Animal studies show that when diet restrictions are lifted, they ate less and their anxiety was lower than when they were required to eat diet food. In addition, the act of cycle dieting raises a stress-related hormone corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) to five times the amount of non-dieters. This hormone is related to stress, anxiety, and fear. The high levels of CRF give the feeling of being “stressed” when sweet foods were avoided. The researchers indicated these mechanisms correspond to the ‘dark side’ of addiction to drugs of abuse or ethanol, supporting the idea that the brain shows addiction-like adaptations to intermittent eating of palatable food.

Essentially, this study helps explain how a pattern of yo-yo dieting can be established and why it is ineffective for weight loss. Bottom line: don’t diet ever. But if you’re food preferences consist of lots of junky stuff, you might want to explore why that is and add foods that are healthy. They’ll start to replace the less healthy stuff. You won’t feel deprived. You’ll find a healthier weight. Talk about a win-win.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Diet Cycling Leads to Anxiety, Overeating, and Withdrawal

According to a recent article in The New York Times, exercise not just enhances mood and reduces anxiety but scientists are on the groundbreaking cusp of understanding the physiological processes that enable you to feel that amazing workout high after a long run or trek on the treadmill.

We have long known that exercise enables the growth of new brain cells. But at an October meeting for the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago, researchers from Princeton University revealed a startling revelation: In response to exercise, brains are calmer and more able to respond to stressful stimuli than brains that have not been exposed to regular exercise.

While the research was conducted on rats, the study does hold powerful implications for the far-reaching benefits of exercise in humans.

According to The New York Times, rats whose oxidative-stress levels had been artificially increased with injections of certain chemicals were extremely anxious when faced with unfamiliar terrain during laboratory testing. But rats that had exercised, even if they had received the oxidizing chemical, were relatively nonchalant under stress.

“It looks more and more like the positive stress of exercise prepares cells and structures and pathways within the brain so that they’re more equipped to handle stress in other forms,” says Michael Hopkins, a graduate student affiliated with the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory Laboratory at Dartmouth.

So if you find yourself this week waiting in an airport line 200 people deep or with a houseful of ungrateful and cranky relatives, show your nervous system some love and move your body. Even if it’s just a brisk walk around the block as the pumpkin pie cools or an early a.m. fitness fix at the gym before the rest of your household wakes, you will feel much better prepared to handle daily stress with a little movement under your bum.

And hey, your bum will probably benefit too!

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Exercise Makes You Less Anxious and Reduces Stress

Calm your mind by practicing mindfulness and meditation. Visualize a soothing environment, perhaps your destination, imagine and experience it using all of your senses. After returning from a trip to Bermuda several years ago, I started using this picture to help clients practice visualization. What do you see? (The blue of the ocean and sea rocks.) What do you hear? (The waves crashing, the cars passing above.) What do you smell? (Salt water and sunscreen). What do you feel? (The warmth of the sun, the sharp rocks, the firm sand, sunglasses on my nose.) What do you taste? (Fruit juice.) Choose a setting that is calming for you and immerse yourself in it using your imagination.

Even without leaving your seat you can relax your body. Starting with your toes and working yourself up to the top of your head, flex and tighten each muscle group and hold for a few seconds before relaxing. As your body relaxes, your breathing should slow, your heart will slow, you will have more oxygen in your blood stream, and you will begin to feel more calm.

Take slow, deep breaths. Fill your lungs to capacity before slowly releasing. Place your hand on your diaphragm and feel it pushing out as you breathe in and pushing the air out of your lungs. Make sure you get all of the carbon dioxide out of your system.

Think your way out of it. We have all heard the statistics that it is safer to fly than drive. Remind yourself that there are safety plans in place and your pilot is a professional, paying attention to the skies, not a distracted driver. There are many people working together to ensure your safety.

Distract yourself. Read a book, listen to music, work, talk to your neighbor, or watch the child squirming in his or her seat.

If all else fails, focus on the fear; notice it without giving in to it. Pay attention to how anxiety changes your body, including the temperature of your skin, your heart rate, the movement of your stomach, and the speed of your thoughts. Pretend you are a scientist making observations. Isn’t it interesting how our bodies react to our thoughts of fear? The more aware you are of what occurs in your body specifically, the more you can specifically address those symptoms and return to a feeling of calm.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

How to Fight Flight Anxiety

Mini-marathon participants running through downtown Indianapolis.

In just under seven weeks, I will be running the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon for the second time. Part of the events leading up to the Indianapolis 500 each year, the Mini-Marathon is the largest half-marathon and the fifth largest running event in the United States. It is a major event for Indianapolis, including participants from all over the world, across age brackets, and of all speeds. I have fast new shoes and I am running more days than I’m not. I obviously have running on the brain. We write about the health benefits of running frequently, but there are several mental health benefits also.

1. Run when you are feeling angry or frustrated to burn off the extra energy. Research has shown that nothing relieves stress more than physical exercise.

2. Running increases endorphins which contributes to a general sense of well-being and mood elevation, so running can make you feel better when you are sad.

3. Running is an excellent way to fight anxiety. Naturally inducing and recovering from the adrenaline response allows your body to practice recovering from physical effects of anxiety.

Running around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

4. If you are feeling lonely or disillusioned with people in general, running on a local trail (like Indy’s Monon Trail, Canal Walk, or Cultural Trail) will expose you to several people enjoying the weather and/or exercising, as well as dogs and kids, and present many opportunities to enjoy and share a smile.

5. Running gives you an opportunity to experience freedom and can be the perfect escape from stressors, being inside all day, or the daily grind when you are feeling trapped.

6. You can increase your self-esteem and feel empowered by running by accomplishing goals, experiencing what your body can do, and re-defining yourself.

7. Running also gives you an opportunity to escape into your own world, tune out everything else with your iPod, refocus, and be refreshed. You may need a break from stressors or people or just to allow your brain to rest.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

7 Mental Health Reasons to Run

Improving physical energy habits, including sleep, diet, and exercise, is often the first line of attack against the most common mental health concerns of anxiety and depression. Often, counselors must address such topics as part of a treatment plan when a client experiences the common side effect of weight gain as a result of taking medications to fight depression, bipolar disorder, psychotic symptoms, etc. In some cases, anti-depressant medication may be an optional tool to allow a client the extra boost needed to do the therapeutic work that can bring him or her out of that depression.

Bipolar disorder, on the other hand, is a disorder that has a negative prognosis unless the client regularly takes the medication prescribed. Another concern is that many of these medications require titration to start and terminate the medication and cannot be simply stopped if the client is not satisfied with the side effects. To best serve my clients, I must be able to help them meet their goals, feel better about themselves, and comply with medication management when needed.

If you find yourself troubled by weight gain as a side effect of medication, there are several things that you can do to fight this side effect and still utilize medication management as part of your treatment. Talk to your doctor about the weight gain. You may be able to consider other medication options or dosages; however, any change in medication may require special instructions from your physician. Consider the possibility that in your improved mood, you may have regained a healthy appetite, or there may be other factors contributing to your weight gain. Talk to your therapist about your concerns and what other strategies you can employ. Try something new to help you increase activity, decrease calories, and/or make healthier food choices.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Why Nutrition and Exercise are Essential to Mental Health