About Me
- Donna
- The HC Wellness Center offers both traditional and alternative therapies to assist clients in achieving optimal health, wellness and balance. Featuring as its principle service Colon Hydrotherapy, formerly seen only at fine spas and destination resorts, HC Wellness Center & Spa is one of the first to offer this valuable wellness service to the Charlotte Metropolitan and surrounding areas. HC Wellness Center & Spa is a premier North Carolina spa providing the most luxurious, and beneficial wellness and beauty services available to the Charlotte Metropolitan and surrounding areas. Established in 2004 with the vision of combining traditional spa treatments, that promote relaxation and well being, with the most advanced skin, body and wellness services. The HC Spa supplies a moment of luxury for your body, mind and spirit. Here nature and science meet harmoniously as the finest massage, skin care and spa treatments await you.
Showing posts with label Stress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stress. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
BLUE CHRISTMAS?
|
Tips for Coping with: Stress,
Depression & the Holidays
Stress
and depression can ruin your holidays and hurt your health. Being realistic,
planning ahead and seeking support can help
ward off stress and depression.
When
stress is at its peak, it's hard to stop and regroup. Try to prevent stress and
depression in the first place, especially if the holidays have taken an
emotional toll on you in the past.
5. Know your budget. Before you go gift and food shopping,
decide how much money you can afford to spend. Then stick to your
budget.
6. Remember why we give gifts. Don't try
to buy happiness or "one-up" others with an avalanche of gifts. Be creative,
personalize gifts to each individual and it will make them feel special. Don't
go out of your way to buy gifts for every living relative or every kid in your
child's class. If you must provide gifts for people you're not close to, stick
with the basics and your budget. Gift
Cards and Gift Certificates are an easy way to ensure
this.
7. Plan ahead. Set aside specific days for shopping, baking, visiting friends and other activities. Plan your menus and then make your shopping list. That'll help prevent last-minute scrambling to buy forgotten ingredients. And make sure to line up help for party prep and cleanup. 8. Learn to say no. Saying yes when you should say no can leave you feeling resentful and overwhelmed. Friends and colleagues will understand if you can't participate in every project or activity. If it's not possible to say no when your boss asks you to work overtime, try to remove something else from your agenda to make up for the lost time.
9. Remember your healthy habits. Don't
let the holidays become a free-for-all. Overindulgence only adds to your stress
and guilt.Try these suggestions:
10.
Give of Yourself. Sometimes your time and attention is the best
possible gift. During this time it's easy to be distracted and ignore others.
Set aside time for each of your kids, your spouse, your dearest friend,
etc. Donating
your time to a charity is also a great gift to your community as well.
Celebrate what the holidays were intended for, happiness and family, and
pass along the good cheer.
11. Take
"ME" time. Make some
time for yourself. Spending just 15 minutes alone, without distractions, may
refresh you enough to handle everything you need to do. Find something that
reduces stress by clearing your mind, slowing your breathing and restoring inner
calm.
12. Let It
Go. Sometimes we get annoyed with others when they offer to help. Other
times we ignore them because YOU have to do everything -OR- "they just wont do
it the right way". Create a list of the important tasks that only you can truly
handle and delegate the remaining to others. Remember, no one is perfect...and
stressing yourself out will only show this. People want to help this time of
year, often they feel uncomfortable if they cant (especially if their guests).
So help these folks out, stress less and learn to let go!
Take control of the holidays
Don't
let the holidays become something you dread. Instead, take steps to prevent the
stress and depression that can descend during the holidays. Learn to recognize
your holiday triggers, such as financial pressures or personal demands, so you
can combat them before they lead to a meltdown. With a little planning and some
positive thinking, you can find peace and joy during the holidays.
Feel free to call our office at 704-823-1577 |
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Are you troubled by: Crohn's? Colitis? Celiac? Irritable Bowel?
Are you troubled by:
Crohn's? Colitis? Celiac?
Irritable Bowel?
Millions of Americans
suffer from inflammatory bowel diseases (lBDs) like Crohn's and ulcerative colitis.
