Good Friends Promote Good Health

I can’t imagine going through the journey of life without having wonderful friends with whom to share it. I’m fortunate to have people in my life around whom I feel seen, heard, and valued. I am comforted in knowing that we give and receive without judgment, expectations, or scorekeeping. Their love and support is a source of sustenance, and I trust that mine is nurturing for them. I’m especially blessed to have married a man who is as great a friend as he is a life partner.

Good friends make me feel good. But until recently, I didn’t realize the extent to which they are as much a contributor to my health as my happiness.

In The Healing Self, Drs. Deepak Chopra and Rudolph Tanzi tell us that the heart is responsive to how we feel physically and emotionally. Being loved and supported by others results in lower arterial blockage. It also affects the immune system. As a case in point, they ask their readers to assign one point to each relationship in which there is direct contact (face-to-face or phone) at least every other week. Those whose scores fall within the 1-3 range are four times more likely to exhibit cold symptoms than those with six or more. Moreover, the number and diversity of relationships exert greater influence on health than their intimacy.

In Mind Over Medicine, Dr. Lissa Rankin emphasizes the importance of having healthy, judgment-free relationships that give us the freedom to be our authentic selves. Love, nurturing, compassion, and feelings of belonging soothe the mind, halt the stress response, induce the relaxation response, and heal the body. They also bring out our best selves while elevating our moods.

Studies show that positive psychological states, such as joy, happiness, and positive energy, as well as characteristics such as life satisfaction, hopefulness, optimism, and a sense of humor result in lower mortality rates and extend longevity.
– Dr. Lissa Rankin, MD

Friendship also exerts an influence at the cellular level. Drs. Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel explore this connection in The Telomere Effect. Telomeres are a repeating segment of noncoding DNA that live at the ends of our chromosomes. Much like the plastic or metal aglets placed on the ends of shoelaces, telomeres keep our DNA strands intact. It turns out that good friends are like trusted guardians of these essential genetic building blocks. When they’re around, our telomeres are protected. By contrast, unhealthy relationships are a telomere risk factor. Situations that consistently mix positive qualities with unhelpful or disturbing interactions engender a kind of stress that produces shorter telomeres. When telomeres become critically short, our cells can no longer reproduce.

Finally, I recall a discussion with my father’s neurologist when Dad first exhibited signs of geriatric dementia. The doctor told us that four things were essential to maintaining one’s mental faculties for as long as possible. The first three were not surprising: a healthy diet, regular exercise, and adequate sleep. The fourth was socialization. While sudoku and crossword puzzles are fine diversions, they can’t compete with sustained, positive contact with other human beings. The more we engage with others, the more we exercise our brains and the better we feel.

Why We Follow a Whole Food Plant Based Diet

My husband and I followed the Standard American Diet most of our lives. We had a particular fondness for the South Beach Diet which eliminated processed foods, supplied tasty recipes, and helped us manage our waistlines. But we opted to move to a predominantly whole food plant based diet a couple of years ago, thanks in large part to the work of Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Jeffrey Bland, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Caldwell Essylstein, Dr. Michael Greger, and Dr. Dean Ornish.

Here’s what they taught me about the negative effects of eating animal-based foods and their byproducts:

Saturated fats in animal based proteins are associated with elevated levels of serum cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease (the nation’s number one killer). Moreover, a single meal containing fat and animal products can thwart the heart’s ability to produce nitric oxide. Nitric oxide relaxes the blood vessels, prevents white blood cells and platelets from becoming sticky, and keeps the smooth muscle cells from accumulating plaque. By contrast, nutrients from plant based foods are associated with decreased serum cholesterol. (Esselstyn)

Autopsies performed during World War II revealed that 80% of young American soldiers had arterial plaque, a condition not shared by their Japanese counterparts. However, with their shift to the Standard American Diet, the Japanese have dramatically increased their incidence of arterial plaque and heart disease. This problem begins early. In the United States, 70% of children have fatty deposits in their arteries by age 12. (Esselstyn)

Diets high in animal protein (>10% of caloric intake) are associated with increased risk of developing cancerous tumors. In one study, animal test subjects were exposed to a high level of carcinogens while fed a low protein diet (5% of calories). Their counterparts were exposed to a low level of carcinogens while fed a high protein diet (20% of calories). The high-protein subjects developed more tumors! Furthermore, tumor growth could be turned on and off by varying the amount of animal-based protein in the diet. (Campbell)

