Best Ways to Avoid Stress

How do you handle stress? Do you know the impact and relationship it has with your health and wellness? The #DynamicDuo talk mental health and wellness, self-care, and other forms of stress reduction.

Are there indicators of chronic stress?

Chi: Chronic stress can show up in so many different ways. Assuming all of a sudden, you show up with a rash, and you dunno where it came from, check with your doctor. There could be something going on because sometimes your body shuts down and all of a sudden it begins to manifest in different ways. You, all of a sudden you can’t produce histamines. Which are used to block allergens from the environment. Or all of a sudden, you are losing or gaining weight. Something will be going on or weight gain. Sometimes even your color, your skin color begins to change.

What part does sugar play in causing stress?

Chi: Nutrition is a big piece of who you are and actually how you feel. Limiting things like processed foods, processed sugars, simple sugars will reduce stress. If you have a sweet tooth, like a lot of people do instead of doing simple sugars, like processed sugars, over 75% of what you’re find in the stores have added sugars and additives in them, try to learn how to find your natural sugars from fruits, from vegetables, from raw, getting it from different kinds of natural source. Those who kept eating the processed foods still maintained levels of their anxiety and stress.

How are professionals, such as psychologists, helping people with increased stress?

TFal: Many of our colleagues in psychiatry who are managing people on medications are now realizing that, in addition to medication, altering our gut bacteria we can synthesize a lot of good hormones. Think about Turkey, right? Eat Turkey and after you eat it you feel relaxed. There are foods that actually help your body release these hormones but processed foods do not allow your body to release these relaxing hormones. They are also realizing exercise and physical activity decreases stress because it helps release natural endorphins and hormones. Those

hormones allow you to feel your best, allow you to sleep better, allow you to be a better friend, a better spouse, a better partner, a better sister, dad, mom, and all that.