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Let’s face it… This time of year is just more stressful.
You’ve got gifts to buy, events to attend, a house to decorate, presents to wrap, and travel to do or company to get ready for. It’s wonderful, but it’s easy for all of this merriment to lead to stress and stress related eating, especially when there are cookies for Santa around the house (Santa is getting some dehydrated cumin kale chips and a glass of Daily Greens this year, no better fuel for all the work he needs to do!).
But unless you are okay with letting acid build up in your system, it’s vitally important that you take the necessary steps to allow your body to ADAPT to the physical, chemical, and EMOTIONAL/MENTAL stresses this time of year.
I want to talk more about emotional stress, because the acid that stress causes in your body outweighs a million times to one any effect that food or drinks can cause.
Stress can literally poison the brain and the body. It leads to a build up of free radicals in your body. So if you’re stressed, your body is accelerating the aging process, which leads to all kinds of bad effects on your health that you don’t want.
So here are 7 easy ways to prevent stress and lessen its impact when you do get stressed that will help get you through the holidays and anytime of year.
1. Breathe for Stress Relief
Did you know that 70% of the acids and toxins inside of your body are removed through your lungs? That includes acid caused by stress, which as you know, causes more acid build up than anything you could eat or drink.
Breathing can also reduce stress in other powerful ways – it can lower blood pressure, slow the heartbeat, energize your muscles, and most importantly, change your pH within one to three minutes.
Here’s the power breathing technique I learned from Tony Robbins. Stop and do this anytime you’re feeling stressed out and try to do it at least once daily.
Power Breathing 1:4:2
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Breathe in through your nose (inhale) for one part
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Hold breath for four parts
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Breathe out your mouth (exhale) for two parts.
The "parts" can be any number of seconds, as long as you maintain the ratio.
For example, you might breathe in for three seconds, hold for twelve seconds, and breathe out for six seconds.
2. Exercise Every Day
If you get your body moving for at least 10 to 20 minutes every day, you’ll cut your stress load. Even just taking a brisk walk outside will reduce stress levels.
If you can work up a good sweat, you’ll actually start to release the toxins and acid that have built up over time in your body. Try my favorite acid crushing exercise, the REBOUNDER.
NASA did a study and showed that the rebounder (mini-trampoline) is 68% more effective as a cardiovascular exercise and for weight loss compared to running… So if you’re looking to lose some weight after the holidays and get aerobically fit, the rebounder hands down is the best bang for your buck.
3. Stay hydrated
What does drinking water have to do with fighting stress?
The average person loses two and a half to three liters of water daily, and that’s from everyday activities like walking, eating, and sleeping. Add exercise into this mix, and you can tack on another liter to that statistic.
If your body is dehydrated – and it’s a fact that 90% of Americans are chronically dehydrated – it’s got to work that much harder to do everything that’s required of it.
That’s how chronic dehydration can lead to getting sick and even long-term diseases. The body is too busy compensating for a deficient amount of water to fight off illnesses.
To avoid dehydration and not live in deprivation, drink three to four liters of good, pure alkaline water every day. If you want to get more specific for yourself, drink half of your body weight in ounces daily. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, drink 75 ounces of water every day.
4. Eat Acid Fighting Foods…AKA ALKALINE!
I know how it is when you’re stressed… you want to eat comfort foods, chocolate, and junk foods (aka ACID!).
But your body wants you to do the complete opposite!
In fact, your body needs you to eat the best foods at fighting the free radicals and acidity caused by stress. Foods that fight acid contain alkaline minerals, and antioxidants like lycopene, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and carotenoids.
Top free radical fighters include nuts (raw almonds), kale, spinach, cucumbers, celery, carrots, broccoli, grapefruit, lemons and limes, and healthy fats like avocados, chia seeds, hemp seeds, and flax.
So if you’re stressed, make yourself a smoothie with kale, berries, some healthy fat, and a nut milk and all of those healthy nutrients will go to work for you.
5. Eat Fewer Acidic Foods
If your body is fighting stress, you don’t want it to have to work hard to break down your food too. So you want to avoid the acid-forming foods that are tougher for the body to digest like dairy and meat.
The same goes for other highly acidic foods like sugar, coffee, and alcohol.
So in other words, a glass of wine, double shot latte, or chocolate milkshake might sound like a good idea when you’re stressed out, but it’s actually the opposite of what you want to do to an already overly-taxed system.
6. Let Your Mind and Body Rest
You already know getting plenty of sleep will help prevent stress, but sleep is also the time when your body fights off the damaging effects of acid.
Remember the Power Breathing technique above? I use it to help me fall asleep if I’m having a hard time turning my brain off for the night.
Meditation is another sure-fire way to manage stress and train your brain to be less worried about things all of the time. The art of meditation and clearing your mind is basically a glorified way to get your mind to shut the heck up!
7. Take Good Quality Supplements
If you’re stressed, it’s more important than ever to supplement with really high quality minerals and greens that your body is lacking.
By taking AlkaMind Daily Greens every morning and AlkaMind Daily Minerals every night 30 minutes before sleep, you’re setting your body up for success so it doesn’t have to do all the hard work of fighting the damaging effects of stress on its own. Learn more here.