Animal based protein (including dairy products) increase the acid load in the bloodstream. Our bodies leech calcium from our bones to neutralize the acid. The countries that use the most cow’s milk and related products have the worst bone health. By contrast, vegetarians excrete less calcium in the urine, absorb more calcium from their diets, and have lower rates of osteoporosis. (Campbell)

When milk floods the body with calcium, we experience a substantial drop in activated Vitamin D. Persistently low levels of activated Vitamin D creates an inviting environment for certain cancers, autoimmune conditions, osteoporosis, and other disease. (Barnard, Campbell)

Vegetarians often use cheese as a source of dietary protein. Beyond its deleterious effect on acid load and calcium in the bloodstream, cheese gets 70% of its calories from milk fat which, pound for pound, delivers more cholesterol than steak. (Barnard)

Here’s what we get by shifting to a predominantly whole food plant based diet:

A whole food plant based diet provides just the right amount of protein (~10% of calories) to sustain our bodies. Plants support a slow and steady synthesis of protein that is least disruptive to the body’s carefully controlled alkaline blood serum. (Campbell)

For those who worry about protein intake, look to our nearest animal relatives, gorillas and chimps. They eat a whole food plant based diet and have strong bones and impressive musculature! (Campbell)

Plants are rich in phytonutrients, chemical compounds that offer plants protection from external threats. When we eat them, we get some of these protective benefits. They target cancer cells with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immune enhancing activities. They also appear to inhibit bone loss. Organic foods have the most phytonutrients as they don’t get help fending off threats from pesticides or herbicides. (Bland, Greger)

Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are loaded with soluble and insoluble fiber. It gives us a sense of fullness so that we are less likely to overeat. It also supports the digestive process, promotes nutrient absorption, feeds healthy bacteria in the gut, and keeps refuse moving through the colon. (Greger)

Antioxidants are plentiful in whole plant based foods and provide a shield against free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that cause cellular damage and accelerate disease processes and aging. (Campbell, Greger)

People who pursue low fat, low protein diets tend to burn calories at a faster rate. As such, they have less difficulty controlling their weight. (Campbell)

Truth be told: We eat meat on occasion when invited out for dinner, experimenting with an interesting recipe, or tantalized by barbecued ribs at the local grocer. But we really do try to keep these dietary excursions to a minimum.

8 Strategies for a Healing Self

A healthy immune system is essential for a healthy life. It defends against viral and bacterial incursions and equips us to resist future infectious or toxic exposures. A healthy body has adequate reserves of antibodies and sensitized white blood cells. Hopefully, these resources are not called upon too often.

In The Healing Self: A Revolutionary New Plan to Supercharge Your Immunity and Stay Well for Life, Drs. Deepak Chopra and Rudolph Tanzi provide eight strategies for maintaining a healthy immune system. They also call for an expanded definition of immunity that draws attention to the body-mind-emotion connection. They’re not alone.

The field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) studies how our mental and emotional states impact the immune system. For example, research demonstrates that protracted stress suppresses the immune response. Likewise, chronic conditions are worsened by stress, depression, and anxiety, and may be improved by positive feelings. As a case in point, physician, social activist, and comedian “Patch” Adams demonstrated that laughter promotes healing in clinical settings.

Not surprisingly, the strategies in Dr. Chopra and Tanzi’s book focus on establishing a healthy body, healthy mind, and healthy emotional life. It places responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the individual. You can’t pick and choose which strategies you apply if you want the best results. You can’t rely on medical doctors or prescription drugs to the work. Self-care demands conscious choice, day-in and day-out.

ONE: Get adequate rest. Adopt healthy sleep habits to ensure 7-8 hours of restorative sleep every night. Take time every day to be alone and quiet. Breathe deeply!

TWO: Pursue an anti-inflammation diet: Consider the Mediterranean Diet for its emphasis on whole organic produce (fruits and vegetables), legumes, whole grains, and cold water fish (e.g., salmon). Get plenty of fiber and eliminate excess sugar, salt, and fat. Get rid of stale foods.

THREE: Manage stress. Approach everyday challenges with a state of alertness while remaining centered. Be mindful of what you can fix, what you can tolerate, and what you should leave. Learn to bend. Take time to meditate or do yoga. Seek positive outlets. Spend time in nature. Cultivate a support network. (NOTE: The number and diversity of interpersonal networks promote a strong immune system!)

