessive or chronic stress is definitely not good for our health, we need stress adaptation for survival, so it is actually a very good thing. How this adaptation takes place is by way of specialized hormones from our adrenal glands, located in our kidneys. They change our heart rate, blood pressure, lung capacity, and a host of other functions, for our survival. However, these hormones, if secreted too much or too often can suppress our immune, digestive and reproductive systems and even damage our cardiovascular system. Chronic stress is one very large reason why some of us have fertility problems.
So how can we make friends with stress? The answer is good old moderation. Remember being told “all things in moderation leads to a healthy body.” It is true. We do not have to learn to do anything exotic to reduce stress, we just need to balance our lives and avoid excess.
Nevertheless, there is the rub, given modern life. We are all excessing more and more and moderating less. This is part of the reason why health coach certification is essential. For a great book on this subject, check out Why Zebras Don’t Have Ulcers by Dr. Robert Sapolsky. It is a very witty and informative book.
Laugher, as we know, is “our best medicine.” It is also a great stress reducer.
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“Happy New Year” is a greeting that fills us with anticipation, excitement and hope. The anticipation is for the new beginning we feel as the ball drops and we say good-bye to the past and look forward to the future. Our excitement is for the many possibilities that may lay ahead in the coming year and the hope is for a better 12 months than those that came before.
What are some simple, positive and productive actions we can take in this New Year that will support our optimistic January resolutions?
Start with a clean slate. – Cleaning and organizing your home space is one of the most positive ways to start the New Year. It has been shown in numerous studies that a clean, organized environment provides a sense of relaxation and calm and also helps us to be more productive because we are more organized and this results in a more efficient work or study outcome.
Commit to spending less and saving what you don’t spend. – By setting a goal of saving a realistic amount of money each month and achieving that goal by spending that much less each month is an empowering and satisfying way to take more control over your finances and reinforce that you can transform your savings/spending patterns without much stress and strain.
Eat less processed foods and more living foods. – This is not only a healthy resolution but also a cost saving one as well. We as Americans enjoy an abundant lifestyle and have the highest obesity rate in the world to prove it. By focusing on life giving plant based foods, we nourish our bodies and save a lot of money by not buying high priced processed and often non-nourishing “foods”.
Identify an organization, charity or cause that you can either provide a small but heartfelt donation or voluteer time to. Participating in meaningful assistance to others is rewarding on many levels and is good for our health as well as our sense of contributing to the greater good.
Each New Year is an opportunity for a new beginning…and life, it is often said, is a series of new beginnings.
I love what Geneen Roth has to say about our relationship with food and how it reflects our relationship with ourselves. In my over thirty years as a clinical nutritionist and overseeing our health advocacy program, I have observed, like Geneen, that we feed ourselves the same way we live our lives. The way of mindful eating is that our eating patterns and nutrition, like adaptation and survival, are critical components of our ability to live and thrive. This mindful eating can help us overcome some big and growing nutrition issues.
The Source Of The Challenge
In spite of the fact that the food we eat has such a significant impact on our whole being and quality of life, most of us are wildly confused about nutrition. This is especially true today because this basic necessity has turned into a multi-billion dollar industry, selling us foods and nutrition related goods our parents didn’t need or know about.
“In the old days”, food was produced more naturally with less processing, lifestyles were less complicated and decidedly less stressful. Remember how we said we would never grow up to be like our parents? We may want to rethink that – they are the healthiest and wealthiest generation ever! Our health advocacy program recognizes that nutrition has become a big health issue because of poor quality food, soaring stress levels and our lack of exercise. “The balanced diet” –the tried and true standard for good nutrition has been pushed aside for every conceivable variation on what and how to eat.
Some of this new information is quite useful and lots of it appeals to our vanity or desire to avoid taking the long look at what Geneen Roth refers to as “being present to our food and our lives.” If we are present, we realize that moderation and balance (just like with stress!) is the way to go. Our foods are chemicals and can affect our emotions as well as our bodies.
A Grainy Example
An example of this is excess grain consumption. Human beings do not produce enzymes to break down cellulose, the outer protective layer of grain. Many animals like cows and horses can eat grain in its natural state without a problem. If we attempted that, we would injure our mouths and esophagus, so we alter the grain from its natural state to flour, in order to consume it. We think we can eat whatever, so we get creative and bake, fry, boil, etc. this processed grain into “food.”
