Chronic illness which exhibits itself as a recurring disease, with
lingering and lasting symptoms is a growing pandemic amongst people
today. The question is how much of this is due to neglect on the basics
of healthy living? Today’s fast paced life style could be a factor for
these reoccurring problems. For example, we pride ourselves on keeping
five things in the air at the same time; this has caused us to slip
from eating three healthy meals per day to drinking a slim fast or
popping a diet pill to keep going. Moving away from proper diet and
nutrition may be the reason our bodies are breaking down today
resulting in chronic illnesses.
Whether you are free from or burdened by illness it is time to take
charge of your health! The first thing one can do is basic research.
Studies on dietary supplements in scientific and medical research are
an ongoing process both in the United States and internationally. If
you are interested in finding citations on a particular chronic illness
or research that is available I recommend looking at government
agencies such as (i) The Office of Dietary Supplements, (ii) The
National Institutes of Health (NIH), (iii) The National Agricultural
Library (NAL), and (iv) United States Department of agriculture (USDA).
It is also possible to obtain research abstracts from different major
databases such as MEDLINE for biomedical related articles and AGRICOLA
for botanical and agricultural science. To find these different
databases and governmental agencies, search google using the respective
agency/database name.
Research shows that stress reduction can help to improve energy levels,
improve sleep quality, and reduce high blood pressure. The following
are some suggestions for reducing stress:
Reducing stress is as simple as the following:
Exercise:
1. Weight lifting is not just about barbells and muscle-building but about stressing the body as a means for relieving stress.
2. Cardiovascular exercises such as jogging and bicycling.
3. Exercise is helpful by increasing blood flow to the brain, release
of hormones, stimulates the nervous system and produces a feeling of
well being.
Eating healthy including supplementation:
1. Vitamin C or ascorbic acid has the ability to boost the immune
system. Vitamin C also helps to produce neurotransmitters by converting
L-Tyrosine into dopamine. Along with dopamine, ascorbic acid also
synthesizes norepinephrine and serotonin which have been found to be
directly related to control anxiety and depression.
2. B-Vitamins are also the important for reducing stress. For example,
Niacin (Vitamin B3) helps the body fight stress in three ways, (i)
controls blood sugars, (ii) improves blood flow and (iii) regulates the
release of energy from carbohydrates.
Stress is a state of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors
which are an unavoidable effect of living. Stress has been linked to
coronary heart disease, psychosomatic disorders and various other
mental and physical problems. Reducing stress is essential and can be
done through diet and exercise. Nutritional science studies the
relationship between diet and states of health and disease. Nutritional
science has found human nutrition is very complex and varies widely and
proper nutrition cannot be obtained by simply eating three meals a day
because quite simply the average person just does not eat well. If you
eat less than five servings of fruits and vegetables daily it is
impossible to obtain all of the vitamins and minerals your body needs.
In order to seek assurance that you are getting all your body needs I
suggest you take a good multiple vitamins which supplies at least 100
percent of the daily value for various vitamins and minerals. It is a
good idea however to discuss with your doctor the best choices as he or
she knows your history and specific health needs best.
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