Studies have shown that high levels of cholesterol are actually associated with a decrease in mortality especially, from cancer and infection. Additionally, the impact of cholesterol on the risk of vascular disease is decreased. These effects are observed predominantly in old age. ¹
WAHT IS CHOLESTEROL? Read More »
We see that the inability of the body to regenerate new cells is central to the process of aging. So, if we introduce stem cells with their striking properties in the body at this point, one would think that the problem is solved. This is true, as studies have proved that stem cells can slow down the process of aging. Stem Cell Rejuvenation is the introduction of stem cells into the body; it not only increases the restorative capacity of the body but also keeps the damaging process of inflammation in check
WHAT ARE STEM CELLS? Read More »
Every living thing needs food to support its existence and humans are not left out. Food supplies our body with the necessary chemical energy for our organs to thrive optimally. However, we would not be just in our definition to relegate food to the place of sustaining survival alone. Promulgated by faith and supported by science, we have seen that diet has direct effects on our health. The health of our cells (the basic unit of every life) depends on what we eat and how we eat. Diets are so important to health that even the world’s most popular religions regard it so much to have prescribed how food should be taken, how it should be prepared, and from what source it is to be gotten. A healthy life is what we all are looking for. Sometimes we pay for it, other times we pray for it but isn’t it rather more convenient that we perpetually live in health rather than wishing for recovery? Let us consider how healthy dieting as faith prescribes can give us a life of health. We will look at the principles of Halal and of course Kosher and how we can gift ourselves a life of wellness by following the wisdom they share. What does Halal mean? Halal is an Islamic term for foods that are permitted for Muslims to consume. You can look at it as a set of dietary laws for the Muslim faithful. When you pay attention to the guidelines of Halal, one cannot deny the health and overall life advantages it offers to anyone who keeps its principles. For instance, the consumption of alcohol is forbidden from the diet of the Muslim faithful. This is corroborated by scientific research as excessive alcohol intake has been linked to heart diseases, liver damage, brain, and nervous system problems, anemia, cancer, digestive problems, and seizures among others.¹ This goes to show the level of importance the Islamic faith places on dieting for health’s sake. Interestingly, it does not just hope to make man the benefiting party at the detriment of nature. For instance, the Islamic faithful is instructed to allow animals for slaughter to range freely or at most tied to a leash that permits the animal to move around. Also, the principles of halal recommend that before slaughter, animals should be fed, watered, and soothed.² Where animals must be fed with feed from natural sources without synthetic additives such as hormones and antibiotics. Interestingly, science does not hold a different view about the stance of halal on animal feed and treatment before slaughter. The National Research Council which is a part of the National Academy of Sciences gave an opinion on the effect of antibiotic mix in animal feed on human health. It was deduced that the use of antibiotics in animal feed is linked to the development of resistant microorganisms in the bodies of the animals and that these organisms are transferred to humans as zoonotic pathogens³ and they are largely untreatable sometimes leading to the death of affected humans.⁴ Considering these facts, it is before your very eyes the wisdom in the principles of halal to give you wholesome meat that doesn’t pose any threat to your health. The concept of Halal just proves to us how humans stand a chance of living a life of health if we could inculcate the principles of halal into our dietary codes. Halal also shows us that the Islamic faith links wellbeing to dieting and this cannot be more factual than it already is. A scientific report confirmed that feeding on healthy food helps in the growth of special bacteria that increases the production of neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters are responsible for your brain’s ability to decode neural messages clearly and help keep your mood light and cheerful. The connection between your mental health and your digestive system is so important that your gastrointestinal tract is called ‘the second brain’.⁵ What we eat affects our bodily and mental health truly! Little wonder the Prophet (PBUH) said “The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat a few mouthfuls, to keep him going. If he must do that (fill his stomach), then let him fill one third with food, one third with drink, and one third with air.” The Prophet (PBUH) admonished that eating should not be done solely for pleasure but to sustain good health and keep the body active. It is proven that many diseases can be traced to unhealthy eating habits which corroborate the health benefit of His teaching. “A SCIENTIFIC REPORT CONFIRMED THAT FEEDING ON HEALTHY FOOD HELPS IN THE GROWTH OF SPECIAL BACTERIA THAT INCREASES THE PRODUCTION OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS. THESE NEUROTRANSMITTERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR BRAIN’S ABILITY TO DECODE NEURAL MESSAGES CLEARLY AND HELP KEEP YOUR MOOD LIGHT AND CHEERFUL. ” When Yoshinori Ohsumi claimed the Nobel Prize for medicine in 2016 for his findings in the role of Muslim “total starvation” fasting in the renewal of cells through a process called ‘autophagy’, it only showed the recognition by the world’s highest scholarly authority in medicine to the advancement and the still ongoing cutting edge validity of both halal and Islamic medicine. This is because the Muslim fast is an important part of the Halal dietary code. How does Kosher help improve health? Just like Halal, Kosher is a set of dietary rules that guide traditional Jewish meals and how they are prepared. The rules show the potential of keeping one healthy as they prioritize hygiene in the preparation of meals. For instance, equipment used in the preparation of meat is to be separated from equipment used in the preparation of dairy products. This limits the chances of harmful bacteria from the gut of animals from contaminated utensils. Final Thoughts It took modern medicine 400 years to catch up to what has been a conventional practice for over 1400 years to more than a billion and
