Tag: gut microbiome

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Is Stress Always Bad For Your Health?

woman at a desk looking stressed

When you hear the word “stress” do you think it’s good or bad? I believe most people think of stress as bad. And this makes sense, given that we talk about feeling stressed when we’re tense, angry, and frustrated. But what a lot of people don’t know is that there are different types of stress. So, is stress always bad for your health or are there some benefits?

Good Stress Vs. Bad Stress

It was Dr Hans Selye who first identified the negative effects of bad stress on the body. He identified 3 distinct stages of stress (Tan and Yip, 2018):

1. The alarm stage: Your initial response to a stressful situation.

2. Resistance phase: Your body attempts to adapt to being under stress by maintaining elevated levels of stress hormones.

3. Exhaustion: You exceed your capacity to cope with the stress and reach burnout.

Many of the clients I see for executive nutrition coaching are in the resistance phase or the exhaustion phase. They have been under a great deal of negative stress for a long time and simply don’t have the resources to keep going anymore.

However, at the other end of the scale is eustress or good stress. This is the kind of short-term stress that provides a sense of achievement, growth, or fulfillment.

Eustress is the buzz you get when you achieve something significant and challenging like completing a new work project or mastering a new skill. Regular bouts of positive stress keep you alert, motivated, and interested in life.

woman at top of mountain

Stress, Immunity, and Inflammation

Stress hormones like cortisol interact with your immune system and inflammatory processes.

In the short term, positive stress can help to keep your immune system working efficiently. The “fight or flight” response that kicks in when we encounter stress is designed to help us survive. Small amounts of short-term stress prime the immune response and help you fight invading pathogens effectively (Dhabhar, 2014). And the little bit of oxidative stress that occurs during this response is dealt with before it causes too much inflammatory damage.

Problems arise when stress becomes negative and long-lasting. Scientists estimate that 75-90% of human diseases are linked to stress, with stress-induced inflammation being the root cause of many of these conditions (Liu, 2017).

Chronic stress can increase your risk of:

 

What Turns Good Stress Into Bad Stress?

We all respond to stress differently and have a unique capacity to cope. What feels like negative stress for one person may be a positive thrill for another, and vice versa.

In general, though, good stress starts to become harmful when it is prolonged and you don’t give yourself the right resources to cope with it. The resources we need to manage long-term stress are rest, good quality sleep, regular daily movement, relaxation, and of course, the right kinds of foods.

woman doing exercise

How to Stop Bad Stress From Ruining Your Health

If you’re dealing with ongoing stress, it is important to pay attention to these resources.

Here on the EBS platform, we have all the resources you need to prevent the negative effects of stress:

  • Movement videos help you stay fit, strong, and active without intensely stressing your body.
  • Guided meditations to help you relax, rest, and get a good night’s sleep.
  • Health Masterclasses that offer support for specific conditions.
  • Videos explaining key health concepts and nutrition trends.
  • Meal plans, food lists, and recipes are designed to nourish your energy levels, mental well-being, hormone health, and resilience to stress.

woman preparing a meal in the kitchen

Following a holistic anti-inflammatory lifestyle like the Eat Burn Sleep approach is the best option for building resilience to stress. Our members see fantastic results with their health and feel empowered by the wealth of information available on the platform.

This is what EBS Member Mahget has to say:

I follow your EBS platform, and if anyone is undecided, jump in.

Just do it.

I read all labels now, and when you think something is too good to be true, it usually is, especially when the ingredients list ends with emulsifiers, gums, and all the things that cause inflammation. We tend to trust people in white coats or athletes, but clearly, they are being paid to support something that is not good for us.

The Eat Burn Sleep platform educates us on what is good and what is not.

Thank you, Yalda, your EBS approach is spot on.

 

Don’t let the negative effects of bad stress destroy your health. Explore our membership options here and discover how to create the diet and lifestyle you need to stay strong and resilient.

Find out more about the benefits of the EBS lifestyle approach in these podcast episodes and articles:

Podcast – Using Sounds to Calm Your Mind

Podcast – Unstressable

Depression, Anxiety, and Gut Health

Does Cortisol Cause Weight Gain?

 

With love,

Yalda x

 

 

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Is Stress Always Bad For Your Health?