FOUR: Stimulate your mind. There’s no expiration date on our ability to generate new neurons and forge new neural networks. Knowledge builds synapses and adds to our memory warehouse. The bigger our mental reserves, the more time we’ll have in advanced age before naturally occurring losses become debilitating. So, take up challenging mental activities. Explore new interests. Solve interesting problems.

FIVE: Move. A sedentary lifestyle is a risk factor for disease and premature aging. Get ~150 minutes of moderate to intense aerobic training weekly with 2 or more weight training sessions. If working at a desk job, stand up and move around every hour. Use stairs. Spend time with physically active friends.

SIX: Establish health-promoting core beliefs. Beliefs turn into thoughts, words, and actions. Forwarding beliefs have the following characteristics: optimistic, flexible, tolerant, open to change, loving, kind, happiness-promoting, self-assuring, relationship-building. Use these beliefs to create a vision of your best life.

SEVEN: Minimize struggle. Adopt an allowing attitude. Approach situations without attachment or resistance. Seek harmony by setting the example, not controlling others. Act gracefully. Share responsibility. Accept life as a smooth, self-directed stream of events.

EIGHT: Evolve. Enjoy being a work-in-progress and set a goal to grow every day. Change your daily narrative for the better. Look for opportunities to be compassionate, generous, loving, and grateful. Catch negativity early. Get sticky emotions to move by walking, going outside, breathing, sighing. Resist the voice of fear. Develop a supportive inner dialog. Keep company with positive, optimistic, inspirational people.

The Biology of Behavior

Most of us like to think that we’re in complete control of our actions. We picture ourselves as rational beings capable of making the right choices at the right times for the right reasons. But as Dr. Robert Sapolsky writes in Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, many factors influence the biology of behavior, some of which operate below conscious awareness.

Sensory input impacts our thought processes. For example, if we’re cradling a warm drink, we think warm thoughts about others. By contrast, cold drinks elicit a more frosty assessment. And if we’re in pain (or even really hungry), we’re more apt to be aggressive.

Rapid response brain regions impact our decisions and behaviors. The amygdala perceives sensory data through the lens of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. It evokes action to keep us from harm’s way and injects distrust and vigilance into decision processes. The hippocampus provides assistance by retaining information related to amygdala activity, thereby speeding response the next go around. They’re great defenders for real and present dangers; they’re troublesome for recovery from ingrained prejudice or past trauma (e.g., PTSD).

Hormones affect our perceptions and behaviors. For example, testosterone has been correlated with confidence, optimism, and aggression while decreasing fear and anxiety.

Neuropeptides (oxytocin and vasopressin) promote pair bonding and stimulate paternal/maternal behavior. While they elicit charitable behavior toward other members of our group, they increase aggression toward strangers when protecting loved ones.

The dopaminergic system regulates the pleasure center. In a healthy individual, it confers a sense of satisfaction in goal-directed behavior that anticipates future reward. Unfortunately, over-to-top sources of reward (e.g., sugar, alcohol, drugs, gambling) engender cravings, addiction, and habituation. The more we take in, the more we want.

The frontal cortex provides cognition, working memory, emotional regulation, rational decision making, and long-term planning. It’s the area of the brain that is least influenced by genetic inheritance and most sculpted by experience. It has the capacity to interpret sensory and emotional inputs and modulate our responses. For example, amygdaloidal neurons may fire in response to perceived threat, but the frontal cortex has veto power if it thinks the stimulus isn’t scary. That being said, the amygdala tends to carry the day for split second decision making; the frontal cortex requires deliberation.

As cognitive load on the frontal cortex increases, people become less empathetic, charitable, and honest. They’re more likely to succumb to temptation or make rash decisions. Habit formation proves an effective counterweight. It reduces cognitive load by rendering behaviors automatic. Other tactics for avoiding temptation include distraction (drawing one’s mind away from the stimulus) and reappraisal (changing the narrative of what’s happening in the moment). By contrast, good old fashioned willpower increases cognitive load.

Finally, culture exerts a profound impact on how we think and behave. Collectivist cultures emphasize harmony, interdependence, and conformity; individualist cultures stress autonomy, personal achievement, and individual rights. Stratified cultures (e.g., unequal incomes) foster more violence and less trust and kindness. Urban dwellers tend to have more reactive amygdalas, causing heightened fear and anxiety.

