Natrual Ways to Reduce Anxiety – Part 1
Anxiety is very comman and from time to time its perfectly natural. However when it becomes excessive then its time to do something about it. There are several types of anxiety
- General anxiety disorder
- Panic attacks or panic disorder
- Phobias
- Obsesive compulsive disorders
Cognitive Behavioural therapy, a form of counscelling is on one of the most effective long term treatments for anxiety-related disorders.
Over the next few blog articles I want to share some natural ways that may help.
Passionflower (Passiflora Incarnata), a herb has been used for centuries as a mind calmer and mood boster. There is strong evidence it is effective and in one study it was just as effective as the anti-anxiety drug, oxazepam for generalised anxiety.
Reference
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The relationship between vitamin D and your immune system
A growing body of scientific evidence shows that vitamin D plays a crucial role in disease prevention and maintaining optimal health. You have about 30,000 genes in your body and vitamin D affects nearly 3,000. This is in addition to all the vitamin D receptors through out your body. Inflammation is the body's attempt at self-protection; the aim being to remove harmful stimuli, including damaged cells, irritants, or pathogens. While inflammation is a vital part of the body's immune response, it can also be problematic and plays a role in some chronic diseases e.g asthma, arthritis. Researchers investigated specific signalling events that vitamin D suppresses in order to inhibit inflammation. Research published in The Journal of Immunology called it the "inflammatory cascade"; low vitamin D levels failed to inhibit the cascade while adequate levels did the job. Researchers concluded that patients with chronic inflammatory diseases who are also vitamin D deficient may benefit from supplementation. Researchers in Turkey, reported in the international Journal of Rheumatic Diseases that chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain is improved with vitamin D. Fibromyalgia sufferers and other patients with chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain were given 50,000 iu/week oral vitamin D3 for three months. Afterwards scientists discovered decreases in pain, fatigue upon awaking, lack of energy, tender points and depression. Significantly there were 30 Fibromyalgia patients at the beginning of the study and only 20 at the end! Next week I want to look at the relationship between low vitamin D levels and common ailments. References Zhang Y, et al. (2012). Vitamin D Inhibits Monocyte/Macrophage Proinflammatory Cytokine Production by Targeting MAPK Phosphatase-1. The Journal of Immunology.
Yilmaz, R., Salli, A., Cingoz, H. T., Kucuksen, S. and Ugurlu, H. (2016), Efficacy of vitamin D replacement therapy on patients with chronic nonspecific widespread musculoskeletal pain with vitamin D deficiency. Int J Rheum Dis.
Is slouching that bad for you? – part 3
Modern man is born to slouch. But he rarely considers the long term potential consequences:
In addition it may also make you... Sad and Shy A study of 110 students by San Francisco State University last year found those who walked with a slouched body posture reported feeling more depressed and having lower energy levels than those who were more upright. Study leader Erik Peper, a professor of health education at the university, says sitting or standing up straight with shoulders back does not just give other people a good impression, but also sends a message to the brain that makes us feel better about ourselves. ‘We tend to think the brain and body relationship goes one way. In fact, the passages go both ways. ‘When you choose to put your body in a different mode, it’s harder to drop into depression.’ Meanwhile, in a 2007 study at Colorado College, students with the best sitting posture felt more confident — and scored significantly higher on tests — than those who sat slumped. Interestingly, though, the trend was only true for male students. Women felt more confident if they’d slouched, possibly because men tend to determine how they feel according to internal cues, while women think more about how they look to others — for them an upright posture made them feel pressured and self-conscious. So sit up straight!