Unfortunately, the majority of us do not tolerate the protein gluten found in most grains. Gluten can damage and weaken the lining of our gut, leading to all kinds of problems, which can include eating disorders, obesity and depression. Humans are also the only mammals that continue to consume milk after weaning, and it’s breast milk from another species at that.
When we are experiencing mindful eating, we become aware of our body’s responses to what we put into it. That requires slowing down, which is what our nervous systems have to do for our digestion to work properly. Stress is “anti-nutritious” because during stress our ability to deal with the “emergency” at hand. Stress also significantly increases the need for certain nutrients, which are critical for the stress response. Protein, Vitamins A, B, C, and E, unsaturated fatty acids and minerals need to be replenished.
Moving Forward
How we can improve our nutrition and discern what is best for us? The solution from our health advocacy program is to observe why and how we eat, what feedback our bodies give us and consider the always prudent common sense approach of balance and moderation. We are living beings, we need to eat living food. The good news is you can eat all the fruits, vegetables, salads, veggie soups and stews you want (barring allergies) and you can’t go wrong!
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The way we feel — especially when we feel hurt or angry — can cause negative effects in the body due to the neurological and neurochemical connections between body and mind. If we internalize anger, our nervous and hormone systems react, creating neurotransmitter chemicals that can lead to harmful side effects. This can compromise our health as well as our personal and professional relationships. In short, holding in our emotions can lead to illness as well as unhappiness.
Angry Consequences
Anger that is felt over a period of time is unhealthy. When we become angry and do not express ourselves in a productive manner, the body reacts through the stress adaptation response. This includes biochemical physical responses that can lead to illness or death. If we are habitually angry, the conditions that can occur as a result of this physical response to the chronic or ongoing anger include:
In addition to thousands of anger and stress studies, many other health studies have connected anger to loneliness, chronic anxiety, depression, eating disorders, sleep disorders, obsessive-compulsive behavior and phobias. It can also have a detrimental effect on our relationships and threaten the development and maintenance of intimate relationships. Communication is the key to learning how to handle our anger and creating healthy and fulfilling relationships.
Better Communication Skills For Better Health
Learning how to communicate does not have to be complicated. While most of us have developed communication skills from our families and environment, there are easy-to-learn, proven skills that can provide you with the tools and knowledge you need to be able to channel and express your anger or hurt feelings appropriately.
When we are able to express our feelings (be they sadness, frustration or anger), we feel more in control of our lives. We are able to create the type of relationships we want to experience with others.
Current whole health research has clearly shown that it is healthier to express and resolve our relationship issues than it is to hold them in and allow them either to make us ill or to cause conflicts at work, home or with friends and colleagues.
Join the conversation.
For more whole health discussions like this, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama available on iHeartRadio.
Too many veterans today have unaddressed mental health issues; according to studies, almost a third of all service-persons who have been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan have from a mental health condition. Left untreated, these illnesses could lead to violence, addiction, and suicide; statistics show that veterans are more than twice as likely to die by suicide compared to their civilian peers. With these numbers, it’s clear that not enough is being done to help our veterans. So, where are we falling short?
Closing The Access Gap
Some mental health issues develop, or are aggravated, due to a lack of access to healthcare. Veterans have reported difficulties making appointments, as well as finding transportation to the doctor. And when physical ailments aren’t treated immediately, these could lead to mental health issues.
Tinnitus, for instance, is the most common disability among veterans, even surpassing PTSD. Characterized by ringing or buzzing in the ears, tinnitus can lead to issues like anxiety and depression if left untreated. One 2015 study found that 70 percent of veterans with tinnitus had anxiety, while 59.3 percent had depression, and 58.2 percent had both. Chronic pain also affects more than half of veterans and has been linked to depression and PTSD.
Thankfully, the VA has also implemented new rules in June 2019 to make healthcare more accessible. Previously, veterans who had to travel 40 miles or more to get to a VA health care facility were allowed to use a private health care provider. But now, veterans who live 30 minutes away from a VA clinic will be able to choose private care. By listening to veterans and focusing on improving overall health, the VA can help combat mental health issues faster.
