Health Challenges of the Holidays 

The season brings lots of festivities, and it often brings on extra stress, too. Routines change, and shopping for gifts adds to busy schedules. Many of us overdo it with alcoholic drinks and fatty foods. Eating sugary, processed foods lowers immunity, and leaves blood sugar at unhealthy levels. People may get less sleep and neglect their exercise routines. Rates of depression also go up during December and January. 

These stressors can lead to illness, muscle and joint pain, headaches, fatigue, trouble sleeping, and weight gain. But being proactive can significantly reduce the effects of stress on your body.

Plan Ahead to Fight the Effects of Stress

Setting some goals for coping with the holiday season provides a framework for navigating the disruption in routines.

Balanced nutrition. Set limits on your intake of alcohol and drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration. Enjoy a few holiday treats, and remember that the first five bites taste better than the last five! 

Sleep. Committing to getting 7-8 hours a night keeps your immune system functioning properly and helps you cope with stress. Follow the latest advice to keep devices with glowing screens out of the bedroom to establish the sleep hormones you need for a restful night.

Exercise. Moving and getting your heart rate up every day is a big stress reliever. Plan a time each day for a workout or simply a brisk walk.

Adding a chiropractor visit to your holiday season plan will ensure your body is in the alignment it needs to reach your planned health goals.

How Chiropractic Care Helps You Cope with Stress

Chiropractic treatments help you balance mind and body, especially important during busy, stressful times. 

When people are under stress, their blood pressure and heart rate often go up. Research has found that chiropractic adjustments and massage therapies improve heart rate and lower blood pressure. 

Another positive benefit of a visit to your chiropractor is that it naturally relieves pain, avoiding the side effects, and extra medication costs.

Chiropractic adjustments restore the alignment of your spinal system and your ability to move freely and properly. This allows beneficial hormones to aid the functioning of the nervous system. You feel greater energy, enabling you to experience better-quality exercise and sleep—and less stress.

Make Your Complimentary Appointment at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic

Call the welcoming staff in our Broken Arrow office at (918) 940-4630. We’re happy to answer any questions you have about heading into the new year on the right track to better health, naturally.

The post Be Proactive to Reduce Effects of Holiday Stress first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Everyone knows that December usually brings about an increase in stress. An increased risk of heart attacks stems from the added pressure of buying gifts, financial strains, and increased consumption of sugar, salt, and alcohol. Most people will not suffer a heart attack but will still acknowledge that their stress levels increase during this time of year. People whose bodies enter the holiday season in a state of high stress due to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and poor overall health become that much more susceptible to a heart-related incident.

An initial step towards better health begins with acknowledging and recognizing some inevitable stressors which come with the holidays. Avoid adding guilt and stress by planning ahead to begin or maintain an exercise regimen in advance of some of the extra eating and consumption that will surely take place. Map out a budget that works both in advance and following the holidays to cushion the concerns that come with a credit card and bank worries during December and January. Do not allow destructive stress to breed and accumulate during a time meant for peace and harmony.

The most important aspect of day to day health does not come from simply making a conscious decision to arbitrarily lower stress. Some measure of stress remains inevitable and unpreventable. The key to staying energetic, healthy, and sane during and after the holiday season revolves around improving the body’s ability to cope with stress. Limiting sugar overload and alcohol consumption certainly help in that pursuit but maintaining a body capable of managing stress needs to be a top priority for all people.

Chiropractors take a unique approach to health, disease, and stress. While some health care professionals emphasize changing the environment to suit a person’s already weakened body, Chiropractic focuses on strengthening the body to confidently face any environment. Three simple and effective ways to increase the body’s ability to deal with and mitigate effects brought on by stress include:

1) Chiropractic – Scientific evidence proves that Chiropractic adjustments increase the body’s ability to better deal with and conquer stress. A key indicator to lowering stress while improving health and longevity comes from an increase in heart rate variability. A Chiropractic adjustment, particularly in the upper neck, improves heart rate variability according to a 2013 study from the Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

2) Sleep – Get at least seven to eight hours of sleep per night as a vital component to off-setting the effects of stress. A key to getting adequate sleep starts with getting to bed on time. Proper sleep combined with Chiropractic adjustments helps balance the nervous system and improve the body’s adaptation to stress.

3) Water – Thirst often comes disguised as hunger. Many people assume they are hungry when the body simply wants a healthy dose of water. Increase water intake throughout the day to suppress unnecessary urges to eat. Water consumption will help avoid an increase in blood sugar (and waistline) and prevent a sugar overload that hinders the body’s ability to heal, adapt, and rest.

Understanding some of the stress triggers of the holiday months allows people to make proactive decisions to enjoy better health during the season. Heightened awareness combined with a few simple strategies will help limit and avoid increased occurrences of stress and allow fulfilling time with friends and family to be the only memories worth remembering.
Holidays

The post Holidays are meant for the HEART, Not HEART ATTACKS 3 Simple Steps to Reduce the Effects of Holiday Stress first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.