LEARN HOW OUR BODIES ARE DESIGNED TO BE FOREVER YOUNG The wheel of time turns and drags us along with it until we are thrown off. And that’s what we call death. Despite all the struggles of life, most people are afraid to be thrown off. We want to keep running on the wheel for as long as possible. Modern medicine is working towards that goal in some ways which allow us to drag our withered bones and old bodies along the wheel for a few more years. But it’s never enough because eventually, death comes for all. I want to ask a simple question. Is it really worth it to prolong our lives in such a manner where our worn-out bodies can be kept from dying for a limited time? We all know that the prime of our lives is the time of our youth. We feel the potential to do whatever we want to without our own health standing in our way. That is the time of life that allows us to fulfill our goals, enjoy ourselves and be happy. Old age, in contrast, comes with a lot of problems that diminish our energy and our health. Is it really worth trying to prolong our lives in this old age? That’s what anti-aging is. The idea is to slow down aging, to stall its advance. But all it ends up doing is to give us a sense of delaying the inevitable. Doesn’t sound all that fancy does it? What if we could go in reverse and restore our youths? After all, it is the prime time of our lives. What if we could prolong our youth instead of merely our ages? Valid questions. And the answer lies, not in anti-aging, but in age reversal! Age reversal is the idea of prolonging and restoring our youth. It is meant to restore our health and our energy. It is meant to keep us fit and happy. It is meant to keep us disease-free. It prolongs that phase of our lives which can be the most physically and mentally fulfilling. In doing so, it would keep old age from disturbing the peace of our youth. It is meant not to make us live longer per se, but to live younger and happier till we are eventually thrown off the wheel. Now that does sound interesting, doesn’t it? WHAT DOES AGING REALLY MEAN? Typically, aging is merely associated with its physical manifestations such as graying of hair, wrinkling of the skin, or generally as a decline in health and increased propensity to get diseases. The current efforts to counter aging are only directed towards reducing these symptoms of aging, just to look younger. Aging is actually a cellular process. As the cells start to lose the ability to divide and become worn out, we say that they have aged. These cellular alterations then manifest at a macroscopic level. How do we know that the cells are aging? It’s simple. The DNA in our cells undergoes epigenetic modifications in the form of DNA methylation, histone modification, and chromatin remodeling, collectively referred to as epigenetic markers. Steve Horvath developed an epigenetic or internal clock that measures epigenetic alterations to determine the biological age of cells which closely relates to the chronological age.¹ In addition to epigenetic modifications, other mechanisms that contribute to the process of aging include telomere shortening and cellular senescence. Telomeres are short segments of DNA that progressively shorten with each replication. Therefore, the cell loses the capability to replicate after a certain number of replications and eventually meets death. In addition, various insults incurred upon our DNA and the inability to repair the damage results in accumulation of DNA damage. This coupled with free radical mediated inflammation within our cells and tissues results in damage to our cellular health, which gradually leads to aging. You can read about it in more detail here. All of these changes are closely related to our lifestyle habits, environment and nutrition. Age reversal focuses on these very factors to bring about the restoration of youth which is our goal! CAN AGE BE REVERSED? Research indicates that it can be reversed. One particular experiment showed that the administration of growth hormones along with metformin (a diabetes drug) and other chemicals decrease aging.² There are dozens if not scores of such experiments that indicate that biological ageing can not only be halted but reversed. And this isn’t even a new discovery. And filling yourself up with various drugs isn’t the only way to age reversal. Let’s talk about some other methods that work just as well. NUTRITION Many experiments indicate that calories restriction modulates the activity of signaling pathways which protect the cells from harmful effects of aging. It also leads to the release of chemicals called sirtuins which play a beneficial role in promoting longevity through various mechanisms³. Fasting is a traditional and religious custom that has been a part of many cultures for more than a millennium that serves this very purpose of caloric restriction. Remember what I said about age reversal not being a new discovery? Apart from how much we eat, what we eat matters just as much. Many food products like various fruits, onions, prunes and fish (just to name a few) have anti-oxidant properties which neutralize the free radical mediated inflammation in our cells. Research has shown that this prevents DNA damage and contributes to the health of cells⁴. And that’s not all. Remember telomeres that keep on shortening with every cell division which leads to eventual cellular senescence? This means a cell can no longer divide and hence must eventually die. But believe it or not, in a landmark research many food products (legumes, nuts, and various fruits) have been positively linked with maintaining or increasing telomere length. That means continued cell division and continued supply of healthy cells. Crazy what watching what you eat can get you.⁵ EXERCISE The importance of physical activity and exercising cannot be overstated.
