Thanksgiving is upon us along with the rest of the holiday season. It appears that what many people have gone through with the recent presidential election stress will be on many people’s menu along with all the accompanying physical and emotional problems. The problem is no one can tell you not to feel that way. Because, how do they know how you feel. They can imagine how you feel but that the best they can offer. So how do you deal with this problem? If you already have a health problem stress will definitely exacerbate your symptoms. The worse the condition such as Fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis or many of the other pain producing conditions the greater the painful reaction.
Many of the steps we use in our treatment program for Fibromyalgia patients can also be used by any patient or non patient to reduce and control stressful physical reactions. For each patient that we are fortunate enough to visit our clinic for treatment we always treat the condition and through that we are then able to reduce symptoms.
First and foremost is the reduction of inflammation which is your primary source of pain. How does this help reduce stress? If your inflammatory process is reduced or under control then stress will have a minimal affect on your symptoms. Most of our treatment to reduce inflammation involves reducing or removing foods that are known to cause a body to have a reaction that leads to an increase in your symptoms. Foods such as sugar, gluten trans fatty acids and dairy for many people cause inflammation in the body. If you already are in physical distress then some of these foods will make your symptoms worse. With all of us facing various holidays this is some of the worst information that you can be given. The truth lies in knowing ahead of time what foods are causing you physical distress. If you eat dairy products and soon after your belly starts to growl, bloat or you break out into a sweat or many other symptoms you should stay away from those foods. I’ve mentioned in the past some of the many reactions your body goes through after eating certain foods . Reactions such as itchy, scratchy, sneezy, dopey, headachey and many other sometime subtle symptoms.
Stress brought on by whatever means affects your present health condition. You can control the reactions your body goes through by taking time to know how your body reacts to what foods you are putting into it. Enjoy your holidays and to sort of steal a phrase “eat responsibly”.