The following program presents principles 0 designed to promote good health and 0 is not intended to take the place 0 of personalized professional care. 0 The opinions and ideas expressed are those of the speaker. Viewers are encouraged 0 to draw their own conclusions 0 about the information presented. 0 Hello and welcome to Health For A Lifetime I am your host Don Mackintosh 0 and today if you are stressed you are watching 0 the right program because we are gonna 0 be talking about stress and some simple 0 solutions about how to deal with that 0 and talking with us about that 0 today is Vicki Griffin. She is an author, 0 she lectures at Michigan State University 0 in areas of nutrition and stress. 0 She is working on a masters' degree in 0 nutrition right now and has another 0 masters' degree. We are just glad 0 that you are with us today Vicki. 0 Thank you. You also work with the 0 Michigan Conference of Seventh-Day Adventist, 0 which is a large Adventist conferences that has all 0 kinds of members, but the impact of that 0 Conference goes far beyond Michigan 0 especially through you know different 0 ministries like yours and we are just 0 glad that you could be with us today. 0 You have written a book about diet 0 and stress you know is what you are eating, 0 eating you and that kind of you know 0 forms the basis and it's hard to cover 0 one book in one program, but we are 0 gonna try and take a shot at some 0 of the you know the points here and I think people gonna just find some really 0 good information, so we are glad 0 you are here. And I have some questions 0 for you, we hear a lot about stress and 0 there you know people say they are 0 stressed out, but really what is 0 stress how would you define it? 0 Well stress is actually a term that has been 0 borrowed by the psychological sciences 0 from the engineering field and it's disequilibrium 0 or lack of homeostasis, but I guess an easier way 0 to put it is you are out of balance so that, 0 that is the. Out of balance, so when you 0 are stressed out, you are little unbalanced. 0 It's also been, it's also been 0 described as the some total of your 0 responses to the various stressors that 0 existing your life. Now you talk 0 in your book about emotional stressors, 0 you talk about physical stressors, you talk 0 about chemical stressors, you talk 0 about environmental stressors, you talk 0 about symbolic stressors and spiritual. 0 I understood all those except for 0 maybe the symbolic. What's the symbolic stress? 0 Well the symbolic stress, stressor is something 0 that would elicit a stress response because 0 of a memory for instance some people 0 that are very closely associated with 91 0 may never be able to see a picture 0 of a New York Skyline without having a pretty 0 significant stress responses as a result 0 to that, so that would be a symbolic stressor. 0 A spiritual stressor would be guilt over 0 wrong doing something along those lines. 0 A chemical stressor could be caffeine, 0 large amounts of certain micronutrients 0 could cause a stress response high-fat feeding regimens, very large amount of 0 sugar things of that nature, drugs can be 0 a chemical stressor then you have of course 0 the emotional stressors and physical stressors, 0 a physical stressor can be either specific and local 0 such as a beasting or a broken arm or it can be. 0 That does stress people of. It does or you could 0 have a nonspecific journal stressor such 0 as an autoimmune response or fever 0 something along those lines. Okay, 0 so how wide spread is the problem, you know, of chronic stress some of these are 0 acute stressors. Right. You talk like a beasting 0 on the end of your nose, but what about 0 chronic stress this long term stress how prevalent is that. Chronic stress is very prevalent 0 in our society today as a matter of fact 0 one researcher said that the world 0 is suffering to a large extend from 0 generalized anxiety disorder, which I 0 thought was interesting, but experts estimate that 0 almost 20 million people in the United States 0 suffer from chronic depression, stress 0 related that had an annual cost of 0 47.3 billion dollars a year as a matter fact 0 it's interesting that, that psychological 0 factors such as stress and depression have a 0 greater impact on heath care cost then physical factor such as obesity, smoking, 0 and high blood pressure combined. 0 So, stress is really stressing people out 0 not on just the personal level, but on you know 0 the level of government and how to handle it. 0 Yes, it is quite extensive. So what are 0 some of the common symptoms with stress 0 that we would normally encounter? 0 Well there the list is long, there are the 0 emotional symptoms that of course we are all familiar with irritability, volatile 0 emotions and of course any of these symptoms 0 can be reflective of other disorders and 0 so it's very important that a person that 0 feels that they are suffering from a stress related disorder check with their health 0 care provider, but emotional stressors 0 can include depression and agitation then you 0 have physical symptoms, you can queasy stomach, 0 changes in eating habits for increase sickness 0 and disease. There are behavioral and 0 social effects, job absenteeism, 0 perfectionism, ambivalence, 0 some of these types of things. 