WHY AGE REVERSAL NOT ANTI AGING? Read More »
Love is a word that defies definition. It is an emotion that escapes comprehension. A number of poets, writers, and scientists have tried to come up with an all-encompassing definition of Love but what they have produced caters only to a small part of this vast concept. Some call it a mere purposeless attraction to people or things. Others declare it a primordial emotion programmed into our DNA to ensure reproduction. Some associate it merely with romance. Yet others see it as an attraction to anything, even to abstract ideas. However, one aspect of love that is more or less agreed upon is the pleasant feeling it induces, the positive emotions it elicits, and the healing power it possesses. Modern medical research backs up and affirms these ideas. LOVE; FROM ABSTRACT TO MATERIAL Just like every other emotion, love too takes a material form within our brains in the form of neuropeptides and hormones. It is governed by hormones such as oxytocin, vasopressin, testosterone, estrogen, dopamine, and norepinephrine.¹ To be more specific, “Love is an emergent property of an ancient cocktail of neuropeptides and neurotransmitters”. ¹ Some of these substances, like oxytocin, elicit the feeling of attraction and attachment. Some make you feel euphoric and happy. Others, through indirect pathways, have far-reaching effects on our mental and physical health. One very interesting research makes the case that since a loss of love or attachment drives our minds to a drastically negative state then it is only logical to imagine that acquiring love would do the opposite i.e.: bring drastic positive change to our mental state of being. Let’s see how such an abstract concept can possess the power of healing. ““LOVE IS AN EMERGENT PROPERTY OF AN ANCIENT COCKTAIL OF NEUROPEPTIDES AND NEUROTRANSMITTERS”.” EFFECT ON BODY Physical Health The feeling of love release dopamine and norepinephrine which lead to feelings of happiness and motivation. A person is more cautious about his physical well-being and is more invested in promoting health through proper diet and exercise. In addition to that, these chemicals promote the balanced functioning of multiple organ systems.² Alleviation of stress Being in love or feeling loved provides a sense of attachment and security that keeps the stress and anxiety at bay. A person is protected from the effects of stress, which suppresses bodily functions, and also from mental diseases such as depression, psychosis, etc. Research comparing two groups of committed and single individuals indicates that people who are in a committed relationship demonstrate a buffered stress response. This is in part due to some function of the vagus nerve.³ Protection from diseases The reciprocal relationship between the brain and the immune system is activated by the chemicals produced in the body as a consequence of the emotion of love. The positive effects of this interaction manifest as enhanced immunity which helps fight off infections.⁴ Moreover, the person experiencing love has better control of blood pressure, sugar, and cholesterol. Any derangement in these measures is the root cause of various diseases of Liver, Lung, heart, etc. This advantage of “being in love” is more pronounced through healthy sexual activity, which is associated with the release of oxytocin, testosterone, and estrogen.⁵ Healthy romantic activity is something that I talk about in more detail in my book Lead A Horse To Water.⁶ Pain relief “Love is a painkiller.” This may sound like something a mad lover would say and would be considered insane by someone who abhors such feelings. Surprisingly though, seeing your loved ones does reduce the sensitivity to pain through the production of dopamine which activates the pathways that result in the production of opioids; the natural pain killer.⁷ Cellular senescence On a microscopic level, chemicals produced as a consequence of love promote cellular health. Oxytocin plays a role in decreasing cellular senescence by the release of substances that protect DNA from damage. This reduces the risk of malignant transformation and age-related diseases.⁸ When trying to comprehend the healing power of love, this becomes of prime importance. We know that the key to prolonging youthful longevity is to promote cellular health. Understanding that the emotion of love and all its associated activities can promote this goal is only going to help you along this path. EFFECT ON MIND Sense of Attachment As love evolves, it brings in the feeling of attachment to that person, which culminates in the desire to perpetuate the relationship. It may seem to be a rational, well-thought decision, but actually, it’s the chemicals produced in the brain that prompt this action. Research has shown that oxytocin and vasopressin are predominantly involved in the development of this feeling.⁹ Happiness Norepinephrine; which activates the brain; and dopamine; which stimulates the reward center in the brain; are responsible for all the excitement, surprise, joy, and cheerfulness that accompanies love. Research indicates higher levels of contentment and happiness in married couples compared to single individuals.¹⁰ Read that again. What more does a person want than to be happy and satisfied? The most basic dream that every heart, or mind rather, harbors in this life is to be happy. And love is the emotion that can realize this dream. Loving a person, an object, or an idea can direct you to a path where every living moment gives you happiness. And this is the very definition of “Living in the moment.” Learning and Memory This one might come as a surprise but being in Love can actually stimulate brain activity that results in improved cognition and memory. This effect has been shown through various researches. This won’t make your mind into a memory palace like that of Sherlock Holmes’ but the effect is not insignificant. It is especially pronounced regarding the memory of events related to romantic encounters. ¹¹ Better mental Health Love is associated with positive emotions and lack of stress. It also strengthens our mental capabilities due to the improved functioning of the brain. Having someone to share your feelings with is mentally relaxing and it protects
