Stress And Your Chemistry

Stress And Your Chemistry

Of the many stress factors that assault you, the BHMD is concerned primarily with those affecting nutrition. Moreover, it looks at them in the main on how they inter¬fere with successful weight loss. The BHMD holds to the premise that once the stress-producing elements have been removed from the foods you eat all the rest will be made easier.
Without stress your weight loss is facilitated. With the emergence of a slimmer, healthier, more attractive you, self-esteem and self-confidence return. With the positive reactions to your more appealing appearance you are further encouraged to stay on the diet. In turn, self- approval is reinforced. And thus it goes, one positive factor reinforcing another until the diet's goal has been achieved: the full integration of your physical and psychological well-being through rapid, simple—and en¬joyable!—weight reduction.
To obtain this optimum state of rapid and permanent weight loss together with a relaxed mental condition the BHMD begins by changing your food intake. Scientists are now coming to believe that much of our behavior is influenced by the body's chemistry. Quite a number of them are inclined to see stress as an important factor in altering that chemistry. And since the body's chemistry is affected by diet, there is a growing readiness to combat stress through the right kind of nutrition. The "nervous
eater" frequently reacts not so much 10 his craving for food as to the stress built up in his body through faulty eating practices.
To illustrate, here's a typical question I'm asked in my practice and health seminars: "Is there any harm in drinking lots of Diet Pepsi to cut down my appetite, Dr. Fox?"
A question of this nature usually leads to a discussion of the role of food stressors and how they frustrate the rapid weight-loss process.
I begin by pointing out the health hazards. I explain that the various diet colas are destructive to the immune system by tearing into the body with a huge chemical load. Our immune system repels foreign invaders such as bacteria, viruses and cancer cells. The continual stress caused by food additives and chemicals result in a devas¬tated immune system. Through this ravaged barrier, it is held, enter the conditions producing cancer and other serious illnesses.
But food stressors not only cut down the chances for health and longevity. If it is your object to slim and stay slim, they are the gremlins that play hob with your good intentions. Simply put, food stressors interfere with dis¬cipline.
You have already seen how the doughnut sets off se¬vere blood sugar fluctuations. The sugar in the doughnut drives up your blood sugar and throws the adrenal hor¬mones into a tailspin. Dietwise, it tends to make you lose control of your appetite regulation. Sugar is a stressor. Stress makes you tense. It makes you nervous. Because you are tense and nervous you are not in the proper frame to maintain your diet. Only by eliminating nutri¬tional stress can you prevent your appetite from running wild. And you'll be surprised to find how easily that can be accomplished.
For it is one of the virtues of the BHMD that while you lose weight your tastes undergo a permanent change. In- steadof refined sugars, you savor the "hidden" sugars in starches and legumes. Instead of salt, you want the natu¬ral tartness of certain grains and vegetables, or the seasonings on lean meats. Instead of reaching for a diet cola you find yourself asking for a glass of water, mineral, sparkling, or plain, with a slice of lemon.
The BHMD offers a large selection of natural and tasty suggestions to replace your old fattening and destructive eating habits. In the process your deadened taste buds spring alive again. A whole new world of flavors and savors is opened up to you. And almost without realizing it, you become a disciplined eater.