The biology of US versus THEM struck me as one of the more fascinating topics in Dr. Sapolsky’s book. We are biologically wired to process differences in race, ethnicity, gender, social status, and beauty. Our brains are especially attuned to skin color. We form US-THEM dichotomies within milliseconds of exposure to other human beings. Dress, ornamentation, and regional accent augment the visual cues as markers of values, beliefs, and ideologies. We feel a sense of obligation and reciprocity toward those we deem part of US, and we’re more likely make amends to those within our group. THEY can be viewed as threatening, angry, and untrustworthy. THEY might even evoke disgust.

We all belong to several US-THEM groupings, and our affiliations vary over time. Yet we do not need to be held hostage to our biological or cultural biases. If we acknowledge that factions exist, we can choose to follow our better angels. We can focus on larger, shared goals. We can invest the time and effort to “walk in someone else’s shoes” and see the world from a different vantage point. And we can stop, question, think, and reason when confronting engrained biases.

It takes more cognitive load to empathize with people with whom there is less common ground. Social competency demands more processing cycles in the frontal cortex. Yet sustained contact among groups decreases prejudice while increasing knowledge and empathy.

The good news: We make neurons throughout our lives, and our neurons regularly remap. So even old dogs can learn new tricks!

Yep… We Really Need to Exercise

“Regular exercise of the type that elevates heart rate is the single most useful thing you can do to maintain your cognitive ability as you age.”
– Drs. Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang

All of my life, I’ve heard the diet-and-exercise mantra for weight loss. I’ve been told that dieting alone isn’t a good idea. It makes the body think there’s a famine, so it automatically dials down its metabolic requirements to adjust for the reduced caloric intake. Exercise provides the counterbalance that forces the body to keep its metabolic fires burning. But how exactly does that work?

Digital readouts on aerobic equipment draw our attention to the number of calories burned during workouts. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Exercise increases cellular mitochondria. These microscopic organelles generate energy by metabolizing sugars, fats, and other chemical fuels. They’re certainly on the job when I’m expending energy at the gym. But they’re also working hard in my behalf while I’m at rest. By increasing their strength and numbers, I’m burning extra calories 24 hours a day. Once I reach my ideal body mass, they give me the freedom to add healthy food to my daily diet.

Unfortunately, the bathroom scale may not reward the diet-and-exercise regimen. Lean muscle weighs more than fat. So I could easily drop inches while maintaining (or even gaining) a bit of weight. Fluid retention also confounds the readout from the bathroom scale. That’s why I like to get a full body scan on a fancy-schmancy scale periodically to get a better sense of changes in my lean muscle mass, body fat, and water weight.

Of course, my panel of experts (listed below) would be quick to remind me that diet is about weight, and exercise is about health. There are many more reasons to exercise than just slimming down:

Exercise is heart healthy. It strengthens the heart muscle while lowering plaque-forming cholesterol.

Exercise improves digestion. It puts the lid on overeating through improved leptin signaling. (Leptin tells the brain when the body is full.) It increases the liver’s Krebs cycle to help it burn energy cleaner. It improves insulin sensitivity to support fuel storage in the cells.

Exercise improves lymphatic flow. The lymphatic system disposes of cellular waste, fights infections, and helps maintain body fluids. Because it lacks its own pump (a la the heart for the circulatory system), it needs physical activity to help move things along.

Exercise promotes blood flow to the brain and fortifies neural networks. It expands the size of the memory center, spurs the generation of new brain cells, makes neurons more nimble, and supports multi-tasking abilities. Exercise is essential for healthy aging. In one study, elderly people who exercised 20 minutes per day for 24 weeks demonstrated substantially better memory, language ability, and attention than their sedentary counterparts.

Exercise reduces stress and releases endorphins. It calms the fight-or-flight response (if present) and elevates mood. It can be an effective antidote to anxiety and/or depression.

Exercise activates genes linked to longevity. It is associated with a significant uptick in telomerase, the enzymes that repair damage and stimulate growth in our telomeres. Telomeres reside at the end of our chromosomes and make sure that our DNA strands remain intact. They shorten with age and other stressors. Cells cannot reproduce when their telomeres become unsustainably short.

The experts tell us that exercise must be consistent to confer benefit. Most suggest a minimum of 30 minutes of vigorous effort several times per week. Variety improves effectiveness. For example, cross-training and high intensity interval training have been associated with greater mitochondrial production and longer telomeres. Some benefits also accrue to those who regularly participate in actions of daily living – e.g., cooking, doing dishes, cleaning, gardening.