Is food really medicine or is it just another cliché strategy used by organic medicine vendors to get your hard-earned money? You’re just about to discover verifiable answers to what is perhaps one of the age-long arguments about health. Buckle your belts fellow; it’s going to be one thrilling ride with knowledge! It was in the year 440 BC when the battle of thought regarding food as medicine became a course for public debate. Hippocrates, probably wielding his famous staff, stood before some scholars in the Forum at Athens and declared “Let food be thy medicine, medicine thy food.” Ever since it has been a war of facts and opinions. When the world was almost forgetting about the Greek’s stance, Islamic physicians Ibn Sina and Ibn Al-Baytar amazed the world of their time when they reignited the concept of food as medicine. Does the concept still hold water in our time? Does food function as medicine, or does it simply quiet the rumbles in our stomachs that tell us we’re hungry? Read on to discover perhaps unpopular truths! Is Food Really medicine? As an enthusiast of holistic well-being, I want us to look at “medicine” not just as a practice for recovery measures against diseases but as a preventive approach to health. We cannot adequately consider medicine in this aspect without understanding how we fall sick and what the body does when we are about to fall sick. Every one of us has a part of our body systems that acts like an army, guarding the territorial borders and sovereignty of our body systems. It picks signals whenever a foreign body that may be detrimental enters our body then it hollers your body’s siren to raise an army against such diseases. This is our body’s first reaction to the microorganisms or physiological changes that make us sick. When our body’s ‘army’ is not strong enough to fight these foreign bodies, we break down into ill health. This ‘army’ is called our immune system and the foreign bodies are chemicals, bacteria, or viruses. The ability of our immune system to either prevent or fight against diseases naturally depends on adequate nutrition. It could be that in the pursuit of overall wellness, a solution may just be staring at us in the eyes. Now that you have discovered the usefulness of food in the prevention of illness, it is only logical that food can also be used in the cure of the same illnesses either as a nutrient therapy or in addition to other forms of medical practices. A question still lingers on the horizon begging for the light of your attention, are all foods usable in the practice of medicine? From ages past, right from the mid paleolithic period down to our time, food has been a material for therapeutic purposes.¹ Despite that all foods have health benefits due to their inherent nutritional properties, some other foods offer higher health benefits – functional foods. In 1994, the National Academy of Science’ Food and Nutrition Board coined a categorization for any modified food or food ingredients that may provide a health benefit beyond the traditional nutrients it contains.² “WHEN OUR BODY’S ‘ARMY’ IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO FIGHT THESE FOREIGN BODIES, WE BREAK DOWN INTO ILL HEALTH. THIS ‘ARMY’ IS CALLED OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AND THE FOREIGN BODIES ARE CHEMICALS, BACTERIA, OR VIRUSES.” In the years that precede the 1990s, FOSHU began to be a topic of interest when the Japanese began to popularize the use of functional foods and no, it is not some Japanese temple slang. It is an acronym for an approach to medicine where food was utilized in an attempt to prevent or treat an ailment by taking them in quantities akin to what was required for normal feeding purposes. FOSHU, an acronym for Food for Specific Health Uses, isn’t a new concept even though the name is relatively new. In certain cases, medicine in the form of food nutrition is produced in non-food matrixes such as supplements where the nutritive content of food is extracted and administered in doses that are not obtainable when you ingest the food directly. They are called “Nutraceuticals” and the term was first used by Ziesel³ in his 1999 publication, ‘Regulation of “nutraceuticals.” Interestingly, many people are beginning to approach health holistically and are doing so with a turn to more natural means of treatment which is believed to be inexpensive and cause few side effects in comparison to its counterpart, the pharmaceutical drugs. Interestingly, Williamson⁴ confirmed that there are several instances where the ingestion of medicinal food produced better results than equivalent doses of a single extracted nutrient was administered. Research upon research continues to prove that the consumption of some foods or their extracted components which have physiological effects may be linked to a reduction in diseases.⁵ Should we look out for side effects? Generally, the intake of healthy substances may prove unhealthy in unwholesome quantities; a measure used in the cure and prevention of diseases becoming illness-inducing. Willett,⁶ reported that excessive dietary intake of some foods alongside risky lifestyle choices increases the chances of getting a stroke, heart disease, and diabetes. In essence, just as it should be in other areas of our lives, moderation is key in the administration of food as medicine. Is the use of food as medicine a holistic health approach? When I shared my thoughts on the importance of nutritious feeding for anti-aging and general wellbeing⁷ in my book “Lead A Horse To Water”, it was a surprise call for certain persons who are not aware that they can truly live happily in prolonged health without direct use of pharmaceutical products or modern medicine. Holistic medicine approaches your health from the angle of general wellbeing; mind, emotional, spirit, and body. Without a doubt, food doesn’t just feed or heal us; it blends with our body’s physiological system for a long time giving us longer chances of staying healthy. In holistic health practices like
FOOD AS MEDICINE, OR…MEDICINE AS FOOD? Read More »
