TERAPROOF:User:margaretjenningsDate:04/01/2012Time:17:14:34Edition:06/01/2012FeelgoodXH0601Page:8
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8 Renew year You’re stressed, overweight and feel tired most of the time? By following our six-week plan, using a unique new mind-body approach to losing unwanted pounds and calming your mind, you could turn your life around. Anna Magee reports
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HE term ‘stress’ was invented in the 1950s by Hans Selye, a German scientist who noticed his patients had all dealt with long-term mental pressures. Today, the condition is ubiquitous. According to a 2010 European health-and-safety survey, 80% of companies perceived workplace stress to be as critical as workplace accidents, and in Ireland a 2006 Small Firms Association report found stress is replacing back pain as a cause of absenteeism. A new book, The De-Stress Diet (Hay House, €17.15), which I co-wrote with nutritional therapist Charlotte Watts, addresses stress through nutrition, gentle exercise and daily relaxation, making us feel calmer and helping us lose weight. How stress leads to poor health and weight gain Every time stress hits, the body activates its stress response, flooding the system with get-up-and-go hormones, adrenalin and cortisol, that stimulate and motivate. Constantly drawing on stress hormones causes the body’s blood sugar to roller-coaster. It leads the body to redirect its nutrients and energy away from the skin, sex drive and digestion and into the muscles to deal with stress, which your body perceives as a threat. This is why people get bloated or suffer skin problems or low libido under stress. This leads to exhaustion, lack of concentration and impatience as your adrenal glands — two small, oval-shaped glands that sit just above the kidneys — have only a finite ability to pump out the stress hormones they manufacture. It may also lead to serious health problems, such as chronic digestive complaints and a compromised immune system. According to the Irish Heart Foundation, stress affects heart health by increasing blood pressure and cholesterol and affecting the blood’s clotting systems. Now, mounting evidence shows stress is the secret reason we gain weight or fail on regular calories-in-out diets. “When we’re stressed, our bodies create the hormone cortisol that encourages the body to release calories, fat and energy into the bloodstream,” says Professor Carol Shively, a stress researcher at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in the US, who has studied the effect of long-term stress on primates for 25 years. Stress isn’t harmful in the short-term. But when it never lets up — whether that’s due to money or work worries or family pressures — our systems become flooded with cortisol and that signals the body to store stubborn fat around the belly, hips and thighs. “Excess stress and cortisol also make us crave sugary and fatty junk foods that feed stubborn fat. Stress is the missing link in the weight-loss equation and it’s almost always overlooked by regular diets,” says Shively. When stress is a good thing “Not all types of stress are bad,” says Professor Mark Mattson, director of the laboratory of neuroscience at the National Institute on Ageing in the US. “The right kind of stress can make you stronger.” Regular exposure to mild stressors causes a defensive response in the body which leads to a building-up of the body’s defence systems, a strengthening process sci-
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BEAT THE STRESS Stress isn’t harmful in the short term. But when it never lets up — whether that’s due to relentless money, work worries, or family pressures — our systems become flooded with cortisol and that signals the body to store stubborn fat around the belly, hips and thighs
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entists have named ‘hormesis’. Positive stressful challenges are within our control (or seem to be), they’re short-term and have a beginning and end in sight, and are followed by a period of recuperation. Exercise and short, regular intellectual challenges are examples of good stressors. Negative or ‘bad’ stress is ongoing and feels out of our control, for example having a bad boss, unhappy marriage or ongoing money problems. Moving away from low-fat messages “The weight-loss wars of the last few decades have focused on high-carbohydrates/low fat versus high protein/low fat,” says nutritionist Charlotte Watts.
“But not all fats are created equal. Our brains are fat-rich and — especially under prolonged stress — need to be replenished. If you’re wondering why you feel on edge and overwhelmed when you’re under stress, one of the reasons could be because you’re not eating enough good forms of fat. “High-fat intake from sedentary, grain-fed animals and damaged trans-fats from fried and processed food increase risk of cancer, liver and heart disease,” says Watts. “The right fats, however, are essential to mood, weight-stabilisation, appetite satisfaction and overall health,” she says.
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Connecting to true hunger Research from Canada’s McMaster University found that 97% of women have food cravings as a result of something other than true hunger. Stress stimulates cravings for sugar, and habitual anxiety eaters may have lost touch altogether with how true hunger feels. During your six-week plan, you’re encouraged to eat three meals a day, snacking only if you really need to. This will help you reconnect to real hunger and distinguish it from false hunger and cravings brought on by stress. Real hunger comes on slowly and is sometimes ac-
companied by tummy rumbling. Mindless eating or false hunger may hit after overwhelming feelings or as a reaction to the smell or sight of food. “During this time, step back and ask yourself if you’re snacking based on hunger or habit,” says Watts. “If you really feel the energy demands of your day necessitate some raw nuts around 4pm, then that will be right for you. But if you don’t feel truly hungry, there is not need to snack for the sake of it.”