When you hear the word “stress” do you think it’s good or bad? I believe most people think of stress as bad. And this makes sense, given that we talk about feeling stressed when we’re tense, angry, and frustrated. But what a lot of people don’t know is that there are different types of stress. So, is stress always bad for your health or are there some benefits?

Good Stress Vs. Bad Stress

It was Dr Hans Selye who first identified the negative effects of bad stress on the body. He identified 3 distinct stages of stress (Tan and Yip, 2018): 1. The alarm stage: Your initial response to a stressful situation. 2. Resistance phase: Your body attempts to adapt to being under stress by maintaining elevated levels of stress hormones. 3. Exhaustion: You exceed your capacity to cope with the stress and reach burnout. Many of the clients I see for executive nutrition coaching are in the resistance phase or the exhaustion phase. They have been under a great deal of negative stress for a long time and simply don’t have the resources to keep going anymore. However, at the other end of the scale is eustress or good stress. This is the kind of short-term stress that provides a sense of achievement, growth, or fulfillment. Eustress is the buzz you get when you achieve something significant and challenging like completing a new work project or mastering a new skill. Regular bouts of positive stress keep you alert, motivated, and interested in life. woman at top of mountain

Stress, Immunity, and Inflammation

Stress hormones like cortisol interact with your immune system and inflammatory processes. In the short term, positive stress can help to keep your immune system working efficiently. The “fight or flight” response that kicks in when we encounter stress is designed to help us survive. Small amounts of short-term stress prime the immune response and help you fight invading pathogens effectively (Dhabhar, 2014). And the little bit of oxidative stress that occurs during this response is dealt with before it causes too much inflammatory damage. Problems arise when stress becomes negative and long-lasting. Scientists estimate that 75-90% of human diseases are linked to stress, with stress-induced inflammation being the root cause of many of these conditions (Liu, 2017). Chronic stress can increase your risk of:  

What Turns Good Stress Into Bad Stress?

We all respond to stress differently and have a unique capacity to cope. What feels like negative stress for one person may be a positive thrill for another, and vice versa. In general, though, good stress starts to become harmful when it is prolonged and you don’t give yourself the right resources to cope with it. The resources we need to manage long-term stress are rest, good quality sleep, regular daily movement, relaxation, and of course, the right kinds of foods. woman doing exercise

How to Stop Bad Stress From Ruining Your Health

If you’re dealing with ongoing stress, it is important to pay attention to these resources. Here on the EBS platform, we have all the resources you need to prevent the negative effects of stress:
  • Movement videos help you stay fit, strong, and active without intensely stressing your body.
  • Guided meditations to help you relax, rest, and get a good night’s sleep.
  • Health Masterclasses that offer support for specific conditions.
  • Videos explaining key health concepts and nutrition trends.
  • Meal plans, food lists, and recipes are designed to nourish your energy levels, mental well-being, hormone health, and resilience to stress.
woman preparing a meal in the kitchen Following a holistic anti-inflammatory lifestyle like the Eat Burn Sleep approach is the best option for building resilience to stress. Our members see fantastic results with their health and feel empowered by the wealth of information available on the platform. This is what EBS Member Mahget has to say:
I follow your EBS platform, and if anyone is undecided, jump in. Just do it. I read all labels now, and when you think something is too good to be true, it usually is, especially when the ingredients list ends with emulsifiers, gums, and all the things that cause inflammation. We tend to trust people in white coats or athletes, but clearly, they are being paid to support something that is not good for us. The Eat Burn Sleep platform educates us on what is good and what is not. Thank you, Yalda, your EBS approach is spot on.
  Don’t let the negative effects of bad stress destroy your health. Explore our membership options here and discover how to create the diet and lifestyle you need to stay strong and resilient. Find out more about the benefits of the EBS lifestyle approach in these podcast episodes and articles: Podcast – Using Sounds to Calm Your Mind Podcast – Unstressable Depression, Anxiety, and Gut Health Does Cortisol Cause Weight Gain?   With love, Yalda x    
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Do You Often Feel Like Crying?

Young female in her pyjamas, with her head in her hands, looking sad.

Hello Everyone,

It doesn’t matter who you are, your age, or your resilience, we all cry and need to cry.

It’s an essential release for grief, sadness, stress, anger, happiness, sentimentality, and tiredness.

Sometimes though, we can cry for no obvious reason and wonder what is going on with ourselves!

