This time I am thinking about a topic near and dear to my heart. The effects of stress on our immune system and how that is connected to our overall gut and basic health. Heavy duty topic but here goes!
When I first started on my holistic health journey and found that even my basic primary MD was telling me to eliminate stress to improve my autoimmune health. No one however said HOW or WHAT this was all connected or what I was supposed to do. My thought as a single widowed parent in my 30s dealing with a family full of folks who put the FUN in dysfunctional was YEAH sure right! Not possible so give me a pill or a quick fix. This thought process landed me in the hospital in a thyroid storm from my undiagnosed Graves and Celiac disease when I was 35 years old. Not fun! My resting heart rate was 120 and I had a pulmonary specialist monitoring me in the ER. My life was misery walking. How did stress do this? What was the relationship? I knew at that time I was pushing myself beyond limits on all fronts but what choice did I have?
It took me many years to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but this was the start. My endocrinologist informed me I had always had this condition (Graves – an overactive thyroid) and to think back to when I had similar symptoms and what my circumstances (stressors) were during that time because that is when I would see it most. Oh, my was that an eye-opener! I can connect my worse autoimmune flare-ups to the environment and stress each time throughout my life and there was a handful that landed me in the hospital beginning as a child. What the HECK?
What is the science where is the proof? I set out to prove this theory and did some experimentation of eliminating things from my life at various times to lower my stress levels when experiencing health issues. People, Places, and Things mainly. With a combo of some yoga, slight diet changes, mild meds as well as monitoring my condition would go into remission. Curiouser and Curiouser I grew!
In the meanwhile, my gut was failing me, and I was unable to maintain remission without interventions. I was then diagnosed with severe colitis and celiac ack! So I began an organic and gluten-free diet experiment alongside my nutritionist and GI doc for support and monitoring. It was then that I was then introduced to Jinni Patel – a fantastic woman who has done a ton of research to put her Crohn’s disease into remission holistically. What a blessing because at that time traditional meds were making me even sicker due to the Gluten binders, little did I know, I just knew something was not right. Her holistic protocols saved my life! My doctor was very skeptical and concerned but agreed to monitor me carefully at every turn. And as a result of hard work and persistence, I showed small improvements, slow but sure. (Listen To Your Gut – Jinni Patel). And I am happy to report today that there is no sign of colitis or inflammation as of my last colonoscopy and only mild inflammation in the upper GI. Still investigating that front so that will be a future blog I suppose.
How is this possible? Did Stress put me in this state as well as environmental factors such as mold, pesticides, pollution, and negative energies? Well, I learned that the immune system is a mystery to most doctors. And as large an investigative area as the universe I was told by a top immunologist of a well-renowned teaching hospital. I had so many questions no one could answer at that time. And I did ask that is for sure!
Through my journey to health and well-being, I have become IIN certified health coach and took the course because I love the philosophy of PRIMARY foods are the most important and in combination with what you eat can either improve or drastically alter your overall health. These primary foods are your environment and all the items listed in the wheel of life exercise.
Some of the simple science behind the theory is that the immune system lives in the gut and the vagus nerve is the largest information highway of the body between the gut and the brain. When you are under stress a fight or flight response occurs which begins with the perception of a threat and hormones released in the gut and communicated to the brain and body for survival. We don’t so much need all of the overdrive of sugar and hormone levels that we needed to run for our lives in the caveman days so it’s a bit much when we experience these levels of intensity in the body and it breaks down the overall function and ability. I have spent years stuck in survival mode with all sensors blaring and breaking down the health of my body. When there is nothing to attack my body would then attack itself. And still will if I am in overdrive.
So how do we regulate? How do we shut down the fight or flight mode? Start SMALL and take baby steps – pick only one thing at a time to experiment with. If you get overwhelmed, you will likely quit and not realize the good effects of any of this.
Here are a few suggestions to pick one of and try for a bit of time:
· Elimination Cleanse Diet for 2 weeks (many online sources or email me for tips)
· Journaling
· Identify what you love and do it often!
· Laughter
· Meditation
· Hot Bath
· Cold Plunge
· Positive sounds – music and singing along or chanting.
· Have you taken the circle of life quiz? (see my home page links)
· Gentle Yoga Movement Practice
o Here’s an all-level yoga sequence for the vagus nerve. Demonstrations of poses can be found online.
• Several rounds of sun salutations
• Sun salutation leading into crescent pose
• Sun salutation leading into chair pose with a twist and arms stretched wide
• Triangle pose
• Reverse warrior pose
• Cat stretch
• Reverse tabletop
• Legs up the wall
• Reclined twist to the right and left
**Bonus: Include some singing, chanting, and/or breathwork.
That is all for now - Chat with you all soon in my next month's post. Hope this is a help to you. Be well and stay tuned for more!
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