Movement, sensation, emotion, and thought all use energy and nutrients for their processes. Neurotransmitter chemicals, hormones, and simply regenerating tissues require nutrients. Even thinking relies on biochemical processes. Everything we do or feel requires nutrients. Tension magnifies these demands.
Health & Nutrients Essentials
What we call stress is a reaction to excess demands. The more demands the less our bodies are able to detoxify. The reason for this is simple: we are designed so that running from lions is a much higher priority than digestion and elimination. Housekeeping functions, therefore, suffer when stress is intense. Nutrient stores are depleted from taking in things that are not healthful, and they are diminished by not getting what we need. Anything we eat, drink or breathe that we must detoxify demands nutrients to do so.
When these nutrients are not available, the body is stressed. Over time, this physical stress can cause mental and emotional stress. The building blocks for various functions have been used up, and the body has to compensate by using nutrients that may be needed somewhere else. The adrenal glands, for instance, can use nutrients required by the thyroid. Stress of any sort increases the need for excellent nutrition.
Total Load: How many straws would it take to break your camel’s back?
From a practical standpoint, every health concern is contributed to by total load, that is, how much we have going on versus how much we can handle. Everything that happens, in our bodies and in our lives, happens in a context. Total load is that context.
Almost every physical problem boils down to two things, too much or too little: We have what we shouldn’t have (pathogens, excesses, toxins, stress, etc.) or lack what we need (enzymes, vitamins, minerals, hormones, etc.) Getting rid of what we have too much of and building up what we have too little of both take place through biochemical processes. Some nutrients for these processes are stored or manufactured in the body.
Other “essential” nutrients cannot be manufactured and must be present in sufficient quantities in the diet for optimum health to be possible. Outside of too much and too little, our context or total load may include hereditary weaknesses, emotional or relational strain, repetitive movement or postural stresses, social or business pressures, sleep habits, and many other factors.
The bottom line is that the greater a load we are under, the more building blocks we need for biochemical processes. It is a practical fact that because we are an integrated unit, any healthy way that we can reduce our total load benefits us in the arenas of life that we are less able to influence directly.
Nutrition and Mental/Emotional Health
Getting optimal nutrition, avoiding things that cause a toxic build up, and getting exercise are crucial elements that contribute to feeling good. All emotional and mental disturbances become easier to resolve when we have a basis for profound physical vitality and ease, which are unlikely when the body lacks something critical or is toxic.
If you have mental and emotional distress, check the symptoms that are associated with blood sugar imbalances, protein and mineral deficiencies and consider the role deficiencies may play in your distress.
Blood Sugar and Mental/Emotional Health
Blood sugar imbalances have become extremely common due to modern lifestyle choices, causing mental and emotional distress, in addition to organ problems over time. When blood sugar problems are corrected through diet and supplements, many “emotional problems” simply disappear. Even when more help is necessary, people tend to respond much more quickly and easily with the foundation of correctly functioning physiology.
Key organs affected: adrenals, pancreas, and liver.
Secondary organs affected: thyroid, ovary, kidney, heart and bone.
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
Worrying - Depression
- Lack of concentration
- Craving for sweets
- Carbohydrate sensitivity
- Allergies
- Constant hunger
- Dizziness
- Exhaustion
- Fatigue
- Irritability
- Mental confusion
- Crying spells
- Nervousness
- Nightmares
- Indecision
- Inner trembling
- Paranoia
- Phobias
- Sinus problems
- Weight gain
- Inflammation
Sugar has been distilled away from the nutrients that occur with it in nature and is extremely concentrated. It therefore has to pull out nutrients from other foods or from the body to be metabolized. Sugar has been intensified into crystals almost like a drug, so it is not surprising that some people begin to crave it or become addicted to it, or that excess sugar can lead to profound physiological problems.
Digestion and Stability
Proteins and essential fatty acids help to balance the metabolism and stabilize both blood sugar and mood, keeping your energy level more even throughout the day. When you check amino acids you can see how essential to mental and emotional health proteins are, and understand how poor protein uptake can therefore affect well-being.
Many people have digestive impairment without having obvious symptoms. Many more have common symptoms that they are so used to having that they do not see them as problems, for instance, constipation, gas, or the inability to digest certain foods. When digestion is poor, trace minerals as well as proteins will be deficient. Mineral also impact mental and emotional health.
Basics
Avoiding sugar, alcohol and chemical exposure, eating fresh vegetables and foods with fiber, and drinking plenty of pure water (not unfiltered tap water) will go a long way to decrease toxicity in the body, as will exercise. These basics are often overlooked because we know about them and get in a habit of dismissing them. When put into practice over a period of time, they will be of tremendous benefit to mental and emotional health.
Simply Walking More
Walking is especially helpful for mental and emotional health. Walking increases serotonin, also increasing energy while it reduces stress, anxiety and insomnia. Getting adequate light–which also boosts serotonin– is a given while we walk. Walking helps to establish rhythm, which evens us out and invites ease. It also gives us a chance to step away from things, get a new view, and get more in touch with life.
Walking reduces many if not most medical risks, partly because it helps the lymphatic system and lungs to eliminate toxins. It raises metabolism, cuts the risk of heart disease in half, and helps prevent osteoporosis.
Make it simple. Just walk more.
