Overcoming stress is not just mental! In fact, it may require nutritional intervention!
“To meet the nutritional demands of stress must be the first consideration in planning any diet, regardless of whom it is for, and in coping with any disease, regardless of its nature. If the body’s reaction to stress is understood and the diet can be adjusted accordingly, the problem of achieving health is often largely solved.”
What is stress?
Stress would be any condition that harms the body or damages, breaks down, or causes the death of few or many cells is defined as stress. If the diet is adequate, repair quickly occurs but when rebuilding fails to keep pace with destruction, illness is produced. Disease results from multiple stresses such as anxiety, overwork, perhaps bacterial or viral attacks, and inadequate diet, sleep, and exercise. Unfortunately, it usually brings on numerous other stresses: poor appetite, nausea, vomiting, faulty absorption, fever, pain, diarrhea, dehydration, high urinary losses of many nutrients, exposure to x-rays, and the use of drugs.
In the same way that it requires more material for the repair of a damaged house than for the upkeep of one in good condition, every nutrient is needed in larger amounts to repair a body damaged by the multiple stresses that cause disease and result from it. For example, the stress – or damage – caused by x-raying an animal or by giving it any one of many commonly used drugs increases the need for protein, linoleic acid, several minerals and Vitamin A, C and all the B Vitamins. Presumably the same is true of humans.
Regardless of the forms of stress, the body immediately tries to repair damage done, but it cannot unless all nutrients are generously supplied. The nutritional needs increase tremendously at the very time eating is most difficult, and a diet adequate for a healthy individual becomes markedly inadequate for an ill one.
The Body’s Reaction to Stress
The body’s reaction to stress. The great medical genius Dr Hans Selye, of the University of Montreal, revolutionized medical thinking with his theory, now confirmed by thousands of scientific studies, that the body reacts to every variety of stress in the same way. At the onset of stress, a tiny gland at the base of the brain, the pituitary – the boss of the repair crew – starts protective action by secreting chemical messengers, or hormones, ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) and STH (somatotropichormone ). These hormones, carried in the blood to two small glands above the kidneys – the adrenals – cause the outside border of these glands – or cortex – to produce cortisone and other messengers. Although the central area of the adrenals manufactures adrenaline, the adrenal hormones referred to are those made by the cortex – cortisone.
These adrenal cortex hormones quickly prepare the body to meet the emergency: Proteins, at first drawn from the thymus and lymph glands, are broken down to form sugar necessary for immediate energy; the blood sugar soars and the remaining sugar is stored in the liver in the form of body starch, or glycogen, which can be instantly converted into sugar if needed, the blood pressure increases, minerals are drawn from the bones, fat is mobilized from storage depots, an abnormal amount of salt is retained, and many other changes take place which prepare the body for “fight or flight”, These changes also make it possible to repair vital tissue by a process of robbing Peter to pay Paul. This stage, called the “alarm reaction”, varies in intensity with the degree of stress.
If the stress continues, the body sets up a stage of resistance in which it repairs itself by rebuilding with all the raw materials at hand. When the diet is adequate a person may go for years withstanding tremendous stress with little apparent harm. Should the raw materials be insufficient to meet the needs, however, there comes a stage of exhaustion. Disease develops, if it has not already done so, and eventually death threatens or results.
The first two stages of stress are characterized by constant damage and repair but most illnesses fall into stage three, which is reached when repair fails. Intense stress, such as drastic surgery, a serious car accident, or severe burn, may cause a person to pass through all three stages – alarm, resistance and exhaustion – in a single day. More often we experience repeated “alarm reactions” and live through hundreds of ‘stages of resistance’, one piled on top of the other, before pituitary and adrenal exhaustion threatens our lives. During every illness, however, we are in one of these three stages of stress, and to regain our health our diets must be planned accordingly.”
Anti-Stress Formula for Stress Relief
Adelle Davis also has the following to say about her famous Anti-Stress Formula:
“The anti stress formula. During acute illness, take with each meal, between each meal, before going to sleep, and approximately every 3 hours during the night if awake, always with fortified milk (please note that she was referring to good quality milk – not modern-day stuff that is labelled milk) to supply the necessary protein, 500 milligrams of vitamin C, 100 milligrams of pantothenic acid, and at least 2 milligrams each of vitamins B2 and B6. These vitamins can be obtained separately or in a single tablet. They should be continued until improvement is marked. A soon as the acute stage had passed, decrease the amounts.
For mild abnormalities , half the foregoing quantities may be taken 6 times daily, although larger amounts of vitamin C would be needed during infection and/or if medication is used.”
As an alternative, this Nutrition Program can be used – it is based on Adelle Davis data. It is probably the most optimum way to handle or prevent the stress.
With thanks to Adelle Davis.
Please note that calcium and magnesium are both vital to dealing with stress. To order Instant CalMag-C, click here.
DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this article or e-mail is meant to treat, diagnose, prevent or cure any medical condition. This information is not a substitution for medical care provided by a licensed medical doctor. It is solely for educational purposes.