Many of us have become accustomed to a fast-paced lifestyle, struggling to find the right balance between work, rest and play.
But every time we stay a little later at work, decide an extra hour at a party won’t hurt or stay up working on an assignment until late, we are putting additional pressure on our bodies.
This, in particular, can affect our adrenal glands and lead to adrenal fatigue – which can lead to everything from weight gain and fatigue, to insomnia and mood swings.
The pace of life is not necessarily going to slow down but there are some small swaps everyone can make to ensure we’re in the best position to keep ourselves healthy.
With our daily lives more stressful than ever, taking a few simple steps can help us strike the right balance
ARE YOU BREATHING CORRECTLY?
Breathing – we should all know how to do this properly by now, right?
It’s not something we are very conscious of in our daily lives but how frequently, how deeply, and how effectively we breathe can impact our muscles and our health.
Breathing correctly means that our bodies are being supplied with the right amount of oxygen, replenishing our brain and other vital organs with essential nutrients.
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If you are not breathing correctly, your body can be robbed of oxygen, leading to a host of conditions.
Your skin can suffer as it is not receiving enough fresh oxygenated blood, your muscles can tire easily during a workout as they are not getting the right amount of oxygen and you can feel constantly tired and lethargic because there are not enough vital nutrients being carried in the blood.
You might be familiar with the term ‘apical breathing’ – a pattern of breathing which takes place in the upper chest.
Stress often changes the way we breathe as we get older.
How deeply, and how effectively we breathe can impact our muscles and our health. Not breathing properly can lead to neck ache and tension headaches
When we are stressed, our bodies operate on the ‘fight or flight’ response to whatever is scaring us.
This means we take short sharp breaths to help prepare for the ‘fight’ we will have to face.
But prolonged periods of stress mean we constantly breathe like this, only ever using the top third of our lungs. This causes us to breathe as if we were permanently hyperventilating.
When only our upper chest is used for breathing our other muscles aren’t engaged and the ones that are, are having to work twice as hard and put under more stress.
If you’re prone to neck ache or tension headaches, this won’t be helping.
Sally White, a chiropractor from McTimoney College, advises we get back to basics and breathe from the diaphragm.
‘Try diaphragmatic breathing, which uses the muscles from your lungs and abdomen,’ she says.
‘With so many muscles working together, intake and outtake of air are much more effective.’
TRY HIMALAYAN PINK SALT
Despite all of the bad press it receives, salt is an essential part of all human and animal life.
Our body uses salt to maintain some of its essential functions.
For starters, it helps our body to maintain its water balance, and is necessary for nerve signals to travel around the body.
However, too much salt can be harmful. ‘It’s particularly easy to get too much if you’re eating processed foods, which often contain hidden salt’, says Cassandra.
Salt helps our body to maintain its water balance, and is necessary for nerve signals to travel around the body. Himalayan pink salt contains small amounts of other valuable minerals too
‘So the number one step you can take is to switch to ‘real’ foods and home-prepared meals made with fresh ingredients.’
It can also be helpful to swap your standard table salt for Himalayan pink salt. ‘Whereas table salt is a refined form of sodium chloride, Himalayan pink salt is an unrefined salt, which also contains small amounts of other valuable minerals’, says Cassandra.
‘These minerals can help your body in numerous ways, including supporting adrenal function and bone strength.
‘However, it’s still primarily sodium chloride, so using it liberally – meaning you’re getting more than 6 grams a day in total – could still cause problems.’
SWAP PROTEIN SHAKE FOR SPIRULINA
It’s common for gym-goers to load up on protein by consuming shakes several times a day, especially when looking to build muscle.
However, nutritionist Cassandra Barns says protein is not the only ingredient vital for those wanting a good work out.
She says it is vital we replenish other vitamins and minerals and suggests spirulina is the perfect way to do this.
‘We don’t only need protein and carbohydrates for muscle gain and for energy; we also need a full spectrum of micronutrients – vitamins and minerals.
Spirulina is a natural algae which has become known as a superfood because it’s a great source of natural vitamins and minerals and can help reduce inflammation
‘These micronutrients also help protect against the effects of stress, especially B vitamins and magnesium.’
Try swapping one of your daily protein shakes for a green ‘superfood’ such as spirulina.
‘Spirulina is a blue-green algae that’s become known as a superfood because it’s a good natural source of vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants,’ says Cassandra.
‘What’s more, these nutrients are in their natural form rather than a synthetic form, so our body can assimilate and use them more easily than it can from a multivitamin tablet.
Green foods such as spirulina may also help to balance pH in the body and help to reduce inflammation, as well as supporting energy.’
Try Pukka Herbs’ organic Essential Spirulina Powder
START THE DAY CALMLY
The alarm goes off. You’re not ready to get up so you hit the snooze button.
Setting an alarm for the same time every day can make our bodies get used to waking up before it goes off
You drift back to sleep. Repeat.
For those of us who set the alarm for the same time every day, our bodies get used to waking an hour before our alarms go off.
Our sleep becomes lighter, our bodies get warmer, and cortisol our stress hormone starts kicking in.
Cortisol gives us the momentum to get up and go in the morning but by hitting snooze and falling back to sleep, we are denying our bodies the hour they need to wake up, therefore confusing our stress hormone.
Instead of hitting snooze for 20 minutes, why not get up and take 20 minutes for yourself.
Pukka Herbs’ co-founder Tim Westwell says he starts the day by taking 20 -30 minutes to practice yoga or meditate.
‘I try to close inwards before the day starts outwards.
‘I have a bit of a love hate relationship with routine but I know that by taking some time out in the morning I have an opportunity to create the stillness I need before the day starts.’
SWAP COFFEE FOR GREEN TEA
Caffeine doesn’t have to be bad for you, you just need to be smart about where you get your intake from.
Most of us have plenty of stress in our lives. When we feel tired or drained – often as a result of the stress itself – we reach for coffee to give ourselves an energy boost.
But high doses of caffeine and other stimulating substances found in coffee can actually cause our body to make more stress hormones, further increasing the stress response.
Nutritionist Cassandra Barns says: ‘Green tea does contain some caffeine, but less than coffee.
‘But the primary reason that tea can be a better choice when we’re stressed is thanks to its content of a natural substance called L-theanine, which is virtually unique to the tea plant.
‘L-theanine has been found to have a relaxing effect on the mind, reduce anxiety, and help with focus and concentration.
‘It’s thought to do this by increasing alpha waves in the brain, which are associated with being ‘calm but alert’.’
High doses of stimulants like caffeine can cause our body to make more stress hormone cortisol, further increasing levels of stress