Stress relief key to health
Local chiropractor recommends simple steps

Many medical studies correlate stress as causing or contributing to a wide variety of health problems.

"The inability to adapt to stress is associated with the onset of depression or anxiety," according to reutershealth.com, which also links stress to heart disease, stroke, sleep and digestive disorders, high blood pressure and memory problems. The same report states stress is as great a threat to health as smoking or not exercising.

Stressors can include outside forces that are hard to control, such as jobs, finances and relationships. But there are also many ways to reduce stress and improve physical well being by small common sense adjustments.

Dr. Willie Williamson of Jasper Chiropractic Center has several suggestions. "Generally we think of stress as anything that interferes with our ability to live a pain free, healthy life."

Internal Stress Relief

"When the chemistry of the body is not as it should be, it can adversely affect the internal workings as well as our emotional and mental health," according to Williamson. "Three things that can affect our chemistry are medications, allergies and the foods we eat (or don't eat)."

If you haven't checked your medications with your doctor in awhile, you should make sure the drugs you are taking are compatible. New studies frequently find that some medications should not be combined, either because they cancel each other out, or because side effects multiply.

Your list should include over-the-counter drugs as well as prescriptions, supplements like vitamins or fiber, and even foods and beverages that contain doses of caffeine or alcohol. These can affect how your body absorbs and utilizes medication.

Williamson said, "If you have a health problem that doesn't seem to respond to a current treatment, you could have a delayed food allergy stressing your system's chemistry."

Williamson recommends doing some investigating, provided it does not conflict with your doctor's dietary advice.

"Make a short list of any particular foods that you crave and eat regularly. Take one of these foods at a time and leave it out of your diet for a couple of weeks to see if you feel better or the same.

"You may find, for your body, that certain foods should be eaten less often or not at all. You can do this with drinks, too, (excluding water of course). For one person it might be artificial sweeteners, for someone else it could be corn and for another, seafood."

Food preparation is a big factor in how healthy those foods will be. Williamson says, "Avoid fried foods... This leaves broiled, boiled, baked, steamed or sautéed."

Williamson points out there were no refined carbohydrates in the Garden of Eden. "Feed the body the stuff it was designed for, such as fruit, vegetables, true whole grains, dairy and meat."

External Stress Relief

At some point in your life, your mother, grandmother, aunt, or fifth grade teacher probably lectured you on the importance of good posture. It turns out that bad posture can lead to stressful physical conditions.

Williamson says, "Poor posture distresses the joints and ligaments... If you distort the body's framework long enough and often enough, it's going to develop some substantial weaknesses that throw the spine off balance and cause it to jam. This will irritate the joints muscles, disks and nerves and develop into self-sustaining, painful patterns."

These simple suggestions may prevent such problems:

Do not slouch in your favorite chair. Find a small cushion or pillow to put behind the low back just above the beltline, but make sure it feels right.

Do not sleep on your stomach. If you sleep on your side, make sure your neck is pillowed inline or level with the rest of the spine.

If you sleep on your back or sitting in a chair, don't allow your neck to be bent forward with the chin pushed close to the chest.

Use proper lifting techniques. Tuck your low back forward slightly when you bend over to push, pull or lift.

Engage in some type of toning and cardiovascular exercise routine at least three times per week.

Williamson's last bit of advice is, "We need to be mindful of anything we can do to limit or reduce physical stress to our bodies. Poor posture is probably the most avoidable physical stress factors in our daily lives."