In the last post I gave you the link to an article I wrote that discussed twelve tips to help you better manage the stress in your life. As I mentioned, if you have Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and are considering receiving natural treatment methods to help restore your health, then it is important that you effectively manage the stress in your life. If you can’t manage the stress then it will be difficult, if not impossible to restore your health back to normal.
While the tips I gave should help you better manage the stress in your life, I realize I only covered each one briefly, and that you might have some questions about some of the tips. As a result, what I’d like to do here is expand a little bit on the content to make sure I address some of the questions you might have and give you a better chance of effectively managing your stress. Of course if you have any questions that I don’t address here please feel free to ask me. You can either post your question on this blog (the preferred way so that others can benefit), or if you’d prefer, you can send me an email.
Question: With regards to drinking purified water, do you recommend distilled water, spring water, or water that has gone through reverse osmosis?
I think it’s fair to say that either of these choices is better than drinking tap water on a regular basis, assuming you’re getting it from a quality source. Although I used to have my own water distiller that I used for years, these days I almost always drink water that has been purified through reverse osmosis. Some say that distilled water is better because it removes all of the minerals, while some will argue that retaining some of the minerals is what makes reverse osmosis better. I personally think that either one is fine and is without question healthier than drinking tap water, which contains chlorine, fluoride, sometimes lead, and can potentially include other chemicals and contaminants that are usually filtered out with purified water.
Question: What types of natural household products would you recommend purchasing?
Obviously it can be expensive buying natural household products, although unlike buying organic food, keep in mind that you won’t be using up these products as quickly as one consumes food. In other words, buying natural laundry detergent to clean your clothes will cost you a few dollars more each month than purchasing a “regular” detergent, but it’s not as if you should need to buy this product a few times each week, or even a few times each month. Of course if you list all of the household and personal care products you use, this could add anywhere from $20 to $50 to your monthly bill, and sometimes more.
But what you need to realize is that many of these chemicals can create health problems down the road if you use them on a consistent basis. And while you can get most of these natural products at a health food store, I personally buy a lot of these products at Trader Joe’s, which has a lot of natural products at a reasonable price. So if you have one of these stores near you, I recommend checking them out.
Anyway, here is an incomplete list of household and personal care products that you might want to consider switching out:
• Any household cleaners (furniture, toilet, oven, etc.)
• Laundry detergent
• Shampoo and soap
• Moisturizers
• Toothpaste
Question: I’d like to begin eating healthier, but don’t know where to begin. What advice can you give?
It’s definitely not easy to begin eating healthy if you’re used to eating junk food all of the time. I personally grew up eating regularly at fast food restaurants, drinking punch and soda all of the time, etc. And while I still don’t eat a perfect diet 100% of the time, overall I eat healthy. But this wasn’t something that I accomplished overnight, as while one can definitely go “cold turkey” and cut out all of the junk food and soft drinks, for some people it’s better to slowly incorporate healthy eating habits. For example, if you don’t eat any vegetables, rather than trying to force yourself to eat 3 to 5 servings each day, begin with one serving each day. And rather than switching to a 100% organic diet, perhaps you can begin by just eating organic chicken, and then over time add some other natural and organic foods into your diet.
Question: How can just having a positive attitude alone help manage my stress?
As I said previously, having a positive attitude alone probably won’t manage your stress. But we tend to underestimate the importance of keeping a good attitude. So I think it is one of the components of effectively managing stress, but you of course need to do some of the other things I recommended as well.
Question: I’d love to exercise on a regular basis, but even walking is a challenge. What should I do?
If this is due to lack of stamina, then you can obviously begin slowly, walking 5 to 10 minutes each day and then slowly increase your time (i.e. walk for one extra minute each day). If walking just for a few minutes is difficult due to extreme fatigue and/or pain, then I recommend you consult with a natural doctor, as it’s obvious that a conventional medical protocol isn’t working for you. I’m not suggesting that you stop following the advice of you medical doctor, but many simply don’t know how to effectively treat cases of chronic fatigue. Many will simply prescribe a different drug for each symptom you have, until you reach the point where you’re taking 10 to 15 different medications (or more).
Question: There is no way I can get 8 hours of sleep each night. And even on the rare instances where I do, I still feel tired. What do you recommend?
Once again, I’m going to be biased here and recommend that if you have sleeping difficulties that have not been resolved by your medical doctor, that you consult with a natural doctor. As I mentioned before, most doctors will try to fix each symptom with a different prescription drug. So for someone who has difficulty sleeping, they’ll recommend medication, rather than try to get to the cause of the problem. Many people who have sleeping difficulties have adrenal issues that are affecting their blood sugar levels, which in turn affects their cortisol levels. Until these issues are addressed you most likely won’t be able to get quality sleep each night.
Question: How can massage therapy or chiropractic help manage my stress? And how about acupuncture?
Being a chiropractor and someone who also believes in massage therapy, I can easily dedicate an entire post to this question alone. I can’t possibly talk about all of the benefits of chiropractic and massage therapy, but both have been proven to help relieve stress. Of course part of this depends on the doctor you choose, as not all chiropractors practice alike, and the same holds true with massage therapists. For example, if you go to a massage therapist that specializes in deep tissue work, and you receive a deep tissue massage, then you very well might not find this to be relaxing. This doesn’t mean you won’t benefit from it, but the actual session itself might not be relaxing., and might even be uncomfortable On the other hand, you can also choose to schedule a massage therapy session where you receive a “relaxation” massage, and no deep tissue work. Similarly, different chiropractors have different techniques as well, which is why it’s important to do a little bit of research before choosing any type of healthcare professional.
As for acupuncture, I definitely think that it can also help you manage stress. And like chiropractic and massage therapy, there are many other benefits of acupuncture as well in addition to stress management. I’m sure that while some people reading this information have had good experiences with some of these alternative healthcare professionals, some might have not had a positive experience. All I can say is that don’t give up on chiropractic, massage therapy, acupuncture, or anything other alternative treatment just because of a single bad experience. After all, if you went to a dentist you didn’t like you probably wouldn’t stop going to one altogether, but if you’re like most people would just choose a different dentist.
Once again, I realize that there might be other questions you might have. If so, please don’t hesitate to ask them. Anyway, I hope you found the information I have given on stress management to be valuable. I originally was planning to only write a single post about it, but there is so much to write about that I ended up writing three separate posts and writing an article on the topic. I promise that next week I’ll move onto a completely different topic!