Ask yourself
AFTER implementing the six-week plan these are the healthy eating guidelines recommended in the De-stress Diet:
Six weeks to a slimmer, calmer you By lowering stress-hormone production in your body and minimising comfort eating and sugar cravings, The De-Stress Diet can not only help you feel better, but followed for six weeks it can also help you lose up to ten pounds. For the following six weeks, follow the guidelines listed here. The De-Stress Diet principles are designed to be followed long-term, so if you feel (and look) better at the end of your six-week journey, you may want to take the principles into the rest of your life.
Protein with every meal : It’s muscle-building and energy-giving and aids the loss of stored fat, satisfies appetite and contains essential amino acids that help keep the blood sugar balanced longer (read: fewer sugar lows and mood swings). Have a serving at each meal and choose from eggs, nuts/seeds, lean — ideally organic — meats, poultry and fish.
For the next six weeks avoid the following: ■ Processed fats low in omega 3 oils — vegetable and seeds oils (especially not for cooking), poor quality spreads (use butter or olive oil), refined oils and commercially-prepared salad dressings. ■ Poor quality meat, eggs and fish — unhealthy fats from sedentary, poorly-fed animals. Opt for free-range and grass-fed meats, wild fish, if you can, and free-range eggs, organic where possible. ■ Sugar and junk food — sweeteners, ready-meals and take-away foods, along with all sugars. Stress can cause a vicious cycle of sugar cravings, but it doesn’t take long to wean yourself off sweet tastes. Watch labels for undercover sugar: anything ending in -ose as well as maltodextrin, corn syrup, cane juice, barley malt, molasses or brown rice syrup is still sugar. ■ Toxic-fish — tuna, swordfish and marlin can contain mercury. Add coriander, garlic, cabbage and watercress to meals containing fish to detoxify any mercury. ■ Roots that need cooking — high-starch potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, yams, cassava, tapioca. ■ Dairy — although a little full-fat Greek yoghurt and goat’s cheese is fine along with some full-fat milk in your tea or coffee, avoid milk and skimmed milks (especially non-organic), fruit yoghurts and processed cheeses. If you suspect you have food intolerances, then check out the three-week plan in my De-stress Diet book. ● The De-Stress Diet (Hay House, €17.15), by Charlotte Watts and Anna Magee, is now available from easons.com. For downloadable yoga and fitness videos, shopping help, and to sign up to a free emailand podcast-support programme for your six-week de-stress diet plan, log on to de-stressyourlife.com. ● Before making major changes in diet and lifestyle, it is best to check with your doctor.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2012
The foods that keep you in top form
CRAVE CAUTION: A love of chocolate may be affecting your stress. Picture: iStock ARE you stressed and fat? Take this 30-second quick quiz and find out: Q. Do you have more and more difficulty coping with stress? Q. Do you turn increasingly to sugar and stimulants such as coffee as a “fix” for flagging energy? Q. Is your sleep and energy not what it used to be (think morning wrestles with the snooze button?) Q. Has your waist size been slowly thickening over the last decade? Q. Do you have difficulty finding time to relax and put your feet up? Q. Do you crave chocolates, biscuits, sweets and/or crisps during times of stress? ● If you tick three or more positive responses, addressing your stress levels through this six week De-Stress Diet, lifestyle and exercise programme will help you release weight and relax into a slimmer, calmer you.
Healthy fats: Good fats at every meal are key to appetite satisfaction as well as keeping sweet cravings at bay. Great sources include avocado, almonds, nuts, seeds, olives, flaxseed, sesame, coconut or extra virgin olive oil and even a pat of butter on your vegetables — it helps you feel more satiated than having them fat-free and helps you absorb their protective fat-soluble antioxidants. Plenty of vegetables: Both cooked and raw, add two to three cups of vegetables to most meals for added nutrients and fibre and dress them with unrefined, cold-pressed oils such as olive, flax and sesame oil with lemon or lime juice.
kalised. Liver-supporting foods: Eat sulphur-rich foods such as watercress, garlic, onions, leeks and fennel as they aid the process of liver detoxification and could help you feel better, faster on your six-week plan. Bitter foods: Use endive, radicchio, chicory, romaine or cos lettuce in salads. Their bitter taste stimulates digestive juices when it hits the tongue, making them particularly good before a meal. Other bitter foods include grapefruit and olives — perfect starters with meals. Fresh fruit: Stick to two pieces of fruit eaten whole daily and try and avoid fruit juice. Although it’s rich in nutrients, fruit juice is high in sugars and can keep a sweet tooth active. Good fruit choices are apples, pears and berries. Adequate liquid: Have non-sugary, non-caffeinated drinks in between meals as your thirst dictates. But don’t force yourself to glug down litres of water at once as this can strain the kidneys. Stay hydrated by taking healthy liquid in different forms, pure water is one, along with green or herbal teas and coconut water (a good hydrator), but also plenty of vegetables.
Alkalising foods: Vegetables, fruit, seeds, herbs and spices are all alkaline foods that can help balance the acid in our systems that can build up from a high stress lifestyle or processed diet. Great sources include almonds, coconut, sesame seeds, pine nuts and lemon juice added to water and dressings. Have warm water in lemon juice each morning to wake up digestion and keep your system al-
■ See page 10 for more tips to stay destressed