Here is another reason to eat your broccoli. A University of Georgia study around three years ago found that eating a cup a day of broccoli may cut edginess and anxiety by as much as 72%. Credit goes to the carotenoids; a nutrient found abundantly in broccoli. Carotenoids keep a group of nerve cells (the HPA axis) calm, reducing their production of troublesome stress hormones like adrenaline. If anxiety is a problem for you, you may want to increase your consumption of broccoli.
Today completes this series of post on resilience. Today we give the last two actions for getting started on the resilience RX mentioned in this series. The 10-point
Prescription for Resilience is the product of research by Dennis S. Charney, M.D. and Steven Southwick, M.D. We followed the information in WomansDay.com 2024. Below are the last two actions.
Phone a friend.
Continuing on ways to fulfill your prescription for resilience. Our third action (actions one and two were discussed yesterday) is to Laugh it off!
Who doesn't love a good laugh? There is a reason a good laugh makes us feel better. Humor is a hit of pleasure that spikes dopamine and other feel-good brain chemicals. It increases positive emotions, broadening our thinking. With a more open mind, it's easier to engage in the reappraisal and perspective-shifting that help us deal with tough stuff. Humor has been linked to the lowering of both anxiety and catastrophizing thought patterns. It also helps you feel closer to others, which shores up your support network, another big factor in resilience. Science suggests that memes or jokes that take direct aim at pain points can be especially effective because they manage to combine the positive (laughing, humor) with the negative (struggle).
Humor...
I am certainly no doctor, so I rely on those who are for my posts. The following advice is from a couple of leading resilience researchers Dennis S. Charney, M.D., and Steven Southwick, M.D. Below is their 10-point Prescription for Resilience.
Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or other significant sources of stress.
Resilience is linked to greater happiness, well-being, life satisfaction, success, and inner peace.
Physically, resilience keeps you healthier! Those who are highly resilient tend to have the ability to effectively manage or buffer extreme stress. They are also more likely to be able to neutralize or deal with it before it overwhelms them and damages their mental and physical health.
Resilience also helps one recover more easily from illness or injury. Resilience helps one heal faster. I am proof of that. I have battled physical problems my entire life starting with severe allergies. I learned early on that one can give in or push on. I built up my resilience even in childhood when I didn't even understand it. One of my best examples to share is the story of my broken hip. I lost my husband and four months later I fell and broke my hip. Everyone, including my therapy staff, was amazed how quickly I bounced back. I was anxious to get back to my life and be home when my first great-grandchild was born. Guess what? I made it!
I once had a great doctor who told me, after a major diagnosis, "You can go home, lay down and die in a few months. Or you can go on with your life and live fairly normally." That was when I had three children in school. Resilience played a big part. I am now the grandmother of seven and great-grandmother to four.
Do you need to build up your resistance? Tomorrow we will discuss ways to do just that.
Yes, sleeping well plays an important role in heart health. Sleeping poorly increases inflammation and can negatively affect blood pressure, diabetes and weight. Below are some ways to set yourself up for good sleep. If good sleep is a problem for you, check out the helpful hints below.
I think most people now know that smoking is not good for your health and that includes your heart. Be aware that smoking includes vaping or e-cigarettes. Vaping causes an increase in blood pressure and heart rate and is associated with a greater risk of stroke or heart attack. If you are not able to stop smoking or vaping on your own, talk to your doctor. He/she knows of programs and/or medications to help you break the smoking habit.
Another reason to treat inflammation in the body is that inflammation and heart risk go hand in hand. There is the fleeting inflammation our bodies use to fight off injury but that is not what we are talking about. There is also chronic inflammation or inflammation that becomes constant, and it can have a negative impact on the heart. Untreated chronic inflammation does play a role in cardiovascular changes that may up one's heart disease risk. Your doctor may do blood work to check the inflammation in your body. What can you do? Exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables are good anti-inflammatory habits to establish.