So many people tell me they feel like crying and don’t know why. They say they have a good life, many great friends, a wonderful family, and good health. They are flummoxed because they have lots to look forward to and cannot understand why they burst out crying at any moment.

In this post, I am going to explain one of the biggest reasons why people often feel like crying for no obvious reason.

Why Do You Feel Like Crying For No Reason?

How Does Gut Health Affect Mood?

What Affects Gut Health?

Gut Health, Sleep, and Mood

What Is the Best Diet for Mood Balance?

Why Do You Feel Like Crying For No Reason?

Firstly, if you often feel like crying and don’t know why, you are not alone. It is a common problem for many people, along with poor gut health and inflammation. You may have heard me talk about the two-way link between the brain and the gut. This link is a “super-highway” of nerves connecting your brain and gut, and they constantly transmit information.

Do you recognize the need to nip to the bathroom before a public speaking event? Or get ‘butterflies’ in your stomach before meeting someone? That’s your brain-gut connection at work!

And if your gut-brain connection is out of balance, it may be the reason why you feel like crying.

How Does Gut Health Affect Mood?

Your gut microbiome contains over 100 trillion microorganisms. One of their many tasks is to produce chemical messengers called neurotransmitters for mental health.

These include:

  • Serotonin – the happy hormone
  • Dopamine – pleasure and motivation hormone
  • GABA – for calming the mind
  • Melatonin – the sleep hormone

If your gut can’t produce the right amounts of these hormones because of inflammation or an overgrowth of unfriendly bacteria, your emotions can be affected.

What Affects Gut Health?

Gut health can be affected by:

  • Stress: This is the most common cause of gut problems. Chronic stress disrupts every stage of the digestive process, leading to an imbalance in gut bacteria, aka gut dysbiosis.
  • Antibiotics: These powerful drugs don’t discriminate between good and bad bacteria. If you’re taking antibiotics or have a history of using them, it is wise to do everything possible to support gut health.
  • Poor sleep
  • Over-exercising
  • Alcohol
  • Poor dietary choices: Gut bacteria are sensitive to sugar, artificial sweeteners, additives, emulsifiers, and other ingredients in Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs).

So, the next time you feel like crying and can’t explain why, consider your gut. Is it time for a microbiome reset?

Gut Health, Sleep, and Mood

As well as being the “happy hormone”, serotonin is also a precursor for melatonin, the sleep hormone. This is why poor gut health can affect both mood and the quality of your sleep.

You might find yourself in a vicious circle with poor gut health and lack of sleep because each affects the other. And both of them can make you feel like crying for no reason! The best thing to do is improve your gut health while upgrading your sleep habits. Working on both aspects creates a positive spiral that will, in a short time, help you feel more emotionally stable.

What Is the Best Diet for Mood Balance?

I always advocate for a lifestyle change rather than just a diet because how you move and think affects your gut health as much as food does.

I recommend an anti-inflammatory lifestyle based around:

  • Foods that support blood sugar regulation and a healthy gut microbiome.
  • Anti-inflammatory foods.
  • Foods that supply brain nutrients like omega-3, B vitamins, and antioxidants.
  • Gentle daily movement.
  • A positive mindset.
  • Daily relaxation and stress management.

A balanced microbiota in the gut lowers chronic inflammation and promotes mental well-being.

It may seem obvious now, but many people are surprised to learn why they feel like crying when all is good in their world. But in the same way that your gut bacteria can make you happy, an imbalance in the microbiome can impact your emotions in a less-than-positive way.

It is why gastrointestinal disorders like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Ulcerative Colitis, and Crohn’s Disease often cause depression and anxiety.

Improving gut health improves brain health.

It’s science!

Want to read more about this topic? You might enjoy:

Why Are You Moody & Irritable?

How Does Sleep Help With Inflammation?

Podcast – Why Women Feel More Pain

Are you ready to feel happy once again? Start living the anti-inflammatory way – find out more about our membership options now.

With love,

Yalda x

 

Yalda Alaoui is a qualified Naturopathic Nutritionist (with a foundation in Biomedicine) who studied with the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London. She has spent over a decade performing groundbreaking research in chronic inflammation and gut health.

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Signs of Inflammation
That May Surprise You

Hello Everyone,

I am often asked about the signs of inflammation and how to tell if it’s a problem. But honestly, chronic inflammation will express itself differently for each of us! This is because we have a unique genetic makeup that influences our health.

