The winner of the election is… STRESS!

In fact, the American Psychological Association (APA) reported that 52% of American adults, regardless of whether they were Democrat, Republican or Independent, said that they are experiencing significant stress from this years election, and 68% said that this Presidential Election has caused more physical headaches than any other election. (Hope they aren’t popping those O-T-C painkillers – they can be real micronutrient thieves.)

Image source, apa.org

Now if you listen to the experts at the APA, they tell you that in order to keep your stress levels at bay, “avoid social media and only read or watch the news to stay informed, then go for a walk or spend time with your family. Also, try to keep your political opinions to yourself.” Really! That’s the best advice they can give us?

Here at Calton Nutrition, we want to make sure you have some actual scientific advise on how you can make a real impact on reducing stress. And the good news is, you can use the information we are about to share with you year round. Now, as you know, we believe that every health condition and disease has, as a root cause, a deficiency in one or more of your essential micronutrients (i.e. vitamins, minerals, amino acids or fatty acids) , and that if we can correct this micronutrient deficiency then we can reduce or even eliminate these health issues. This includes stress, so if we are going to help you to alleviate stress this election season, then we are going to have to attack stress using our simple 3-step approach to micronutrient sufficiency.

STEP ONE: SWITCH TO RICH FOOD

STEP TWO: DRIVE DOWN DEPLETION

STEP THREE: SMART SUPPLEMENTATION 

STEP ONE: SWITCH TO RICH FOOD

What happens if you go to wake up early on Election Day, skip breakfast, run into vote and then grab a caramel macchiatto and a muffin at the office to get you through to lunch; and when you pop onto the Internet to see how your candidate is doing you are confronted with the reality that your choice for President tanking in the poles? All over Facebook people are gloating and all you want to do is scream.  The sugar from your caramel macchiato and muffin is rushing through your veins; your insulin levels are spiked; and just then, your smiling co-worker comes up to ask you a question.  What happens next?  Do you explode and ask them why they are smiling at you (insinuating their candidate must be winning) or are you able to remain calm and keep your professional composure?  In the end, the answer comes down to how well you are able to handle the inevitable stress life with through at you.

Our point here is simply to remind you that the foods you eat can either contribute to your stress and anxiety or they can help you to keep these emotions under control. Choosing micronutrient poor, sugary foods is not the right choice if your goal is maintain a level head on Election Day or any day.  The sugar spike will not only deplete essential minerals like magnesium, which can help you feel relaxed, but they also cause intense energy bursts that leave you unevenly keeled. On days when stress is likely, our advice would be to focus on eating rich foods that can supply key stress busting micronutrients like sweet peppers (for vitamin C), salmon (for essential fatty acids), asparagus (high in B9) and DARK CHOCOLATE (high in magnesium).

STEP TWO: DRIVE DOWN DEPLETION

Next, we want to show you how to drive down any stress you may be feeling by showing you how to incorporate a few lifestyle habits that have been shown to reduce stress.  To help with this second step we want to give a short, but super informative video titled, 5 Methods to Relieve Stress.

To be clear… we aren’t telling you that the election results will be in your favor, or that you won’t be bombarded with angry comments on twitter simply because you use one of our stress-reducing techniques. However, they will help to reduce or alleviate the stress you come into contact with and counteract the micronutrient depletions caused by stress. Try to use these techniques throughout the day.  Some take as little as 5 minutes to be effective.

Our 5 top techniques that we use to help clients de-stress are:
(watch the video below!)

1. Meditate with a mantra. Centering can be so simple. Reciting a mantra in rhythm with your breathing can help to calm you in times of stress. This is a great technique when you are in your office, as well as both in the A.M. to center you and in the P.M. to ready you for sleep.
2. Become aware of your body. This is one of Mira’s favorite techniques before bed. From the tips of your toes all the way to the crown of your head, pay attention to any pains, aches, and stress being held throughout your body. This is key to self-awareness and de-stressing. You quite literally release tension one muscle at a time.
3. Dance till stress levels drop. How can you be anxious with your favorite tune playing in your ears? This one might not be great for public periods of panic, but letting loose and moving your body freely allows the tunes to turn off your tension—and the boost in metabolism doesn’t hurt, either.
4. Practice focused breathing. Breathing is the body’s natural relaxation response, so it makes sense that practicing proper breathing techniques has been shown to elicit a physical state of deep rest that decreases heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and muscle tension. This is perfect for when you are in public faced with scary or stressful circumstances.
5. Move it to lose it. That’s right! With exercise, you literally sweat out the stress, all the while helping your body to achieve the strength, weight regulation, and heart health you deserve. While you may not always be able to drop and give us 20 pushups, you might be surprised by how much stress you can relieve with just 1 minute of jumping jacks.

Finally, we want to give you our 30-page, information packed Micronutrient Miracle Quick Start Guide To Stress, Anxiety and Depression. It will introduce you to some amazing studies that prove just how powerful micronutrient therapy really is, and will give you an in-depth look at 23 essential micronutrients that science has proven effective in the prevention and treatment of stress, anxiety and depression.

For example, we will reveal:

•  The two micronutrients that researchers have found to be at half the concentration in individuals experiencing panic attacks compared to non-panic attack groups.
•  Which vitamin psychiatrists have found to be as active as prescription drugs at reducing stress.
•  Which micronutrient “inhibits the adrenal activation elicited by a mental stress,” leaving cortisol levels “significantly blunted” making it nearly impossible to become frustrated.

There you have it!  

This is our simple 3-step approach to reducing or eliminating Election Day stress, anxiety and depression. To recap: Eat micronutrient rich foods to supply your body with key stress-busting micronutrients. Practice one or all of our 5 simple and easy stress reducing techniques to lower feeling of stress and reduce the amount of micronutrient loss caused by stress.  And finally, make sure to supplement smart to be sufficient in the 23 micronutrients has proven effective in the prevention and treatment of stress, anxiety and depression. Following these guidelines will help you remain cool, calm and collected in the face of stress regardless of the results this Election Day. And remember; no matter how the election goes…don’t let STRESS win!