Millions more suffer from Celiac disease
and irritable bowel
syndrome (lBS). If you're one of those millions, this newsletter will provide
you with practical tips to help ease your gastrointestinal distress and find
lasting relief.
Inflammatory
Bowel Disease
Finding Lasting
Relief from Gastrointestinal Inflammation
The term Inflammatory
Bowel Disease (IBD) is a broad term referring to any disease characterized by
inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. The two most
common types of these diseases are Crohn's and ulcerative
colitis. Both of these conditions can make your life miserable with
symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal cramps, rectal
bleeding, fever, joint pain, loss of appetite and fatigue, not to mention
fistulas and complications that can require surgery to remove part or all of
the colon. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that about 1.4
million Americans suffer from IBD, and 10% of those are
children.
The main
difference between Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis is the location and nature of the inflammation.
Crohn's can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, from mouth to anus, although
most cases start in the ileum. Ulcerative
colitis is restricted to the colon and the rectum. Microscopically, ulcerative
colitis is restricted to the epithelial lining of
the gut, while Crohn's disease affects the entire wall of the
bowel.
Celiac
Disease and Gluten Intolerance
A closely
related problem is Celiac disease. This is also a
condition involving gut inflammation, but is an
autoimmune disorder involving an intolerance to gluten. Gluten is
the protein in wheat (and other grains like rye and barley) that
makes dough elastic. Celiac disease tends to run in families (suggesting genetic
origins) and, like other autoimmune conditions, can be triggered by a
physical stress such as surgery, pregnancy, childbirth and viral infection. Sometimes, severe
emotional stress can set it in motion.
In Celiac disease the
immune system damages the microvilli, the tiny protrusions
in the small intestines necessary for proper absorption of
nutrients. This can lead to malnutrition in spite of the nutrients one is
consuming in food. Symptoms of Celiac disease include
recurring abdominal bloating and pain, chronic
diarrhea, foul-smelling, greasy or discolored stool, weight loss, anemia, bone pain, fatigue,
delayed growth and failure to thrive in children and infants.
People who do not have
Celiac disease may still have an intolerance to gluten, causing intestinal
inflammation and immune system problems. This is called gluten sensitivity
and probably plays a role in IBD, which is why we
are including information about Celiac disease in this
newsletter, even though it is not considered an IBD.
Leaky
Gut Syndrome
Diseases involving
inflammation of the intestines damage intestinal membranes and increase their
permeability, allowing partially digested proteins, fats and
waste, not normally absorbed, to leak from the intestines into the blood stream. This
condition is known as leaky gut syndrome. This is why IBD and
Celiac disease can be the root causes of other
autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis and rheumatoid
arthritis. They may also contribute to allergies, asthma, depression, irritability and even "mental" illness.
Incidentally, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and
irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are quite different. Unlike IBD, IBS does
not cause inflammation, ulcers or other
damage to the bowel. In IBS, the digestive system looks normal
but doesn't work as it should. Symptoms of IBS, once referred to as "spastic
colon," include painful cramping, bloating, gas, mucus in the stool,
diarrhea and constipation. However, IBS can have similar root causes to IBD, so some of the
natural remedies discussed inside may be helpful for IBS as well.
Healing the Gastrointestinal
Tract
Even though lBD (ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease), Celiac disease and IES
are different, they have common root causes and natural therapies. So, we're
going to discuss all of them in this newsletter. However, in
working with these conditions, especially lBD and Celiac, it is important
to get a proper medical diagnosis and to have medical supervision, as these
illnesses can cause life-threatening health problems.
To understand how to work with
these conditions naturally we need to understand what causes them, as natural healing is all about
fixing causes rather than treating effects. Even
though medical science has not fully understood the causes, we
can extrapolate some of the causes by looking at
risk factors.
Although it is well established that
intolerance to gluten (which may have genetic roots) is the direct cause of the symptoms of Celiac disease, the
intolerance to gluten often appears to lie dormant until something
triggers it. Furthermore, many of the same factors that trigger Celiac disease also
trigger lBD, which include diet, the use of certain drug medications
and emotional stress. Here are some of the triggers.
