Dr. Erika | Bioidentical Hormone Expert

WHY STRESS MAKES YOU FAT

A recent study in the American Journal of Epidemiology looked at data on 1,355 men and women who had their weight and stress levels measured in 1995 and again in 2004.

The findings showed that those who were overweight and obese packed on the pounds even more as time went by and stressors continued and increased.

Those who were thin stayed thin and according to the lead author Jason Block on faculty at Harvard, “The stress effect didn’t appear to impact normal-weight people, just those who were overweight and obese from the beginning of the study.”

The results of this study may be true but as Americans are getting fatter and sicker, we are faced with more problems than ever before.

We are suffering ever-growing rates of obesity and worsening health caused by weight problems.

Stress is a leading cause of this modern-day epidemic – brought about by our frenetic lifestyles or by financial worries from the economic recession.

Stress comes in two varieties:

Acute stress is when you are running to catch a plane, your work is past deadline, the kids are calling for help and you feel like the world is crashing down on your little shoulders.

Chronic stress is what we live with every day without any hope of it loosening its grip on us.

Doctors and scientists analyze the metabolic and hormonal basis for our stress reactions. Nutritionists, exercise experts and other clinicians help us deal with its undesirable effects.

One thing that doesn’t work is being told that the problem is in our head and that if we watch our diet we will lose weight. And, the second is when doctors discard the problem and recommend a blood test at some point in our downward spiral.

The best way to deal with problems from my perspective of 30+years of practicing medicine and experiencing stress first hand is to understand the causes of the problem. So here is a primer on what stress does to our body and soul:

1. Metabolism - Stress stimulates the production of the hormone cortisol which slows down metabolic function. Normal, healthy metabolism helps us digest process and detoxify our system from foods while absorbing the nutrients we need.

2. Blood sugar levels and Insulin - Stress causes insulin levels to fluctuate wildly and the blood sugar levels follow. When insulin levels are high and sugar levels are low we crave foods - fatty, salty and sugary ones in particular.

3. Cravings regardless– Our desire to eat junk is directly connected to hormone levels and chronic stress worsens the problem. When stress is the core issue, people do not run for vegetables and fruit, they hit the chips, fast food and junk.

4. Fat storage especially around the belly and hips – When you are stressed, you eat junk which accumulates in fatty deposits around the waist and abdomen. As women age the middle section of the body becomes heavier - an esthetically displeasing sight with dangerous health consequences: higher risk for heart attacks, strokes and diabetes.

5. Emotional Eating – Stress and increased levels of cortisol plunge us into a cycle of eating badly, drinking too much caffeine and alcohol, not exercising and being unable to sleep. But there is always a way to take control of our lives. If you let stress make get you down, you won’t be able to enjoy the upside of life.

Here are a few ways to NOT let stress make you fat:

1. Don’t isolate yourself. Reach out to friends, family and others who are truly doing well and who have positive recommendations and are a positive example.

2. Stay away from critical and negative people. Pay attention and you will figure out who is good for your health and who isn’t. Sarcasm is always a negative.

3. Exercise. Unless you find that you feel worse after exercising, which is usually a sign of illness, start a serious daily little-at-first, build as you go, program. You will feel better and crave more exercise not junk food.

4. Relax. When I hear someone say relax, I immediately tighten up. The best way to relax is to focus on beautiful times and places. Imagine a place and time when things worked well for you. Stay with that thought for a while and see how quickly you really relax.

5. Sleep is the key ingredient to feeling better and losing weight. During sleep, hormones are made that help your entire system renew and strengthen. Get 8 hours of sleep a night and watch the weight drop.

6. Balance your hormones. If you are over 40, male or female, your hormones need help. Menopause and low thyroid are major contributing factors to our inability to deal with stress. Find an experienced doctor who knows about hormones and listens to you. Take bioidentical hormones if you need them, get your thyroid treated, take the right supplements to support your immune system and hormones and watch how quickly you shed stress and lose weight.

7. Do not focus on diet alone. When trying to loose weight incorporate all the above into a healthy diet, exercise and stress management program.

Sun Protection

Finding the perfect balance between getting enough sun exposure to get enough vitamin D in your system and protecting yourself from potentially dangerous sun UVA and UVB rays is often a tall order.

Before you run for cover you need to understand the importance of getting enough sun for your health.

Exposure to sun daily up to 30 minutes is crucial to getting enough vitamin D which protects you from cancer, boosts your immune system and as you well know is a key ingredient for healthy bones.

Covering yourself up and slathering on the highest SPF lotion is not always the protector you may think it is.

The growing deficiency of vitamin D among the population of the US is often attributed to extensive use of high SPF lotions that prevent the sun’s beneficial rays from reaching our skin and providing us with the much needed vitamin D.