You may have heard of it, you may have even eaten it, fancied worldwide as probably the safest form of food believed to have health benefits – organic food! Long before humanity became very scientific in its approach to living, people planted crops, cultured the farms, fertilized the lands, and harvested the crops without the use of synthetic chemicals. It is a common belief that this system of agriculture was the reason why older generations lived healthier, had fewer diseases to deal with, and had better environments. If you existed centuries ago, you can be sure that your meal was organic without synthetic compounds believed to have health concerns. However, things have changed since the 1940’s¹ and most of our food today has undergone one or more processes that make them unfit to be called ‘organic’. We all have an idea of what organic food should mean but in our innocent ignorance, there may be some important facts we may be missing out on in defining what is organic or not. What is Organic Food? They are food substances that are produced without the use of synthetic materials such as pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers during any of their farming procedure and are usually not processed with the use of irradiation, synthetic food additives, or industrial solvents.² Although in the general sense of it, the garden in your backyard which is tended to by natural means only can be said to produce organic food, only an authorized government body can label food produced organic or not especially when it has to be sold in a market place. Several countries like Japan, Australia, India, and Mexico have their respective bodies that are authorized to label foods. In the United States, however, the Department of Agriculture has mandated the National Organic Program with the task of certifying organic foods.³ The importance of these bodies in the definition of what food in the market is organic or not is not far-fetched. They are farm produce that did undergo natural treatments such as being treated with tobacco dust which contains nicotine sulfate and is regarded unfit to be called organic foods. Also, some foods are treated with organic pesticides such as mixtures containing soaps and hydrogen peroxide, yet are eligible to be regarded as organic food. As you have seen earlier, several nations have their respective regulatory bodies so what is organic or not differs between countries, and these regulatory bodies are not only concerned about on-farm activities, even processing methods could determine if the food product is organic or not. Why the hype about organic foods? In many climes, a return to organic farming is seen as the solution to several health and ecological challenges. For instance, many people walk around carrying unhealthy doses of heavy metals from pesticide residues in their body systems. No, they are not cyborgs; rather, they have consumed foods with pesticide residues for a long time and these heavy metals have accumulated in their bodies. Such people have a high risk of getting weak immune systems, brain damage, or even cancer. With the health problem posed by conventional and ‘chemical farming’ as Lord Northbourne called it in his 1940 book “Look to the Land”. It is only expected that experts and people, in general, show a preference for organic foods. If you are a parent or you hope to be a parent someday, the health of your children would be of concern to you. Research has proven that certain residues from pesticides ingested at different levels of exposure by children affected the development of their cognitive abilities adversely. Animal models have shown neurotoxicity when treated with residues from pesticides and some of these residues which can accumulate from eating conventional foods treated with pesticides have been shown to cause an imbalance in the endocrine system.⁴ We cannot separate our health from what and how we eat. What we eat may affect our health directly such as inducing illnesses or indirectly by weakening our immune system which is supposed to help our bodies fight foreign disease-causing substances or organisms. Could it be that our deviation from organic feeding to synthetic agricultural methods is the cause of our plummeting general wellness? There are also certain effects conventional farming causes to the environment and if we continue at this rate will end up reducing the quality of our health, shortening our life span, and making our environments unsafe for healthy living. Impact of Organic farming on the environment From imbalance to the soil ecosystem to fertilization of our water bodies, conventional farming with the use of synthetic chemicals has caused serious environmental problems on a global scale. When water runs from fertilized lands into river bodies, it causes eutrophication. Eutrophication is the fertilization of water bodies beyond normal quantity. This kills our fish, blocks our waterways by making floating plants grow on boat passages. This is not to mention the increase in toxic heavy metal content in agricultural soils. There are speculations that when we shift from conventional ways of farming that use chemicals to a more organic approach, there would be long-term benefits in the areas of soil health, ecosystem sustainability, and preserving micro biodiversity.⁵ Final thoughts Our food choices can either affect us negatively or help our cells in positive ways. They can make our cells age faster or retain youthfulness.⁶ The health benefits of organic foods cannot be emphasized enough. Other than giving us food without disease-causing pesticide residues, organic foods help us strengthen our immune system. For many people, the reason they purchase organic foods is for their health benefits and their nutritional value.⁷ Judging by the reasons we have seen so far, their preference is cogent enough. As a person who believes in general wellness, I believe that you can enjoy a life of consistent health if you take your feeding more seriously, especially in the consumption of foods of organic origin. In holistic, the environment also plays a role in keeping healthy. Organic methods of
WHAT IS “ORGANIC”? Read More »