Risk
Factors for Intestinal
Inflammation
People who live in Western countries have a
higher risk for developing lBD than people in other
countries. However, as countries industrialize and adopt Western diets and lifestyles, lBD increases. So, there is
definitely a lifestyle cause.
Smokers are at higher
risk of developing Crohns disease, whereas they are at lower risk of developing ulcerative colitis. Research has linked
long-term oral contraceptive use to a higher risk of both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's. Other drugs, such as isotretinoin (Accutane),
could also play a role. Pain-relieving NSAIDs (like ibuprofen) can worsen lBD symptoms
but are not thought to increase the risk of
getting the disease initially.
One Japanese
study reported an increased risk of Crohn's disease for
women who consume a lot of animal and milk
proteins. Other studies report a possible link to overconsumption of foods
high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which suggests a lack
of omega-3 essential fatty acids may be involved.
A big factor may
be the balance of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. Healthy intestines contain trillions of good bacteria or friendly flora.
These organisms play a role in digesting certain foods
(especially dairy), protecting the body from infection and regulating the immune responses.
Antibiotics and other drugs can disrupt the
balance of these intestinal bacterial, as can infections with
harmful bacteria such as salmonella and campylobacter. Both of these bacteria have been associated with lBD.
They are ingested in contaminated food and are responsible for thousands of cases of
food poisoning each year.
Since stress can trigger
these bowel disorders, it's possible they may have emotional triggers, too. Adrenal fatigue results in lower levels of
cortisol, which controls inflammation. Also, stress can be a factor in the regulation of
the immune system, which may aggravate the autoimmune factor in intestinal inflammation.
Strategies
for Healing the Intestines
The following measures have shown to help bring Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis under control. Many of these same strategies will help Celiac disease.
Adopt a Paleo Diet
Just a few thousand years ago, practically all human
beings lived on what has been called the hunter-gatherer or paleo diet. These
people simply collected the foods nature provided, which
means they ate wild game and fish, raw milk and wild plant foods. Grain was not a significant part of
this diet, and what grains and seeds were consumed were typically soaked and/or fermented before consumption. In addition,
foods were not sterilized, so people had a wider range of gut microflora (probiotics)
than people do today.
As mankind learned to
farm, diets changed. Today, we consume a large amount of grain and simple
sugars. The meat and dairy products
we consume are also raised on grain instead of grass. Dairy products are no longer whole and raw. Naturally fermented
foods and other foods containing probiotics are not consumed. These changes in diet are probably the underlying cause of all of
these diseases of the intestines.
The place to start is to avoid
all gluten-bearing grains,
which include wheat (including bulgur, durum flour, farina, graham
flour, semolina), barley (including malt, malt flavoring and malt vinegar), rye, triticale, spelt and kamut. This is an absolute necessity when working with Celiac disease, but it can also be helpful
for lBD.
Usually rice, corn,
amaranth, buckwheat, millet and quinoa will be OK because they don't
contain gluten. However, some people have found that in the beginning stages of therapy, it can be helpful to
avoid all grains to give the intestines a better chance to heal. Many people
also find it's a good idea to avoid all legumes (beans, soy products, lentils
and peas) as well.
It may also be necessary to avoid all dairy products. Some people will do all right with
cultured dairy like yogurt and cheese, but many people have to eliminate all dairy foods. It is also important to avoid
eating refined sugars of all kinds and may even be helpful to eliminate honey, maple syrup and sugary fruits. In addition, people with lBD
and IBS should avoid products sweetened with manitol, sorbitol and xylitol.
Ideally, the diet should
include servings of meat from grass-fed animals, eggs from pasture-raised
chickens, wild-caught fish and game, and lots of vegetables, particularly non-starchy ones like zucchini, greens (such as mustard greens, beet greens, Swiss chard and kale), broccoli, cauliflower and
cabbage. Good fats, like butter from grass-fed cows, coconut oil and avocados are also acceptable.
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