To balance the need for sun and the protection from sun here are some tips you may find handy:

1.    Make sure you use SPF 15+ moisturizer on your face every day. Protection from UVA rays is  
       crucial to keep skin from sagging and wrinkling. 

2.    Note, most SPF lotions and creams do not protect from UVA rays because UVA rays are not
      routinely associated with skin cancer.

3.    Read the label. The higher the SPF is not a guarantee for skin protection. Make sure the ingredients 
       are not all chemicals. You can get protection from the sun without all chemicals.

4.    Avoid products that contain oxybenzone. It may interact with your hormone balance.

5.    If you get a rash after applying a product, wash immediately with water, make sure you pay attention
       to the main ingredient in the product that caused you the reaction and avoid using it again. ( PABA  
      is often an allergen)

6.    Do not buy the most expensive or the cheapest products. Find a product in the middle range and 
       read the label to make sure

7.    Beware products that over state promises. No sunscreen will last all day if you are at the beach, or
       playing tennis. As a matter of fact, no sunscreen will last all day.

8.    Reapply if you spend the day at the beach, sunbathing or playing an active sport

9.    Use common sense: do not fall asleep in the sun, do not spend endless hours tanning. The benefits
       of short periods of time in the sun outweigh the problems caused.

10.    Be cautious but do not be fearful. Strike the right balance for you and your skin type. Know your
        risk factors and act accordingly.

Here are some products I recommend. They were vetted by the Environmental Working Group which is a watchdog organization without financial ties to the industry.

Best Sunscreen:
-    Soleo Organics Sunscreen- Organic chemical free sunscreen SPF 30+
-    Badger Sunscreen, SPF 30
-    UV Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+

Best Lip Balm:

-    Fallene Cotz Lip Cotz, Ultra High Sun Protection, SPF 45
-    Jane Iredale Lipdrink , SPF 15
-     Badger Lip Balm, SPF 15

Best SPF Moisturizers:

-    Keys Soap Solar Rx Cosmetic Moisturizing Sunblock, SPF 30
-    Marie Veronique Organics Creme Du Jour Tinted SPF 30
-    Devita International Daily Solar Protective Moisturizer SPF 30

The above can be purchased on the internet.  Have fun in the sun and keep safe!

TRUE PREVENTION IS THE SOLUTION TO OUR HEALTHCARE CRISIS

TRUE PREVENTION IS THE SOLUTION TO OUR HEALTHCARE CRISIS

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, noted Benjamin Franklin. Too bad the founding father is not here to help clarify and guide us with our much needed healthcare reform.

The fact is unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade or so, we all know prevention reduces disease rates and promotes good health. Yet surprisingly a mere 2-3% of today’s healthcare expenditures are directed toward prevention. We are painfully aware that America is obese, stressed, sedentary and doesn’t get enough sleep yet, we don’t spend money on improving the situation and preventing diseases caused by these problems.

Instead of expanding true prevention programs, our present healthcare system is focused on diagnosing and discovering more diseases, testing ad nauseam, creating new and highly expensive technologies and developing an infinite array of drugs.

Conventional medical training and treatments are solely aimed at searching for disease. Success in our healthcare system is achieved when the patient, spends their life caught in the spin cycle of doctor visits and never ending testing leading to finding the disease that will eventually “express” itself and give the system a raison d’etre.  

Providing true prevention is not even a consideration – our present healthcare industry is programmed to swing into action with its high-tech, high-cost arsenal of disease “fighting wars”. Peace and cooperation is not part of this equation. 

No wonder the system is costing us $1.8 trillion a year – and is certain to get more expensive.

There’s an army of special interests in Washington – drug companies, hospitals and the medical establishment – lobbying like crazy to make sure Congress doesn’t disturb the status quo. Too bad if the country goes broke! Too bad if instead of enjoying life, we spend our time terrified of being sick.

The discussion about prevention has been going on for decades, but it has nothing to do with early diagnosis of disease which is what most conventional doctors and patients have been taught it is.

A patient of mine went for a physical at her local internist last week. As a courtesy, the doctor sent me the report from her chart. In a newly developed section under the heading Prevention, the doctor recorded the following list of tests he recommended for the patient:

•    Mammogram
•    Pap smear
•    Colonoscopy
•    Bone density
•    Immunizations for pneumonia and influenza

Not one of these tests will prevent anything.  They are all part of the health care system’s early diagnosis of disease branch. My patient was scared that if she didn’t do all the tests immediately, she would further endanger her health.

Another of my patients brought me a report from her annual physical conducted by an expensive executive physical company. The report was a five page list of everything done to the patient in the exam and panoply of scary recommendations of possible dangers awaiting her due to her rising age of 42, borderline cholesterol, possible high blood pressure and of course weight problem (10 lbs overweight). Recommendations included more testing and follow up with more doctors. If she did not follow the advice, implied threat of serious disease was found in every paragraph. Nowhere in sight was there mention of diet and exercise lifestyle and sleep recommendations that would really help her stay healthy.