A smile comes to our faces when we see a heart-warming sight. Ever wonder what goes on in our minds from the moment we take that sight in to the moment the smile forms on our faces? What neurons are fired and what chemicals are released? Because in reality, that is the material form our emotions take; chemicals and hormones released by firing neurons. EMOTIONS AND HORMONES Hormones and neurotransmitters inside our brains control and shape our emotions. They formulate our feelings and create our perceptions. Their levels in our brain decide whether we feel happy or sad, content or displeased, calm or angry. And we, being the emotional beings that we are, act according to how we feel. Serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins are just a few examples of the hormones that regulate our emotions. SEROTONIN; THE MOOD STABILIZER When talking about hormones that shape our feelings, the most important one to note would be serotonin. Any drastic increase or decrease in it can be dangerous. However, there is a considerable normal range through which it waxes and wanes in every person’s mind. And what we understand as our “mood”, is really the levels of serotonin running through neuronal circuits. The levels of serotonin determine the amount of contentment we feel. It can also affect how confident we feel about ourselves. It can decide for us, our self-worth and also relates to the social status we possess in various overlapping social hierarchies.¹ A person high in serotonin could probably be someone satisfied with his life choices, confident in himself, and well respected in his social circles. A person low in serotonin, on the other hand, would feel wretched all the time and lack motivation. He would not think much of himself. Even the people around him would only think of him as a loser. You might be thinking that too much is controlled by this hormone. But it isn’t as simple as that… DOPAMINE; THE REWARD HORMONE Dopamine makes you feel pleasure, especially in the short term. When you gun down that opponent in an online multiplayer, or when you win that client over from another company this is the hormone that makes you feel good.² Since dopamine is basically a reward hormone, the need for having it can also be the motivating force behind beginning a hard task. A decrease in dopamine would make you feel sad, dull, and lacking motivation. Dopamine can also be responsible for addictive behavior since it is responsible for happiness and pleasure.³ That makes people prone to performing acts that would give them the greatest dopamine hit with the least amount of effort. Dangerous huh? “DOPAMINE CAN ALSO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOR SINCE IT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HAPPINESS AND PLEASURE. THAT MAKES PEOPLE PRONE TO PERFORMING ACTS THAT WOULD GIVE THEM THE GREATEST DOPAMINE HIT WITH THE LEAST AMOUNT OF EFFORT. DANGEROUS HUH?” We control our emotions as much as our emotions control us It may appear that mere chemicals in our brains control our feelings and thus our actions, but this is just the half-truth. In reality, there is much that we can control. There are external events that can change how we feel in an instant. Some of them are not under our control, but many of them are. We can control whether we would study for an exam or not. The result, which would be the external event influencing our emotions, would depend to a large extent upon the choice we made. There are little things that matter just as much. Something as small as improving our sleep schedules can do wonders for how good we feel.⁴ If you feel unconfident about a speech you have to make in front of a thousand people, try appearing confident. Even when every instinct of yours is yelling at you to run. In moments those instincts will be replaced by real confidence. BASIC EMOTIONS AND THEIR EFFECTS There are some basic emotions like happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, and surprise that make the foundation of our emotional state of mind. All the other emotions are derived from the combinations of these basic emotions. These emotions influence the mind and the body. Happiness is related to the production of chemicals which improve immunity and promote bodily functions. Persistent sadness can transform into depression that has negative influences on our physical health. The emotional state of our mind influences our attitude and our approach towards achieving a goal. The effects of emotions on our physical and mental health are ultimately manifested on a cellular level. If our macroscopic health suffers, then you can expect the same results on the microscopic level. To achieve a state of health where our cells can stay healthy is central to our idea of prolonging our youth and living happily. This is why our emotional health is of utmost importance. EFFECTS OF NEGATIVE EMOTIONS Negative emotions create a sense of despair and hopelessness; which transform into stress. That stress brings about hormonal changes that negatively influence physical health. Research suggests that human beings have a “negativity bias” according to which they pay more attention to minor sorrows and devoid themselves of bigger joys. This constant stress of negative emotions has a catastrophic effect on health.⁵ EFFECTS OF POSITIVE EMOTIONS Positive emotions on the other hand contribute to development and growth, better understanding, improved cognition, thoughts, etc. which have a positive influence on mental and physical health. Positive emotions are necessary for evading the harmful effects of negative ones and they also create emotional resilience.⁶ HOW EMOTIONS AFFECT OUR BEHAVIOUR AND MEMORY Emotions define behavior. To give a simple example, an angry person is more likely to adopt aggressive behavior compared to a calm person. There are many other ways in which emotions can affect our actions. Research has proven that the expectation of emotion influences behavior. For example, if a person thinks that an aggressive attitude will help him achieve a goal, he will adopt that attitude which in
WHAT IS CHEMISTRY OF EMOTIONS? Read More »
