This week on The Health Made Simple Show, Dr. Bart discusses stress and anxiety.

We will cover what causes stress, our top tips for managing stress today, and some simple action steps you can take to reduce anxiety and feel superhuman!

Also, we will provide you with a list of the most impactful supplements on the market that you can use to combat your anxiety and stress!

 

1. What is Anxiety?

• Anxiety is not a diagnosis. It is a description of how you are feeling.
• The symptoms range from nervousness and tiredness to an increased heart rate and an inability to make a decision or finish a task.
• Our body has two different parts of our nervous system. The first is the sympathetic nervous system, which controls are our drive, energy, and manages our fight or flight response. The second is our parasympathetic nervous system, which allows us to rest, digest, recover, and rebuild.
• It is a pendulum that is swinging. We can not have both at the same time.
• We get stuck in the sympathetic nervous system, which drives a chemical imbalance in our body, specifically serotonin, which prohibits our ability to look forward to things.
• This can disrupt our sleep schedule, inhibit the function of our adrenal glands, cause emotional issues, and negatively impact our daily lives.

2. Strategies for Overcoming Anxiety

• Recognize that everything becomes a stimulus. Anything you take into your life from food to music causes our body to interpret it and respond to it.
• We must be aware of what is coming into our lives and manage it. When we have an emotional response to a stimulus, it compounds the impact.
• We must narrow the edges and develop an awareness of how the stimulus’ in our lives are impacting us.
• A great way to make an immediate change is to limit the intake of social media, negative media, and challenging relationships.

 

3. How Does Sleep Impact Anxiety?

• Often those experiencing anxiety experience difficulty sleeping.
• We heal when we sleep. While sleeping, we restore the neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and dopamine.
• We should be able to take a long, deep breath through our nose filling up our belly first and then our chest. Also, our exhale should be twice as long as our inhale. This breathing technique is a great way to relax in the evening. 
• Any breathing technique that provides our ability to relax is a great resource.

4. Should We Take Melatonin to Fall Asleep?

• The short answer is no.
• By taking melatonin, we begin to practice hormone replacement therapy, shutting down our natural production.
• Though something may be effective, it does not mean it helps us on our journey to becoming superhuman.
• By using melatonin, we are avoiding the root problem and just using symptom management.
• We should be getting up with the morning light and going to bed after the sun sets. 

5. How Does Nutrition Impact Anxiety?

• Your pineal gland makes two essential hormones which are melatonin and serotonin. These hormones help to regulate sleep and manage our anxiety!
• Tryptophan is an amino acid that is often found in animal proteins, such as turkey and eggs. This amino acid crosses the blood-brain barrier and helps the pineal gland produce melatonin and serotonin.
• The brain needs tryptophan to function correctly! Our digestive system plays a crucial role in ensuring that these nutrients get to the mind. This is why a proper diet is essential!

6. What Supplements Help with Anxiety?

• Ashwagandha is an adaptogen herb that affects the HP access and calms down the pineal gland. It is a natural and gentle approach that quickly improves our emotions and our ability to adapt to our environment. 
• Ashwagandha is often combined with skullcap, Korean ginseng, and licorice root to enhance the effectiveness and move us out of sympathetic dominance. This is known as Ashwagandha complex.
• It is okay to double up the dose when you are going through a difficult period. It should be taken three times per day.
• A mineral that can be used for grounding ourselves is Min-Chex. This can begin to heal the biochemistry of our body as we continue to take it and is Dr. Bart’s secret weapon for anxiety!
• Kavaforte is a supplement that is a natural muscle relaxer and works within 15 minutes to downregulate our nervous system and reduce our anxiety.
• Kavaforte is a water-based kava that is safe for the liver.
• These are not long-term solutions but are tools that allow us to get back to our superhuman self.

7. Making Health Simple

1. Develop an awareness that everything can become a stimulus.
2. We need to Sleep and breathe properly. 
3. Fix your biochemistry through the use of supplements.

- What’s Next?

We have put together a dashboard of all of Dr. Bart’s videos, based on health topics, in our Level-Up Health Membership.

This library of health content is low cost, so we can help you on your journey to becoming superhuman! 

Not only is it extensive, but it will continue to expand with new videos each month. Also, you will have the opportunity to share these videos with your friends and family!

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Medically reviewed and written by:

Dr. Bart Precourt

Founder of  The Health Made Simple Show
Doctor of Chiropractic

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