The Battle Against Shame And Stigma
Studies reveal that only half of returning vets who need mental health treatment get these services. Today, more than half of those who need mental health care don’t even know that they need it. We need more whole health advocates to bridge this gap.
Some veterans also believe that therapy may not work, or that talking about the trauma will make them feel even worse. Many more veterans may choose not to get help because of social factors, such as embarrassment and the fear of being seen as weak. Even though getting professional treatment is nothing to be ashamed about, there’s still a lot of stigma around mental health issues.
The Department of Defense has recognized this and is taking steps to eliminate stigma, such as no longer requiring servicemen to report having sought out mental health treatment for combat-related issues. More high-ranking personnel are also coming forward to share their experiences with PTSD, and what kind of treatment helped. When more veterans and active servicemen become transparent about their illnesses, this doesn’t just help destigmatize mental health issues, but also raises awareness. Though changing people’s perceptions about mental health care is an uphill battle, raising awareness is a powerful way to help veterans get on the road to recovery.
How To Support Veterans’ Mental Health
The support of the community is crucial to helping veterans recover. Veterans’ families, especially, should educate themselves on mental health issues that frequently affect veterans. Many experts agree that encouragement from their families can also help veterans overcome some common barriers to treatment, such as fear and shame.
Most people in the armed forces understand how important it is to take care of their bodies, but sometimes neglect the mental aspect of their health. If you are a veteran experiencing mental health problems, or if you think that a veteran family member may benefit from mental health treatment, seek help. Call Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 (1-800-273-TALK). This is a 24/7 toll-free, confidential hotline manned by mental health professionals. You may also text VA at #838255, or chat online with a counselor at www.VeteransCrisisLine.net.
Author Credit: Allie Oliver
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Ten years ago, Newsweek ran an article by Howard Brody, MD, PhD, author of “The Placebo Response: How You can Release Your Body’s Inner Pharmacy for Better Health.” He begins the article by telling a story of a patient who experiences “a medical miracle”. She was undergoing experimental brain surgery for her Parkinson’s disease. She was so stiff before she had the surgery that she could barely take a step. When several months later a TV new magazine filmed the woman, she was striding easily across the room.
Now here is the exciting part of the story – the surgery she had was a fake. She was part of a fetal-cell transplant research study. The procedure consisted of drilling holes into the skull and placing fetal cells into specific targeted areas of the brain.
The woman was placed under anesthesia and holes were drilled into her head. But,she did not have any fetal cells implanted into her brain. This meant that her miraculous recovery was entirely what is called the “nuisance factor” by researchers, or better known as – the placebo effect.
In the conclusion of the study, it was stated that the patients who received the sham operation realized almost the same effects as the ones who received the fetal cell implants. This is a powerfully important piece of information with regard to understanding that we can “tell ourselves” or implant messages into our conscious and unconscious mind about what we want to realize about our health or our lives and can manifest those very messages into reality.
The National Institute of Whole Health’s accredited health programs recognize that beliefs are powerful things and what we tell ourselves and others tell us can make us better or worse. We all have “our story” and we tell it over and over again both to ourselves and to others. We believe it, we expect it and we project it. When we change our beliefs and our story, we change the outcomes.
One of the better-known studies which demonstrates how changing our stories can change our outcomes (and our lives) is the 1980’s breast cancer support group study that was written up in the journal Advances. All of the women had breast cancer that had metastasize before the study began. Their prognosis was poor but they became a group who listened to each others stories, supported each other, cared about one another and helped each other manage their symptoms and disease. They also helped each other change their story.
It is not surprising that the women in this support group lived on average 18 months longer than breast cancer patients with the same degree of metastasis.
Join the conversation. If you enjoyed this article, be sure to follow NIWH on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates filled with useful accredited health program information for holistic nurses and health coaches.
It’s no secret that we Americans have reached an all time level of being “unhealthy”, thanks to an ever increasing stress-filled lifestyle. Despite widespread campaigns aimed at helping people stop smoking, eat better and exercise, the vast majority of Americans do not get regular exercise and are not eating enough fruits and vegetables. This has resulted in an explosion in obesity that has been sited as high as 63%, along with climbing rates of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other diseases associated with lifestyle and behavior choices.