I’m not fond of exercise, but it sure does the body, mind, and spirit good!

Panel of Experts:

Sandra Aamodt, PhD and Sam Wang, PhD – Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life, ©2008
Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD and Elissa Epel, PhD – The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer, ©2017
Jeffrey S. Bland, MD – The Disease Delusion: Conquering the Causes of Chronic Illness for a Healthier, Longer, Happier Life, ©2014
Robert H. Lustig, MD – Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease, ©2012
David Perlmutter, MD – Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar – Your Brian’s Silent Killers, ©2013

How Stress Weighs Us Down

In Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, I briefly summarized Dr. Robert Sapolsky’s outstanding book on the biological mechanisms inherent in the stress response. He also explains how these mechanisms go awry when stressors hang around for days, weeks, and months. Physiological disturbances include hypertension, elevated cholesterol, insulin resistance, and bone disintegration, to name a few. We may also accelerate the rate at which our DNA loses its telomeres – i.e., the segments at the ends of our chromosomes that hold the strands together.

Many of the adverse effects of stress lie beneath our awareness. As such, they may not provide sufficient motivation for us to take action. However, the following impacts may get our attention.

We have trouble losing (or maintaining) weight. Stress increases our appetite for starchy and sweet foods to provide us with quick energy. The body assumes that we’ll have an elevated need for fuel during a relatively short interval, so it wants food that metabolizes readily into glucose. It’s not worried about having excess sugars roaming around the bloodstream.

With a long term stressor, cravings become a 24×7 phenomenon. The potato chips in the cupboard, the ice cream in the fridge, and the candy in the vending machine form a chorus that calls our names. And because these foods trigger our pleasure centers, we’re happy to respond and let them give us a little TLC. Unfortunately, the excess sugar in our bloodstream causes a number of unpleasant biochemical responses and promotes fat storage around our middles. Both factors increase our risk of cardiovascular disease while keeping the dream of fitting into our skinny jeans at bay.

We have trouble sleeping. According to Dr. Sapolsky, stress is responsible for 70% of insomnia cases. When those folks finally manage to nod off, their sleep tends to be shallower. To top it off, not getting enough sleep is another stressor!

We don’t look or feel our best when we haven’t had the required ~7-9 hours per night of sleep. We also don’t function as well. Lost sleep means our brains have less time to process memories, information, emotions, and motor tasks. Loss of deep, slow wave sleep also impacts our perceptual abilities.

We’re far more susceptible to illness. Our bodies are programmed to boost immune function in response to a short term stressor. If we’re running for our lives and sustain an injury, we want a lot of antibody warriors at the ready to quell any infection that might arise during our escape.

Unfortunately, if we have a bunch of active troops wandering around in our bloodstream for very long, they’re going to want to pick a fight. If there are no infectious agents to attack, they’ll start going after our own tissues. For this reason, the body tamps down its immune response when stressors persist. So when the usual round of germs, bacteria, viruses show up, stressed out folks won’t have the proper resources at hand to address them. They’ll get sick.

We’re more likely to have issues with substance abuse. Stress increases the addictive potential of food, alcohol, and drugs if exposure comes right before the stressor. Ongoing stress amplifies addiction and reduces one’s reservoir of willpower. It also increases the likelihood of relapse for those who’ve achieved sobriety.

For all of the foregoing reasons, we’d be wise to take stress management seriously. Here are a few strategies to consider:

Make lifestyle adjustments to get rid of toxic stressors. Change jobs. Adjust commute patterns. Bid farewell to folks with whom there’s no hope of reasonably cordial relations. Find a more pleasant community in which to live. Ease financial pressures by living modestly.
For circumstances in which change is not an option, re-wire your thought patterns to treat stressors as challenges that can advance your knowledge, skills, experience, and self-confidence.
If a stressor doesn’t offer the potential for personal growth, work on training yourself not to react adversely to it. As my husband says: “Water off a duck’s back…”
Avoid hostility, pessimism, rumination, and vengeful thoughts. Practice mindfulness and meditation to elevate your awareness of these patterns and detach from them.
Exercise! It boosts mood and reduces stress.

A Brief Tutorial on Dietary Fiber

All successful diets share two attributes: they’re low in sugar and high in fiber. Most of us intuitively get the restriction on sugar. After all, a minute on the lips can mean a lifetime on the hips! But few of us understand the role that fiber plays in weight management, let alone its other health benefits.

