by Maya Sarkisyan | Mar 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
I found this phrase on a teacup at the Japanese restaurant while enjoying a lengthy health discussion with one of my friends. By the way, in case you don’t drink alcohol at all, read on anyway.
It is known that excessive alcohol intake can lead to various issues on many levels. However, not all of us know the implications it can create. Having a glass of wine or a bear had been a part of the social ritual for a long time and perhaps will continue to be for years to come. Not all cultures accept it as a part of the society, but European and American societies takes social alcohol drinking as a norm. In my teenage years, a glass of hot spiced wine was often prescribed in treating various blood circulation disorders. So, while having the alcohol as a part of our lives and our diet it is worth to learn more about it and about the connection between alcohol and metabolism.
Perhaps the most interesting fact about ethyl alcohol is that the human body grants it the first priority to metabolize because it is readily mixes with water on the molecular level. Right after consumption it is distributed through the body in the blood stream. For the same reason it is readily crosses the “blood brain barrier†– that is why it affects our perceptions, balance, and other biological functions so quickly. Ethyl alcohol can also be absorbed into the blood through the skin and the air.
However, the liver, being the primary site of alcohol metabolism, takes the highest toll from excessive drinking. The process permanently changes the liver cell structure and impairs the liver’s ability to metabolize fats. Fat accumulates in the liver and the overall balance of proper nutrient absorption gets affected.
If you are one of people who are looking to balance your weight please take a closer look at how much alcohol you consume. It is equally important to notice your reasons for drinking, time of day, food you eat with it and your moods before and after. Some people tend to eat more after a drink and often don’t notice the quantity and quality of the food they eat. Social drinking is often accompanied by “junk†food such as salted and roasted nuts, greasy chips, as well as deep fried fatty foods. It is beneficial to eat a full healthy meal before such gatherings, as it will allow you to eat less of such foods.
I would like to advocate for very moderate alcohol consumption or even none at all. However if you still consider it, there are good tips of how to do it smart – it is worth putting some effort in more detailed research.
And the most important of all – drink plenty of water. Alcohol has a toxic and dehydrating effect on the body and drinking water will help you to detoxify quicker.
And overall it is perhaps the #1 health tip all health practitioners agree on – to make sure you are properly hydrated through your day.
by Maya Sarkisyan | Dec 16, 2008 | health, metabolism, stress
We are in the middle of the holiday season, and for most of us it is also a wonderful and stressful season at the same time. We travel, host friends and relatives, throw big parties, attend big parties, eat delicious meals, indulge in entertainment venues, and so on. Sometimes our plans don’t work out quite as we expect and we get stressed and anxious.
As you already know, stress impacts metabolic functions in your body. It happens for a good reason of survival, as our nature to survive activates body’s basic ability to run for your life when stressful events happen. You will digest food and absorb your nutrients later when you are safe and out of danger. This is the basic survival mechanism. It is often not how much and what you eat and drink during these few holiday weeks, but how you eat, in what mood, and for what reason. Of course, if you already have issues with your metabolism, you should watch your diet however stress amplifies the damage while it doesn’t have to.
Holidays is a good time to apply any stress reduction techniques you already know – meditation, self-hypnosis, Epsom salt baths, aromatherapy, massage, and anything else you know. I would like to share with you two stress reduction techniques you can apply instantaneously so you will be able to dissipate the upcoming negative emotion.
1. www.emofree.com – Emotional Freedom Technique – EFT. Easy to practice it helps you to relax within seconds and neutralizes emotion, pain, or negative thought. Being so easy to learn and practice, it became one of the most widespread practices. You can do it anywhere – in the airplane, in your car, at your house, at the restaurant bathroom, etc. EFT process can be briefly described as tapping on specific face and body points while speaking out loud the affirmation of your choice. At first it looks unusual, but soon you will get used to it and enjoy the results it brings.
It is absolutely FREE to learn, and you can get materials and watch videos online. We can thank Gary Craig, EFT founder and wonderful person, for creating the system and making it so available.