0 Isolation is at stressor and prolonged stress is 0 going to effect different people in different ways 0 depending on the magnitude, length and 0 timing of the stressor what they are on 0 constitutional strengths and weakness are 0 and that their nutritional status. 0 Well, I mean it's probably unrealistic to 0 get away from all stressors isn't it? 0 I have known a couple of people in my life 0 that were at the zero to one level, 0 which is an amazing thing but most people 0 would probably describe themselves 0 somewhere up between 7 and 10. So, I mean 0 if you get away from all stressors probably 0 dead aren't you? Pretty close. So, there 0 you know I had another person I talk to he says 0 there is distress and there is eustress; 0 there is good or there is bad stress. 0 Well stress is a good stress in itself is a 0 good thing when the stress system activities 0 is critical to human function that's what 0 gives us the energy to get out of bed 0 in the morning it's what heightens your 0 memory when you are about to take 0 an exam, it's get you ready for a race, 0 it's puts the enthusiasm and charge into life and so stress system activity is a really 0 good thing, it's just that when it becomes 0 chronic then two different scenarios can happen 0 you can either have chronic hyperactivity 0 of the stress system, which is associated with 0 certain diseases or you can have chronic 0 under activity of stress system and 0 that has it's own list of wows that. 0 Now you talk about common symptoms and 0 then you talked about metabolic symptoms 0 what are metabolic symptoms, please discuss. Right. 0 Well I guess that's referring to the 0 long-term stress system activity 0 when you have it's really interesting 0 because there is a crosstalk that occurs 0 between the stress system and the immune 0 system and they, they kind a regulate 0 each other somewhat like a teeter-totter 0 or seesaw when one is up the other one 0 tends to go down and vice-versa, so a 0 chronic increase in stress system activity 0 and I am referring specifically here to a 0 specific stress hormone cortisol, chronic hypercorticism, two high levels 0 of cortisol is associated with immune dysfunction, 0 hypertension, insulin resistance, 0 abdominal obesity, atherosclerosis some 0 of the lifestyle diseases that, that were 0 real familiar with premenstrual syndrome 0 and hyperthyroidism as well as 0 obsessive-compulsive disorder, chronic active 0 alcoholism, chronic excessive exercise and 0 vulnerability prediction. So, all these things are 0 related to. Too much stress system activity 0 so the same token you can actually 0 have the reverse happened, where you 0 have too low stress system activity as a 0 result of being chronically stressed and that is 0 often indicated by low serotonin obesity, 0 increased vulnerability to inflammatory and 0 autoimmune diseases and we certainly do 0 see an upswing in those and recent years. Atypical depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, 0 posttraumatic stress disorder, nicotine 0 withdrawal, atypical depression, seasonal depression those syndromes. So all these 0 things, all these different things I mean 0 this a huge barras of different things 0 to honor the rubric of stress. Right. And in your book, I am sure that you break this down you 0 look at some of these, you talk about some 0 of these, you say if this is what you 0 have and this is the stress element of that, 0 what to do about it. Right, we put this book together in conjunction with some 0 other researchers and specialists who 0 have knowledge, specific knowledge 0 in this area and yes we want people 0 to understand how tightly linked 0 the stress system and the immune system 0 are and one of the things that 0 fascinates me about a stress system 0 that is gone a ride particularly heightened 0 levels of cortisol is that with stress 0 system activity is dysfunctional, it is 0 acutely tighten with a less of an ability 0 for the brain to generate new nerve 0 cell activity and so it has an effect on 0 learning, it has an effect on the ability 0 to meet challenges, the opposite of depression 0 is not joy. The opposite of depression is 0 actually resiliency. Resiliency means 0 the ability to bounce that means the ability to have the resources to meet a challenge and so when a person is chronically stressed whatever the end result of that chronic stress is it tends to create a metabolic scenario for depression as distinguished from sadness there is a difference, but depression then it tends to lower that persons cognitive ability to meet challenges. Sure you stressed out so you just can't think as well, you can't get things done. You can't learn, you can't meet challenges and that really sets up a foundation for addictive behavior because then you start to, to self medicate with either drugs or food or some activity to try to feel better. You just so kind a beat down; you need something to put some pep in your step. That's right. Okay so the book and breaking down some of these components your website is lifestylematters.com to spell out and there on the website it kind of breaks down these different things and gives information about this. Well it gives information how you can access the resources to learn more. Now how the stress effect nutrient, metabolism you talk about that a little bit you know in another words I guess when you eat something or ingest something that's nutritious and you are stressed out what is that do to the ability to metabolize that. Well are what we eat is, is if we eat