As a rule, our bodies do not use dietary fiber as energy sources. The overwhelming majority of it passes through our digestive tract without being metabolized. Yet it performs vital functions along the way. Dietary fiber takes two forms: soluble and insoluble.

Soluble fiber shows up in foods such as oat bran, barley, legumes (beans, lentils, peas), nuts, seeds, and some fruits and vegetables. When consumed, it forms a soft, sticky, gel-like substance that slows down the digestion and absorption of glucose, fructose, and fat. This delay gives the liver a chance to fully metabolize the incoming food. Soluble fiber provides the raw materials for bonding with bile acids to lower cholesterol, a known risk factor for heart disease. It regulates blood sugar to minimize insulin surges, a risk factor for diabetes. Soluble fiber also promotes colonization of good bacteria in the gut, which improves nutrient absorption and immune function.

Insoluble fiber shows up in foods such as whole grains, nuts, and fruits and vegetables (notably in the stalks, skins, and seeds). It’s the tough stuff that doesn’t dissolve in water, often referred to as “roughage.” It adds bulk to move food through the digestive track; it helps prevent constipation and diverticulitis. Like soluble fiber, it decreases cholesterol and lowers blood glucose.

High fiber foods support weight loss and healthy weight management. They dilute the caloric content of our diets while simultaneously requiring more time to chew and process. They delay the rate at which food empties from the stomach into the intestines, thereby creating a sense of fullness. A slower rate of digestion gives the body time to generate and release the satiety hormone leptin which tells the brain that it has taken in enough food. The measured release of sugar into the bloodstream improves insulin sensitivity. And higher fiber consumption has been associated with lower rates of cancer in the colon and rectum.

In order to gain all of these health benefits, fiber must be eaten in whole, intact food. Whole grains must be uncracked, uncrushed, and unadulterated. Fruits and vegetables must go from the tree, vine, or ground to the table, relatively unchanged. As a case in point: When juicing fruits and vegetables, the sheering action destroys the insoluble fiber and causes sugar absorption into the bloodstream to soar.

So how are Americans doing with fiber consumption?

The Institute of Medicine tells us that women should consume a minimum of ~25 grams of fiber per day and men should consume ~38 grams per day. Yet according to the USDA, fiber intake among women and men comes in at 15 and 18 grams per day, respectively. The standard American diet features an excess of meats, fats, and processed foods, and too little fiber-rich foods.

To increase your fiber intake, consider shifting your eating habits toward a whole food plant based diet. Fiber is naturally concentrated in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. These foods are also rich in vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. There are lots of delicious recipes for preparing these foods. Over time, you’ll find that you won’t miss all of the processed foods that used to adorn your meals and snacks. And you’ll gain a whole lot of other health benefits while you’re at it!

Why Sleep Matters

A recent Gallup poll revealed that 40% of Americans are not getting the recommended 7 minimum hours of sleep per night. Many of us are burning the candle at both ends juggling long hours at work with a gaggle of personal responsibilities. And when we’re not busy with the business of life, we’ve got all of those electronic devices competing for our attention.

We don’t look or feel our best when we haven’t gotten enough sleep. According to sleep expert Dr. Michael Breus, loss of a mere 90 minutes of sleep could reduce our alertness by a third the following day. We might be able to power through our fatigue, perhaps with a certain amount of pride that we’re able to keep things rolling even when we aren’t operating at peak efficiency. But whether we like it or not, we really do need our sleep.

We need sleep to regenerate physically. During sleep, the pituitary gland releases growth hormone to support nightly repair and rebuilding of our organs, muscles, and bones. Our heart rate and blood pressure lower, giving our entire cardiovascular system a much-needed rest. Sleep also allows for expansion in the space between our brain cells to expose and eliminate toxins. Should this debris transform into plaque, we increase our risk of stroke and dementia.

We need sleep to regenerate cognitively. Our brains use restorative sleep to process and consolidate our daily dose of information and experience. Sleep deprivation disrupts memory formation, diminishes our capacity for focused attention, and draws down our reserves of will power. Poor recall, a wandering mind, and difficulty sticking to the task at hand all contribute to a substantive decline in productivity. It also increases the odds that we’ll make errors, have accidents, and cause bodily injury to ourselves or others.