Both patients came to see me asking for reassurance in the face of scare tactics and lack of direction for prevention.

Prevention is about staying healthy and not being scared into having tests done for the sake of doing them. It is about spending fewer dollars on health care and more on good, clean, healthy living.

For people who are focused on prevention, much of their personal health care dollars are spent outside the conventional system. People and physicians focused on prevention spend money on supplements, organic foods, bioidentical hormones, acupuncture, gyms and even yoga classes. These expenditures are not even considered in the healthcare system budgets we are trying to fix.

This bird’s eye view of our present healthcare leaves us in a quandary. How can we fix a system that is about increasing technology, drugs and people all focused on disease when the answer is clearly outside the system and in the area of prevention?

The answer is: you cannot.

The way to fix the system is to take a more in depth look at what works for the people who are healthy and stay healthy.

Health isn’t about early diagnosis of disease. It is about teaching every one of us to take responsibility for leading healthy lives before there are any problems.  Spending less money on looking for disease and focusing on eating right, exercising and leading healthy lifestyles is the real solution to the healthcare crisis.

May be we should listen to Benjamin Franklin who also said: “A penny earned is a penny saved.”

How to stop the recession plunging you into a fatal depression

Suicide, murders and heart attacks are rising as the economy falls.

A new study by Oxford University, England, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine determined that a 3% rise in unemployment was linked with a 2.7% rise in heart attacks among men aged 30-44 and a 2.4% jump in murders and suicides in people under 64. Deaths from alcohol abuse also soared by 28% in the face of the economic downturn.

Another study, by the American Association of Suicidology in Washington, D.C., found jobless people are two to four times as likely to kill themselves. Losing a home also increases the chance of suicide.

The American Psychological Association reports 80 percent of people it surveyed say the economy is a significant source of stress. Calls to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline went from 412,000 to 540,000 in 2008.

The only bright spot in this economic depression: Traffic deaths will likely drop 4.2%, because more people are taking public transport.

Lead author of the Oxford University study Dr David Stuckler advises Government programs can help the economy and prevent rises in deaths.

But business leaders and individuals can also play a crucial role, says the Suicide Prevention Resource Center.

As a practicing physician who sees more than 50 patients a week, I have been listening and watching first hand the results of the economic crisis as it affects individual working class people. Since the doctor patient relationship is the sacred to me and my goal is to help people feel better, the advise I give is not always based on medical information but rather entertains social, psychological and lifestyle. As we all navigate through these troubled times, the goal is to survive and come out stronger and smarter at the other end. The economy will improve and with it, we must be prepared and healthy so we can take advantage of new opportunities that will open to us.

Here are some nuggets of advice I give my patients: 

•    Turn off the news channel on your TV set and stop reading alarmist news. If you insulate yourself from the often scary and alarmist information out there, your life will look a lot more manageable and your troubles will no longer be overwhelming.

•    Spend time with the ones you love. Share your feelings, fears and concerns with your spouse, friends and people who have your best interest at heart.

•    Surround yourself with positive people. Do not drown in someone else’s negativity. Avoid negative thoughts. If someone else said something negative, do not absorb it. It doesn’t belong to you.

•    Perspective is the key to survival. Avoid the victim mode. You are in control of your life. Regardless of problems, you have total control over your attitude and the way you react to people.

•    Engage in community activities that are stress relievers and help you feel better about yourself and your situation. Help people in worse shape than you and be kind.

•    Exercise Cardio and aerobic exercise increase hormone release that will make you feel better about yourself, give you better perspective and of course help your heart.

•    If you need to speak to a doctor or mental health practitioner do not wait. Go see one sooner rather than later and make sure he/ she is the right one for you. A positive, upbeat influence that provides reassurance and kindness.

•    Do not stay home and sulk. If you are out of a job, start looking for another job immediately. Be reasonable in your expectations. Sometimes it’s easier to get a lower level job and work your way up quickly.

•    Do not drown your sorrows in alcohol or other self-medications. They won’t solve your problems and will only serve to make you loose perspective.

•    Take a weekend off with the family and leave your immediate area and just get away. Even if it is an hour away from home. Change of scenery will give you a better outlook.

•    Be aware of the warning signs of suicide and helping those of may be in danger to get help. The warning signs can be downloaded at:  www.sprc.org/featured_resources/bpr/PDF/AASWarningSigns_factsheet.pdf.

•    If you feel suicidal, or know someone who is, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

While this is a tough time for all, we don’t have to sink. We can and should use the hard times to make us stronger and kinder to ourselves and one another. The sun will come out tomorrow!