good food if we make healthful choices nature has a stress protective system built into those good foods that actually protect us against stress response and in several different ways. When you have a nutrient poor diet, I call it the chips, chops, and lollypops lifestyle when your diet is high and refined junk foods, stimulants, caffeine, lots and lots of sugar, high fats that are poor quality fats, that kind of things it actually creates another attacks on the stress system, it actually increases stress hormone production and so when you are stressed, your body uses nutrients at a more rapid rate and so when you take in very poor quality food it actually throttles up the stress response, uses nutrients and stress protective nutrients such as magnesium and the B vitamins at a faster rate impoverishing the system even more taxing the system even more creating a scenario for cravings. So you have said two things, you have said that the nutrient metabolism is compromised by stress, but even more so if you are eating junk foods. If you are eating poorly, it actually makes the stress response more sensitive in other words you will be more likely to have a stress response more quickly, when you do have that stress response it will be higher and it will last longer and it will do more damage at the end organ. I think a quote by Paul Rosch from stress medicine is probably appropriate here he said "A faulty diet can certainly be a source of stress. Conversely, stress can lead to poor dietary habits." So it's not sort of vicious cycle that gets setup. So it leads to it, but it also can be a result of it. Exactly and that's, that's the part that are lot of people don't understand, they don't think about the fact that when they are eating some junk food item for breakfast instead of fresh fruits and whole grains and some good nuts or that type of nice high fiber plant foods in the morning they don't realize that they are actually effecting stress system sensitivity. It's not just that there are not getting nutrients, is it what they are taking in terms of large amounts of certain micronutrients is going to effect the stress system in a negative way as well. So, the way nutrition affects things, I think we have a list of that we will look at. It really what you eat is important says here that the sensitivity of the stress-response. The trigger. Is triggered. How fast the trigger goes off, yes. And then how intense the reaction is that related to what you eat as well, is that right. That's exactly right and how much damage done to the target organ whether it's muscles, heart, brain all of those things, the vessels and how long it takes for the stress hormones to return to base levels and that's a whole interesting question in itself because studies are coming out now showing that with the high fat feeding regimen and we are not talking about the good healthy fats that we all wanna incorporate in our diet because fats are good things, but when we are having large amounts of saturated fats and trans fats, the heavy high fat animals products, the fatty meats and the fatty cheeses and the chips and the trans fats that we find in the refined process foods, we have large amounts of those kinds of things it actually there is a quote from Journal of Physiology that "Dietary fat actually acts as a background form of chronic stress," causing the elevation of several stress hormones. So it provides an environment to just potentiate stress. Exactly. And not necessarily positive stress here negative chronic stress. They are talking about stress hormones because the stress hormones at the base level when you are at your commence they will be high, they will be elevated, which means that your ability to cope with challenges is compromised your ability to learn, is compromised your ability to be resilient in challenging situations to, cognitively process is challenged and there is another quote that follows up with this it says a "stress responsivity is briefly enhanced during initial access to the high-fat regimens, so there is initial response that is, is challenging but continued high fat feeding results in an impaired ability to even restore basal or normal stress hormones levels after a stress response" so there is a dysregulation of stress system activity that is associated with poor diet and I think that's important for people to understand because when we are stressed we want to eat junk food, we want to eat sweats and sugar, we want those fatty chips and so how important it is when we are not stressed to be making the choices that are going to buffer us against those challenging times. We are taking with Vicki Griffin, we are talking about stress, we are talking about how you can get a handle on it when we come back we will have some good news about how you can get a handle on your stress, join us when we come back. Are you confused about the endless stream of new and often contradictory health information? With companies trying to sell new drugs and special interest groups paying for studies it's been the fact, where can you find a common sense approach to health. One way is to ask for your free copy of Dr. Arnott's 24 realistic ways to improve your health. Dr. Timothy Arnott in the Lifestyle Center of America produced this helpful booklet of 24 short practical health tips based on scientific research and the Bible that will help you live longer, happier, and