We need sleep to regenerate emotionally. No matter how much we enjoy our work, our friends and families, and our communities, we need a break to reset our emotional clocks and start anew. REM sleep provides the opportunity to process and consolidate our emotional experiences. Sleep deprivation and chronic fatigue dampen our enjoyment of life and is a risk factor for anxiety and depression.

We need sleep promote longevity. Folks with good sleep hygiene tend to have long telomeres. Telomeres are the protective “tips” on our DNA strands that hold them together during cellular division. Poor sleep quality threatens these life-sustaining biological structures. Once they’re unsustainably short, our cells can no longer regenerate.

A pharmacological approach to sleeping is not a good idea. It doesn’t deliver the quality of sleep that Mother Nature intended and carries the risk of physical or psychological dependence. It’s far preferable to pursue good sleep habits that help the body leverage its built-in mechanisms.

Here are 7 tips to promote good sleep:

Make your bedroom a sanctuary for sleep. Get a comfortable bed with high quality sheets, blankets, and pillows. Ban TVs, phones, computers, and other electronic devices from the room. Use dim lighting.
Maintain regular sleep patterns. Go to bed and rise at roughly the same time daily.
Support your body’s circadian rhythm by getting lots of bright light during the day and avoiding artificial light in the hours before bedtime. (Note: Amber-tinted glasses can be used to block the blue spectrum light that disrupts production of sleep-inducing melatonin.)
Eat on a regular schedule to keep your hunger hormones in check. The last meal of the day should tide you over until morning without making you feel full at bedtime.
Don’t drink alcohol at night. While alcohol is a sedative upon consumption, it has a stimulatory effect as it breaks down in the bloodstream. It releases adrenaline and disrupts serotonin production.
Design a relaxing bedtime routine to manage the transition from wakefulness to a slow descent into sleep.
Use a yellow- or red-tinted night light to avoid sleep-disrupting blasts of blue light during nocturnal pit stops.

Sweet dreams!

Sources:

Sandra Aamodt, PhD and Sam Wang, PhD – Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life, ©2008
Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD and Elissa Epel, PhD – The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer, ©2017
Sara Gottfried, MD – Younger: A Breakthrough Program to Reset Your Genes, Reverse Aging, and Turn Back the Clock 10 Years, ©2017
David Perlmutter, MD – Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar – Your Brian’s Silent Killers, ©2013

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

A recent conversation with my naturopath drew my attention to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a program developed in the 1970s by Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. It’s an 8-week workshop with weekly classes, homework, and an all-day retreat with instruction in mindfulness meditation, body scanning, and simple yoga postures. It’s based on the following tenets: beginner’s mind, non-judgment, patients, acceptance, non-striving, trust, and letting go.

My husband and I attended an orientation last Spring. I followed up with a quick read though The MBSR Program for Enhancing Health and Vitality by Linda Lehrhaupt and Petra Meibert, both certified trainers. While the authors make clear that a book is no substitute for the lived experience of a class, it provides a high-level summary of the course contents. I’m intrigued and may give the class a go.

Based on reading about how our brains and bodies work, I’ve learned how our mental activity impacts our brain circuitry and our physiology. When a situation elicits the “fight or flight” response, our bodies:

Mobilize energy (glucose) in our bloodstreams to provide fuel for our muscles
Elevate heart rates, blood pressure, and breathing to expedite delivery of fuel and oxygen to our cells
Halt long-term “building projects” – e.g., growth, tissue repair, reproduction
Boost immunity and blunt pain response
Sharpen senses and improve memory

These physiological changes prove useful for responding to a short-term threat – e.g., running from a predator. They’re detrimental when activated over a prolonged period of time in response to sustained predatory conditions, chronic pain, mental anguish, and the like. MBSR provides the resources to tamp down the parts of our brain that activate anxiety/negativity and amp up the parts that promote resilience and well-being.

With mindfulness training, we can draw focus away from the particulars of a difficult situation (e.g., grid lock during the daily commute) and observe the way we relate to it on an emotional, intellectual, and behavioral level. We learn to recognize that the irritant plays a relatively minor role in our experience of stress; it’s the extra elements that we attach to it that escalate our response. With heightened sensitivity to our reactivity and our rumination, we can turn the dial down on stress while opening the door to options for self-management and coping.

Mindfulness goes beyond managing stress. The program also draws attention to all the ways in which we get caught up in thoughts and lose sight of what’s happening in the here and now. It strengthens our capacity to recognize the vitality of every moment – even when we’re doing chores! It helps us live in the present without getting caught up in a past that we can’t change or a future that has yet to occur.