Arguably, the next thing to being alive is living a life of wellness. A life that enjoys bodily vitality and fitness; several wealthy people who were sick at a point in their lives had mentioned that they were willing to sacrifice all they had to get their health back. This goes to validate the popular maxim “health is wealth”. In our pursuit of bodily wellness, the nutrients we supply our body go a long way to either preserve our health or leave us exposed to disease-causing substances and organisms. However, this leaves us with a question. Does our conventional food supply us with all the nutrients our body needs in the right quantities? You may want to find out and perhaps discover how that supplements may be the elixir we’ve all been seeking to a life of wellness. What are supplements? From the name, they are products made to supplement one’s diet. They could be tablets, pills, capsules, syrup, or powder.¹ If you recall elementary science, we were taught that healthy nutrition consists of carbohydrates, proteins, fatty acids, minerals, and fiber in their right proportion. Conventionally, we get these nutrients into our body through food which means that we would solely rely on the food we eat to provide these nutrients in the right proportion. However, with centuries of land exploitation through overfarming alongside other environmental disturbances, there isn’t enough transfer of soil nutrients to crop plants in appropriate amounts. Imagine a beautiful bridge covering the gap between your body’s nutrient requirement and nutrient inadequacy in our foods due to depleted soil nutrients. We can conveniently call this bridge “supplements”! Supplements are vital to our health in many ways. I cannot wait to show you. The definition given by The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act seems to give an encompassing answer. It defines dietary supplements as any product apart from tobacco that is meant to supplement a diet that contains one or more of the following: minerals, vitamins, an herb, or an amino acid. It is a substance used to increase total dietary intake by supplementing a diet.² Factors that may affect nutrition delivery of supplements The effectiveness of any supplement depends on how much of it was absorbed by the body. Some minerals need to be chelated to avoid absorption conflict when taken with other minerals. For instance, if you take magnesium and selenium supplements, your body’s uptake of copper minerals will be inhibited. However, calcium supplements rather reduced copper losses.³ That said, we may like to know when it is best to take supplements. Vitamins are best taken in the morning or during daylight while minerals are better absorbed overnight. What types of supplements are there? Supplements are administered in several ways, each peculiar one having its unique purpose. Those absorbed through the skin: This may sound interestingly strange and I understand why. When supplements are mentioned what comes to mind are pills, powders, capsules, or other forms of extracted food substances that have to be ingested. Aside from that, the skin is quite rigid in permeability such that the chemicals from our body lotions do not end up in our bloodstream. However, certain supplements can be passed from the skin into the bloodstream by making their molecules very small and dissolving them in fatty oils. In cases where these aren’t effective, sterile needles can be used to poke holes in the skin before supplements are introduced.⁴ We will not forget our old friend Vitamin D which is hardly ever required as an essential supplement because our skin mobilizes it on its own when it comes under sunlight. Those absorbed through the nose: the human nose has proven to be a potential route for the administration of drugs and supplements. It has a large surface area for quick delivery of substances into the bloodstream; it doesn’t involve the first-pass metabolism and in most cases secures your comfort.⁵ For instance, vitamin B12 which is required by our body for optimum red blood cell production and nervous system function⁶ most recently are being administered through the nose.⁷ Those inhaled: this is not anything like a cigarette! It is vaporized vitamins or essential oil-containing supplements. Although it was used as a therapy for people addicted to tobacco smoking, it is now being considered as a health-improving activity. A company producing vaporized vitamins claims that its vaporizer holds 10 times more Vitamin B-12 than you could obtain in a regular shot.⁸ Those digested: this is the most popular form of supplement intake where they are swallowed or eaten as you would do your food. They could be packaged as pills, capsules, or any ingestible material. What do we need supplements for? The hazard of nutritional deficiency is telling on many people, sadly, they are looking the wrong way for solutions. A research proved that poor or inadequate nutrition is one primary cause of the global sick rate.⁹ 5 out of 10 adults in the United States are suffering from chronic diseases that could have been prevented by healthier dietary patterns.¹⁰ This shows us how important food and feeding are to our health and the quality of life we live. When we talk about food, we cannot take our eyes from its source; the soil. For food to give us adequate nutrients for our wellbeing, the soil has to hold enough nutrients for the crop plants to take up. However, as reported by Peter et al., due to intense, mismanaged farming, soil nutrients, are becoming short of supply. Soil Nitrogen has reduced by 42%, sulfur by 33%, and phosphorus by 27%.¹¹ These reductions in soil nutrients affect the number of nutrients in our foods sometimes to levels below optimum to sustain good health. It will amaze you to know that even our favorite veggies no longer contain adequate quantities of magnesium; the magnesium content dropped by 25% in wheat and veggies in recent years.¹² The ultimate result of the depletion of soil nutrients is that our food will not provide adequate