healthier. For example, did you know that women who drink more water lower the risk of heart attack or the seven to eight hours of sleep a night can minimize your risk of ever developing diabetes? Find out how to lower your blood pressure and much more if you are looking for help, now hire these booklets for you. Just log on to 3abn.org and click on free offers or call us during regular business hours, you will be glad you did. Welcome back we are talking with Vicki Griffin, we are talking about stress, and we are glad that you have joined us if you were with us for the first half you maybe a little more stressed out then you should be. We actually diagnosed and look at the causes of stress, we are talking with Vicki Griffin you are an author, we are glad that you are with us, you have written a book about this and lot more resources in that book then we can cover today. You know, we talked about how there is chronic stress, there is good stress, but there is chronic stress and some of those relationships and you were talking at the break about how or just before the break about how nutrition is kind of very intracle in getting the handle on negative stressors in our life and you know you had started to click off some things, but I think we have a list that we are going to be describing a diet that would really stress anybody system, work us through that and we will look at that diet. Well, as I said it's the chips, chops, and lollypops lifestyle that's what we call it and it would include a lot of highly refined junk food 30 percent of Americans on any given day are eating a meal in the car and so probably the composition of those meals is not optimal and refined carbohydrates the real concentrated caloric foods that are stripped of, of good nutrition, antioxidants and fiber, the saturated and trans fats, the sort of stiffening fats at the cellular level and lots of high-fat animal products combined with very little fruits and vegetables and. If you wanna be stressed out eat these things. Yeah right. Let address some caffeine that will help you. Right. To be stressed. Juice up with some soft drinks and alcohol annual tip you will just talk about. If you wanna be stressed, you are looking, how can I stress myself out that's the recipe. That's right and some, and really some of these food items actually strip the body or diminish very necessary anti-stress vitamins and minerals that are there and we have to really remember this because for instance magnesium is a major anti-stress mineral is responsible for more than 350 enzyme functions, we make our 2 way in little energy packets call ATP2 2 everyday magnesium and several B vitamins 2 are essential for that process, a high2 sugar, 2 high caffeine diet. Just really take2 those out. 2 The high fat tends to cause magnesium2 2 loss and it tends to cause disruption when2 2 calcium levels are very, very high tends to2 2 cause a loss of magnesium and 2 so, so it's a very, very important that2 we think 2 in terms of ratios with nutrition rather2 2 then single, single nutrient elements, 2 nutrition is a three legged stool and2 what 2 we want to optimize is absorption, utilization,2 2 and retention. Those are three legs of2 2 that nutrition stool and the best way to2 2 get optimal absorption of nutrients, 2 optimal utilization and optimal retention2 of 2 good nutrients is to have them as much2 2 of the fresh food in it's natural form as possible.2 2 Okay, so you are moving to what's good. Right.2 2 But we have gone through the list of 2 what's bad all those junk food chops,2 lollypops and 2 what was the other things. Chips, chops,2 and lollypops. 2 Right and now so we have a list of2 2 good things. Right. If you want to move 2 from stressing yourself out with food2 to not 2 stressing yourself out and getting yourself2 2 ready to handle whatever the day 2 has to bring to you this is the list.2 2 It would be a focus on plant foods just a2 2 focus on those. Okay. Beautiful rich. Lot's2 2 of color. Yes. And we call the produce department2 2 the department of defense. Okay. So in the2 2 morning instead of the coffee and donuts for2 2 instance you could have a nice whole grains,2 2 cereal. Strawberries, blueberries, grapes 2 may be yeah. That's what our family2 had 2 this morning for breakfast with2 2 whole grain bread and good cereal, we had2 2 some nice soy milk that we enjoyed it 2 very well, so lots of color, lots of2 2 variety that are really good. So lot's 2 of color via healthful plant varieties.2 2 Not jelly beans color, but lots of plant 2 colors all the beautiful colors of the2 rainbow. 2 Healthy plant varieties of fat proteins,2 complex 2 carbohydrates we have here and then2 vegetables 2 especially leafy green vegetables and2 2 carotenoids. Yes, the carotenoids is a really2 2 interesting study published in a Japanese 2 Journal it was well actually Japanese2 study 2 published in the Annals of the New York2 2 Academy of Science showing that high 2 carotenoid levels, high serum carotenoid2 2 level actually lower stress responsivity, 2 stress sensitivity. So, what's the carotenoids.2 2 Okay well people think of a beta-carotene 2 they think. So, that's like the orange2 2 vegetables right. They will think well I2 2 get my carrot juice, so I get my carotenoids 2 but then. And that protection from2 2 stress. Right. Well, there are actually 2 more than 500 carotenoid in the plant2 2 kingdom and so all of the beautiful 