Mindfulness also helps to calm the restless mind. Thoughts have power. When they get “stuck” in our minds, we can get caught up with them. But if we can become aware of them in a calm, friendly, non-judgmental manner – without identifying with them or giving them credence – they lose their capacity to exert a negative influence. They can just pass on through.

Mindfulness can help us improve relations with others. The core premise here is that we cannot connect meaningfully with others if we’re not connected to ourselves. When we’re in touch with our thoughts, feelings, wants, and needs, we’re more likely to communicate clearly and less likely to respond on auto-pilot. We’ll be grounded in the present moment and listen more attentively. We’ll pause before reacting, giving ourselves time to choose the appropriate thought, speech, or action. We’ll also notice when we’re involved with something or someone that does not prove forwarding for our lives.

Given the program’s longevity and span of influence, there has been quite a lot of research on its effectiveness… hence my interest in attending. I just need to figure out how I’ll get it to fit in my schedule!

Portrait of an Extraordinary Artist

They first met in 1966. Malka Marom was a wife, mother, and popular Canadian folk singer in the duo Malka & Joso. Her seemingly idyllic life was unraveling as she walked into a dimly lit coffeehouse in Toronto. As she listened to the young singer, Malka felt as though this woman knew her. “And the more she sang, the more her voice became my own.” She was amazed to discover that the woman wrote her own material. She felt certain that she’d become a star. She was right.

As a journalist seven years later, Malka landed the first of three in-depth interviews with that young woman. It marked the beginning of a close friendship that spanned decades. Joni Mitchel: In Her Own Words allows the reader to sit on the sofa while these two kindred spirits reflect on the life of an extraordinary artist.

As I read through the material, I took note of several themes that characterized Joni Mitchell’s artistic journey.

She didn’t get caught up in the world’s judgment; she held to her own inner compass. As a young child, Joni was labeled a mediocre student by her teachers. Yet Joni noticed that the “good students” were those who simply spit back what the teacher told them. Joni was interested in the unasked question, or the question that didn’t have an easy answer. So their labels didn’t mean much to her. Years later, Joni drew criticism when her work didn’t attain the expected level of commercial success. She didn’t get worked up about it. She accepted the fact that people wouldn’t always appreciate her artistic growth. She takes pride in her “experimentiveness.”

She identified with being an artist. While her grades may not have inspired enthusiasm, she discovered her skill as a painter by winning an art contest. (She drew the best dog house.) That discovery provided another avenue to distance herself from her banal education. She also leveraged her gift to quell anxiety. When a teacher suggested that she could also paint with words, a poet was born.

She was endlessly curious and inventive. She didn’t want to learn the masters when playing piano; she wanted to write her own material. She played London Bridge is Falling Down backwards to yield a far more interesting sound. She kept fiddling with the tuning on her guitar so that she could continue to explore and re-discover the instrument. She craved freshness and never wanted to sound like anybody else. When asked if she ever feared that the creative well would run dry, she responded: “As long as you still have questions… the muse has got to be there.”

She plumbed the depth of her experience and her emotions to create authentic material. She deemed herself ultra-sensitive, perceiving things that others do not. When writing a song, she was open to the encounter, giving herself the space to experience the miraculous. “The muse passes through you as you allow yourself to experience.” Recording was a process of discovery, searching more and more for reality, not an affectation. She was also keen to experience her songs as she performed them. If she felt that she’d gone on auto-pilot and started thinking about 100 different things, she’d stop.

She made difficult choices in service of her art. Joni and her first husband became a successful folk duo. When she realized that she couldn’t grow with him, she set out on her own. She refused to be a formulaic recording artist who produced derivative material (even of herself!) for the sake of fame or fortune. She turned down highly lucrative performance gigs if the venue, material, or vibe didn’t align with her artistic integrity.

She was never addicted to applause or honorariums. She was driven by her muse, by the need to explore. She felt it was important to “keep a carrot in front of your nose for growth.” At the end of the day, the art was the thing.

“Freedom for me is a luxury of being able to follow the path of your heart, to keep the magic in your life. Freedom is necessary for me in order to create, and if I cannot create, I don’t feel alive.”
– Joni Mitchell

Healthy Lifestyle

Ideas to Nourish the Body, Mind, and Spirit