As far back as 1996, Harvard Medical School published a 7- year study which confirms up to 70% of all cancer, heart disease, stroke and mature onset diabetes are preventable with lifestyle and behavior changes. And yet, the health of the wealthiest nation in the world continues to decline. Today the fastest growing population for obesity is found in children ages 4 to 8 years old.
Core factors for this epidemic amongst Americans can be found in one particular government study. In 2005, the Institute of Medicine published a major study identifying that ninety million Americans are “health illiterate.” This does not mean, in this Internet dominant society, that people do not have access to or are not receiving enough health information. It means that the majority of us do not know how to interpret or use the health information we receive to control or improve our health or prevent chronic disease.
Think of the last time you read the results of a new study in a magazine, and realized you did not know how to use that information to support or improve your health. In fact, data, presented to the American College of Health Care Executives identifies, “lack of information as the number one root cause of disease and death.” Yet, experts like Susan Edgman-Levatin, Executive Director, John D. Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital, acknowledges “It’s no secret that traditional methods of patient education are hopelessly ineffective.” To compound this, information on the Internet may or may not be reliable and is not crafted to explain the how and why our bodies become sick. We need to know the specifics of how to prevent illness not just what modalities, supplements or therapies can treat the condition.
The focus for this blog is to offer mini-tutorials in the science of whole person health and wellness education through, sharing with readers information that can provide tools, skills and knowledge to:
(1) understand why and how chronic illness or dis-ease manifests in our bodies
(2) what can you do to control and/or heal your chronic conditions
(3) what do these conditions represent with regard to your whole self – what are the physical, emotional, nutritional, environmental and spiritual aspects of your life communicating
This information, while evidence-based and scientific in nature, will be demystified and include a self-care perspective to allow any and all who read this blog to take away some nugget of insight, knowledge or a new perspective they can apply to their personal health and wellness choices. Be sure to check back weekly.
For more whole health discussions, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama. Also available on iHeartRadio.
Understanding the connection between brain function, cranial nerves, digestion and immune functions illuminates how and why dysfunction and “dis-ease” occur in the body. Just as our machines need electricity to operate, so do our internal organs and cells require electrical impulses to function. The degree to which a patient’s nervous system is balanced and well-functioning – or not – is the degree to which they are healthy and able to function at maximum capacity in the world. This is the key to how students of the accredited health program can guide their patients in using stress reduction to avoid, or reduce the symptoms of, chronic disease.
Many healing arts, such as acupuncture, yoga postures, meditation, chiropractic, breathing techniques, biofeedback, hypnosis, EMDR and others attempt to restore balance to the nervous system as the pathway to improving internal and external bodily function. These methods address the cause of the presenting condition, rather than just treating the pain or symptom of the bodily malfunction.
By looking more closely at the digestive system and its intimate relationship with the immune system and the nervous system, we can easily follow the pathway of how brain function and the nervous system can create a “whole body” systemic cascade of bodily reactions, which over time lead to chronic illness and disease. Our nervous systems are impacted by stressors; however, stress is not limited to just the emotional realm as many believe. The broader topic of stressors and adrenal function are explored throughout NIWH’s health coach and holistic nurse certification programs.
For now, keep in mind that when our stress or anxiety causes our limbic system to send biochemical messages to our cranial nerves, our digestive systems can be functionally affected. The anxiety and stress increases our adrenal function output, and this increase of adrenal hormones and steroids in turn decreases our digestive and immune system functions.
A written schematic would look like this:
Stressor = A limbic system response and/or increased adrenal cortisol secretion. = Decreased digestive function thru sympathetic cranial nerves (vagus nerve) and decreased immune (bone marrow) function.
The effect of a stressor on the body in the short term can be readily overcome by a healthy, adaptive nervous system. It is the longer stress–the chronic ongoing conditions and issues–that place wear and tear on our nervous systems and organs. It is this friction or wear and tear that leads to chronic illness.
By understanding the intimate dance of our body’s organs and systems and how to maintain a balanced, healthy nervous system we can help patients use stress reduction to avoid illness and chronic disease, and to live long, productive and disease free lives!
For more whole health discussions, listen to my weekly radio show Living Above The Drama. Also available on iHeartRadio.