2 colorful orange and yellow and red.2 2 Vegetables, the green vegetables are such2 2 a great source of stress protection it2 2 lowers the sensitivity to stress responsiveness 2 and so the trigging is lowered and also2 the 2 damage done at the end organ is lower2 2 that's a great thing. Whole grains, beans,2 2 legumes, fresh fruit varieties and plant 2 fats and also water. Any thing about2 2 any of those you want to talk about. Well I2 2 love talking about that the fatty acids you2 2 know FAT is not spelled BAD and the types2 2 of fatty acids that we consume are so 2 intimately related with our biology2 2 because the very cellular structure of2 2 nerve cells and blood cells, the cells in our2 2 body are tied up with the types of dietary 2 fats that we consume and so if we consume2 2 stiffening fats those cells tend to be less2 2 permeable, less electric, less 2 conductive, but when you have these2 2 healthy plant fats that we find in the olives2 2 and olive oil and avocados and nuts, nuts2 2 are 65 percent monounsaturated fat. 2 When we enjoy those great fats I enjoy2 2 using some canola oil, soy oil is a good2 2 source of Omega 3 fatty acids, but you 2 can also get those Omega 3's in the2 2 flaxseed and walnuts and. So when you 2 enjoy those they are flexible fats.2 Yes. 2 You are gonna be a flexible person.2 2 That were they are actually, there is a2 2 linear relationship with clinical depression 2 and a higher amounts of those saturated2 2 fats when the cellular, when the cellular 2 structures begin to, they reconfigure2 with 2 these more flexible fats there are lower2 levels 2 of impulsivity not that fat, not that2 diet 2 cures everything. Right. But it makes2 a 2 difference, so you can have your brittle2 2 fats and you are gonna be brittle person and2 2 you could have your, you know, more 2 relaxed, hey that's interesting. We2 want 2 a diet that makes us strong and supple2 2 not stiff. Okay why is an important to2 2 control stress, what are some of the 2 reasons I mean we are talking about2 it 2 and lot's of people probably already2 2 have an idea, but I think we have a list to look at.2 2 One thing one of the most important reasons2 2 that I try to control stress in my life 2 and I am one of this people that's naturally2 2 kind of a high stress person. Really. But2 2 I use diet and exercises away to lower anxiety2 2 and control stress and of course my Bible time,2 2 all of those things help to lowered stress.2 2 Because it hinders your learning it says here.2 2 Absolutely. And it impairs your memory. 2 Yes, it actually does because it's been2 2 demonstrated that elevated levels of 2 cortisol in the brain actually sort2 of eat 2 away at the hippocampal areas of the2 brain, 2 which were involved with memory and2 can 2 end up with chronic depression so we2 are 2 looking at memory impairment, under2 high 2 stress, chronic high stress new nerve2 cell 2 generation does not take place in the2 brain 2 so. So you got to be unstressed if you2 are 2 gonna learn and if you are gonna remember2 things. 2 Yes. And you wanted to control because2 2 you don't want to develop chronic 2 depression and then also physical disease2 2 that makes sense, emotional deterioration 2 and loss of resiliency. Yes, depression2 is a 2 loss of resiliency and we have to remember2 2 there are lot of stressors that we can't do2 2 anything about in our lives, but the really2 2 important thing to remember in studies 2 with centenarians is that they didn't2 2 escape stress, they went through the 2 holocaust, they lost spouses, they had2 2 sickness, they had many challenges, but it's2 2 the way in which they approached and 2 thought about those circumstances that2 2 made the difference. Now a quick summary here,2 2 I just wanna look at really 8 things 2 real quickly here what important ways2 2 to manage stress you have. Yes. 2 And you have exercise, you have water,2 2 you have balance schedule, you have rest,2 2 relationships and trust in God. We just 2 look at the screen, but let's talk about2 2 little bit as we are closing up. When I2 2 exercise I do so because I know that 2 exercise has been called the greatest2 2 anti-anxiogenic remedy in existence 2 and what that means is that it lowers2 anxiety. 2 A 10 minute walk can boost mood or2 2 improve mood for one hour and so I 2 really utilized this as a tool in my2 life. 2 I imagine that you know all these other2 2 things are covered in your book in 2 detail and you have written an excellent2 book 2 all of these information can be accessed2 2 by going to your website lifestylematters.com 2 and they can figure out how to access2 2 this, but one last thing what about 2 trust in God, what is that had to do2 with 2 stress reduction. Well you know we2 2 spent a lot of time praying for God 2 to remove obstacles and problems in2 our lives, 2 but for one thing that the Lord prayed2 he 2 said I pray not that thou remove them2 2 out of the world but that keep them 2 from evil. Impulsive, we are troubled2 2 on every side yet not distress, so God 2 has given us a lifestyle with his comfort2 A 2 and the aid of his sprit to help to2 grow a 2 more resilient personality and ability2 to 2 meet challenges. Lifestyle is a very2 2 real part of his protective package for us. We2 2 have been talking with Vicki Griffin thanks2 2 for being with us and thank you for being2 2 with us and we hope that you have 2 health as a result that last for a lifetime.