However, there are some common signs of inflammation to look out for, some of which will surprise you.

 

What are the signs of chronic inflammation?

Digestive System

 

Cognitive function

 

Joints, muscles, and skin

  • Skin rashes
  • Acne
  • Joint pains
  • Back pain
  • Muscle aches
  • Swollen ankles and fingers
  • Puffy legs
  • Mouth sores
  • Dark circles around your eyes
  • Puffy eyes
  • Dry eyes
  • Melasma

 

General Health

 

This is not an exhaustive list, but I hope it gives you an idea of how many different ways chronic inflammation can appear in your body.

Should I Be Tested For Inflammation?

In some cases, your doctor or healthcare practitioner may run blood or stool tests to check for inflammatory markers. The most commonly tested marker in your blood is CRP – C-Reactive protein. Elevated levels of CRP indicate acute inflammation in your system.

However, CRP levels do not give the whole picture and you can still have chronic inflammation even if your levels are within the normal range.

What Causes Chronic Inflammation?

It’s easy to get attached to the name of a disease and what medicines you can take to deal with it rather than thinking about the underlying cause. So many people get rid of their health issues on the Eat Burn Sleep program because it deals with the underlying cause.

When we talk about chronic inflammation we are looking at two main underlying causes: diet and lifestyle.

Yes, genetics play a role too. But even if you carry a genetic predisposition for an inflammatory condition, it is your diet and lifestyle that switches on those genes.

 

Diet, Lifestyle, and Chronic Inflammation

Diet is a major underlying cause of chronic inflammation because of the number of Ultra Processed Foods and Drinks (UPFDs) available now. These foods and drinks are high in refined sugars, industrially processed oils, artificial sweeteners, additives, and emulsifiers. They lack fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

They aren’t real food; they are the products of a chemistry lab! And we as humans are not designed to thrive on such things.

Lifestyle is the other major underlying cause. We have become reliant on smartphones and screens that disrupt our sleep. Millions of people are dealing with high levels of stress. And we move our bodies far less than we need to.

A sedentary lifestyle is strongly linked with chronic inflammation and is known to increase your risk of developing serious conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The same goes for stress too. Ongoing stress disturbs gut health, immunity, brain function, and cellular repair, opening the door to weight gain and chronic inflammation.

 

Eat Burn Sleep – The Power of an Anti-Inflammatory Lifestyle

Living a low-inflammation lifestyle protects you from disease and helps you recover from illness and surgery more efficiently.

The Eat Burn Sleep approach is more than just an anti-inflammatory diet. It is a complete 360-degree platform of inflammation-reducing tools.

The program includes:

  • Food plans
  • Recipes
  • Guided meditations
  • Movement videos
  • Health masterclasses, and more.

 

It is a program that works. We have countless testimonials from EBS members who have had an inflammatory condition, followed the program, and then returned to see their doctor who is astounded at the results.

Take Natasa, who saw incredible results after only 3 weeks on the program:

“Since joining the platform 3 weeks ago, I have lost 3kg, and my bloating is gone.

I have bilateral patellofemoral osteoarthritis (severe pain in both knees) and the pain is now much less. I feel like I can finally start doing movement videos that previously I couldn’t do because of my knee pain. Also, all your recipes are so tasty.

Thank you so much.”

I am passionate about helping people live healthier, happier lives, so you can imagine how it feels when testimonials like this come in!

How does the program work?

I always suggest that people start with the 6-week Reset. This is designed to optimize your gut microbiota and liver function. It takes just 42 days to feel incredible before you carry your anti-inflammatory lifestyle forward with all the tools that you need.

The program is all about moderation and enjoying life – not deprivation and restriction. It’s about damage limitation, not perfection! With the health education Eat Burn Sleep provides, people make better choices for themselves and their families – promoting healthier lives for all ages.

Want to find out more? Enjoy a sneak peek into the program and find out more about our membership options now.

You might also like:

How Does Sleep Help With Inflammation?

Heart Health: Do You Have a Heart-healthy Lifestyle?

Recovering From Cancer

With love,

Yalda x

 

Yalda Alaoui is a qualified Naturopathic Nutritionist (with a foundation in Biomedicine) who studied with the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London. She has spent over a decade performing groundbreaking research in chronic inflammation and gut health.