Posts Tagged ‘Heart Disease’

Stress and Mental Tension – Causes, Symptoms, Remedies and Dietary Considerations

Stress implies any condition that harms the body or the mind. The most common disorders associated with stress are heart disease, diabetes, headache, and peptic ulcer. The body and the mind react to any stress factor.

SYMPTOMS OF STRESS AND MENTAL TENSION

A large number of physical changes take place when a person is under stress. All these changes take place in a split second under the direction of the nervous system.
- Brain and nervous system becomes intensely active.
- Pupils of the eye dilate.
- Digestion slows down.
- Muscles are tensed.
- Heart starts pumping blood harder and faster.
- Blood pressure increases.
- Breathing becomes faster.
- Some hormones are released into the system along with glucose from liver.
- Sweating starts.
Stress in its earlier and reversible stages leads to :
- Poor sleep.
- Bad temper.
- Continual grumbling.
- Domestic conflict.
- Repeated minor sickness.
- Accident proneness.
- Frustration.
- Increase in alcoholic intake.

CAUSES OF STRESS AND MENTAL TENSION

– External factors include loud noises, blinding lights, heat or cold, X-rays, radiation drugs, chemicals, bacterial and various toxic substances, pain and inadequate nutrition.
- Internal factors include hate, envy, fear or jealousy.

REMEDIES FOR STRESS AND MENTAL TENSION

- SAGE : tea prepared from the leaves of sage should be given. The tea is prepared by pouring a cup of boiling water over one teaspoon of dried sage leaves. The water should be covered and infused for several minutes. Strain it and drink.
- HOLY BASIL : It is considered as an anti-stress agent. even healthy persons should chew twelve leaves of basil twice a day, morning and evening, for preventing stress.
- NUTRIENTS : Vitamins A and B, minerals like calcium, potassium, and magnesium reduces the feeling of irritability and anxiety. Vitamin A is found in green and yellow vegetables. Vitamin B can be found in cashew nuts, green leafy vegetables, yeast, sprouts and bananas. An element of vitamin B complex, pantothenic acid, is especially important in preventing stress.
Potassium deficiency is associated with breathlessness, fatigue, insomnia and low blood sugar. This mineral is essential for healthy hearty muscles. Nuts and whole grains are good sources.

Calcium is a natural sedative. Deficiencies can cause fatigue, nervousness and tension. Dairy products, eggs, almonds and soya beans are rich sources.

Magnesium is known as nature’s tranquillizer and is associated with the prevention of heart attacks. It is found in many fruits, vegetables, seeds, dates and prunes.

DIETARY CONSIDERATIONS

- Lifestyle of the patient needs to be changed.
- Optimum diet should be taken.
- Regular exercise and adequate rest.
- Foods like caffeine and many soft drinks, salt, sugar, cigarettes and alcohol should be avoided.

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Breakfast – Most Important Meal of Day!!

The old phrase breakfast is the most important meal of the day actually has some truth in it.

- It is a “fuel” : After a good night’s rest, your blood sugar, or glucose levels, are very low since you’ve been asleep without a meal for 6-10 hours. Your body is basically running on empty in the morning. Eating a big meal at breakfast time will ‘break the fast’ and replenish those glucose levels. Glucose is your body’s source of energy.

- To prevent eating too many snacks : Snacks cannot provide us with the right amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins and minerals we need, and they often have too much fat to be healthy. If you have your breakfast every morning, you can avoid eating snacks because of hungriness and you will become more healthy!

- To prevent heart diseases and sudden death : The frequency of heart attack, sudden death, and stroke peaks between 6.00am and 12.00am, with the highest incidence being between 8.00am and 10.00am. Why? Because of platelet, a tiny elements in the blood that keep us from bleeding to death if we get a cut, they can clump together inside our arteries build up in the artery lining. In the morning platelets become the most activated and tend to form these internal blood clots at the greatest frequency.

- Works towards weight Loss : Skipping breakfast keeps your body in ‘starvation’ mode, while eating a good meal will give your metabolism a boost. If you’re trying to lose weight, the last thing you want to do is keep your metabolism at this lowered state.

A healthy breakfast should consist of a variety of foods. It should contain complex carbohydrates, protein and fiber. Protein can come from eggs, beans, or soy. Fiber and carbohydrates can be found in whole cereals, grains or in fruits. A good example of a healthy breakfast might be something like a boiled egg, an orange, and a bowl of whole grain cereal with skimmed milk.

Fight heart disease – eat more of nuts, green vegetables

How many times have you been told by family to eat more vegetables, more green stuff, and even nuts (although more in control) ? In today’s fast lifestyle, the temptation to satiate one’s appetite through the consumption of junk food such as burgers, fries, chips, pizzas, and colas is very tempting. However, in order to retain the health of the body and give it a good set of nutrients, it is important that people get an adequate number of nutrients as a part of their diet. As per research, these food items contain chemicals that are important for the body to combat the onset of diseases such as heart disease, and are very important for the over-weight and obese sections of society (the percentage of whom is growing in society). It is very important that people ensure that they are getting enough to eat (link to article):

Eating more plant-based foods, which are rich in substances called phytochemicals, seems to prevent oxidative stress in the body, a process associated with obesity and the onset of heart disease, according to the study. To get enough of these protective chemicals, researchers suggest eating plant-based foods such as leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, nuts and legumes at the start of a meal. Oxidative stress occurs when the body produces too many damaging free radicals and lacks enough anti-oxidants or phytochemicals to counteract them.
Because of excess fat tissue and certain enzymes that are more active in overweight people, being obese can actually trigger the production of more free radicals, too.

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