2. Practice dissociating yourself from negative memories. For example, you are expecting visitors you associate some negative memories with. Even thought of seeing them makes your heart beat faster, and you get irritated. You can do the following to free yourself of this feeling. While sitting comfortably, close your eyes and vividly remember last time you had a confrontation with them. Do you see yourself in that memory as it is a movie, or you see everything around you from your own eyes? If you see everything around you in that memory, the chances are you are fully associated with it and reliving these emotions all over again. It is possible to change your emotional charge by simply changing the perception of this memory. Close your eyes again and watch this event as a movie with you playing one of the roles. See yourself in this movie. Now move it farther away from you on a TV distance and make it black and white – just like an old movie. Play with the distance, color, and/or quality, and move it farther or closer. Notice how your emotions are changing. Now, in your imagination, install a glass door between you and that movie. Notice how your emotions dissipate. This way you can override negative emotions associated with old memories. You can repeat this exercise a few more times with other memories associated with your upcoming visitors. After a while, you will be surprised to find yourself much calmer when your visitors arrive.
by Maya Sarkisyan | Nov 18, 2008 | general health & nutrition
“The place of absolute tranquility… the gentle water bubbles are surfacing to the blue serenity of the mountain lake… Ah… what a joy…â€
“MOM!!!! WHERE IS MY DINNER??? “ “DAD!!! I AM TAKING YOUR CAR!!!†No kidding, the blue lake just popped in front of your so-called third eye and vanished into who knows what. As a mother of active nine year old boy I personally would laugh out loud at anybody who preaches the wonders of a stress-free life – it just seems impossible in many life situations. Is it really impossible or there are ways to not only cope with stress but to glide through it and come out at the other end unscathed?
It is known that stress, especially the chronic stress can create huge havoc on the physical, mental, and emotional levels. However it is very important to distinguish between the “stress triggers†and the “stress response mechanism†activated by your body. While encountering a stressful situation your body automatically shifts to the “fight or flight†mode. This response is very beneficial if you are about to run away from the grizzly bear chasing you in the woods. Your body is capable of immediately shutting down hundreds of ongoing processes such as digestion, reproduction, hormone regulation in order to activate other processes important for your immediate survival.
Now, the body reacts the same exact way either if you are stressed about running away from the grizzly bear or if you are sitting on your couch watching TV about 700 billion dollars bailout. With one simple difference – there is absolutely no physical need for your body to shut down your digestion and hormone regulation while watching news on TV. But it is happening anyway. Now, think about how many times you encounter stressful situations during your typical day.
It is not the fact of stressful events occurring in our life that wear us out – it’s the way we react to them. It means we can control some of the impact affecting our life by changing our lifestyle and our way of thinking. And it can be fun to do!
These are the three basic components in stress management:
1. Learn how to shift your attention quickly and how to use your primary senses to lessen the impact of the stressful event.
2. Nourish your body with a balanced diet supporting your well-being and avoid foods that aggravate stress.
3. Adopt a regular and fulfilling spiritual practice.
We will talk about all these topics, and in my next article I will share with you the ways of re-patterning your mind in order to handle stressful situations effectively.
by Maya Sarkisyan | Oct 22, 2008 | health, nutrition, weight loss
It still remains the hottest topic of the day (after the presidential elections of course!) – How to lose weight. People are looking for a magic pill, one-hour surgery, 3-day cleanse, and vast variety of other short term solutions. Thousands of dollars are spent on fad diets, newest nutrition books, fancy kitchen appliances, and so on. It is quite understandable approach as the modern life seems to deprive us from the option of investing personal time in maintaining a healthy balance in our body, mind, and spirit. However, the question is how effective and healthy are these short term solutions. Can we really appear lean, fit, and wrinkle-free while leading stressful life and maintaining the old emotional habits? Can we feel good and healthy while sleeping less than needed and skipping routine medical checkups? The trick is that most of us already know the answer to these questions, though something seems to stand on the way between the knowledge and the action – something subtle yet very powerful… Something invisible that can be consciously brought into play to achieve our goals easily and naturally while staying happy and healthy. It is called the “Subconscious Mind”.
In our new forum
https://www.metabolism.com/health-and-nutrition-forum/forum/alternatives
we will explore the ways to find and properly utilize your internal resources in order to help you live the life you deserve. We will talk about how such tools as hypnosis, NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), acupuncture, energy balancing, and other methods can help you on your path to the health and happiness.
I welcome you to ask questions and start discussions on the topics you would like to explore. Stay tuned!