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The control center of our being is our central nervous system. The idea that there is a link between our mental and physical health isn’t new, but we have only begun to realize how strong that link really is. Nature has awarded us with the ability to perceive. It has taught us to attach emotional meaning to these perceptions which in turn are translated into material form within our brains in the form of neurotransmitters and hormones. The emotions we feel and the decisions we make due to our feelings are thus controlled by these chemical mediators of emotion. Yet at the same time, our beliefs, words, and actions, have an equally important effect on governing these chemical mediators and thus on governing our emotions. And this is what we can control! The normal balance of these neurotransmitters; and their fluctuations within a normal range; is what keeps our “mental health” in place. This balance can be deranged due to several internal pathologies. At the same time, however, any external influence of our environment can disturb this balance as well. “THE MIND MOST EFFECTUALLY WORKS UPON THE BODY, PRODUCING BY HIS PASSIONS AND PERTURBATIONS MIRACULOUS ALTERATIONS… CRUEL DISEASES AND SOMETIMES DEATH ITSELF.” — ROBERT BURTON, THE ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY. This disturbance is what results in extreme emotions of grief, loneliness, excitement, and mania. If these disturbances become dramatically persistent, they manifest in the form of depression, anxiety, psychosis, and a multitude of other disorders. These momentary or continual “mental health problems” in turn are responsible for directly or indirectly causing derangements in our physical health. These derangements ultimately impact the cellular processes at the micro level which can potentially lead to cellular aging. Bear in mind that the key to keeping our cells and our bodies young is to stay healthy, and not just physically. Mental health is just as important and might really be what controls our physical health… AS ABOVE-SO BELOW The effects that poor mental health can have on our physical health can be categorized as direct effects and indirect effects. The direct effects would be those chronic diseases and immune system anomalies that are associated with poor mental health, while the indirect effects would be those that result from behavioral changes due to bad mental health. DIRECT EFFECTS OF POOR MENTAL HEALTH ON PHYSICAL HEALTH A number of chronic diseases have been described that are associated with mental or psychological disorders. Mental stress has also been implicated in triggering these conditions… Cardiovascular disorders Heart failure, hypertension, and other such conditions have been associated with chronic stress. Depressed individuals can have higher chances of developing such conditions. That may be in part due to their unhealthy lifestyle.¹ Diabetes mellitus This is another condition that is linked to having a stressful mind. Stress does not directly cause diabetes but it does increase the risk of developing this disease. This is in part due to the hormone “cortisol” which is released during stressful conditions. Eating disorders Many such disorders have psychological causes. Obsessive-compulsive disorders and anxiety are at the core of some eating disorders like Anorexia and Bulimia nervosa. They involve symptoms like food restriction, compulsive exercise, binge eating, and purging by self-induced vomiting. These habits can become addictive in a way and cause serious damage to your physical wellbeing.³ Gastrointestinal problems Many GI illnesses also arise with poor mental health conditions. Psychogenic diarrhea is a documented condition that occurs due to extreme anxiety. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder that also has psychological causes. For example, people who have faced childhood trauma are more prone to develop this disorder than those who haven’t. Physicians are now focusing on administering psychological treatment to patients suffering from IBS. Sexual dysfunction: Mental health problems like depression, psychosis, and personality disorders have been liked to sexual dysfunction. Many mental health patients suffer from problems like impotence, erectile dysfunction, and premature ejaculation. Menstrual abnormalities have also been associated with many mental health disorders.5 Skin Problems: Many skin conditions are associated with psychological stress and poor mental health. Many psychological or psychiatric patients develop skin problems like eczema, psoriasis, and acne. This can have serious adverse effects on their quality of life. Cancer People who stress out too much have an increased risk of developing cancer. One research explains that chronic stress can have effects like uncontrolled cell proliferation in some parts of the body which leads to cancer.¹ Deranged Immune System It has been postulated that a person’s state of mental health affects the immune status of an individual and vice versa. The nervous system and immune system are linked through hormonal and neuronal mechanisms. The chemical mediators released from the nerves have an effect on immune cells and the cytokines, chemicals produced during an immune response, influence the activity of the brain. Adverse mental states are associated with the production of stress hormones and such transmission of nerve impulses which modulate the activity of the immune system. This relationship suggests that adverse mental health states are associated with the derangement of the immune system leading to susceptibility to infection, activation of inflammation, and various autoimmune conditions. INDIRECT EFFECTS OF POOR MENTAL HEALTH ON PHYSICAL HEALTH The behavioral changes that result from poor mental health can result in poor dietary and sleeping habits as well as an increased tendency to abuse drugs and alcohol. Sleep Sleep is essential for normal diurnal activities of our body and for maintaining functional balance. Inadequate sleep affects cognition, memory, performance and causes headaches. Altered mental states such as depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder influence the sleep-wake cycle leading to poor sleep habits such as insomnia, hypersomnia, and disrupted sleep. In turn, these sleep disturbances exacerbate mental disorders by affecting normal brain function and a person enters a vicious cycle of worsening sleep habits and mental condition. Research has proven that patients with pre-existing chronic illnesses experience altered sleep habits due to stress which in turn is responsible for the poor quality of life. Disrupted
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