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Better Health Update #48 - Monte Kline, Clinical Nutritionist

Stress & Health

It can be argued that the most powerful ingredient for optimum health is the absence of emotional stress. Solomon said in Proverbs 17:22:

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

It is not uncommon to find people who are eating a nutritious diet, taking good nutritional supplements, exercising . . . and yet who are experiencing poor health. Unresolved emotional stress is often the "missing ingredient."

STRESS STUDIES

The statistics on emotional stress and health are pretty incredible. The Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans found that in 500 consecutive cases of gastro-intestinal illness, 74% were caused by emotional stress. The Yale University Out Patient Medical Dept. found 76% of its cases were related to emotionally induced illness. In his best-selling book, How to Live 365 Days a Year, John Schindler, M.D. said that, "Three out of every four hospital beds are occupied by people with emotionally induced illness," leading him to conclude that, "Emotional stress is today our Number One cause of ill-health."

Let me hasten to add that when I talk about an illness being "emotionally induced," I'm not saying the symptoms are imaginary. The symptoms are very real and very physical. What we're talking about is the way emotional stress affects the physical body to produce those physical symptoms.

EMOTIONAL STRESS DEPOSITION

So, how does emotional stress get "deposited" in our bodies? To understand this, let's go back to the Creation. God created us to handle physical stresses. For example, if you eat some tainted food, you will either vomit it out one end or send it out the other end via diarrhea. We have physical exhaust pipes.

But emotional stress is a different matter because our bodies were not created to handle that - we have no emotional exhaust pipes. That's because there was no emotional stress in the original creation . . . the negative emotions of anger, guilt, fear, anxiety and the like were the result of man's Fall into sin, which came later. In the Garden there was no need for emotional exhaust pipes.

So what happens if your body doesn't have a mechanism for getting rid of emotional stress? It gets deposited instead - in some organ, gland, or muscle. Of all the areas in the body, it is the colon, the large intestine, that seems to be the favorite dumping ground. Dr. Schindler said:

The colon, more than any other organ, is a manifestor of the emotions. So much so that a wise doctor in Philadelphia remarked some years ago that "the colon is the mirror of the mind, and when the mind gets tight, the colon gets tight."

Unfortunately the same part of your body will tend to be affected by the same stress, time and again. Dr. C. S. Lovett, in his book, Jesus Wants You Well, wrote:

Once the brain (unconscious portion) selects an organ of the body as the whipping boy for a particular emotional problem, the choice is entered into the body's computer system . . . After that, every time those same feelings occur and have to be disposed of, the stress will be directed against the SAME ORGAN . . . Consequently every organ, muscle and gland in the body could end up as a punching bag for a specific emotional problem.

PITUITARY AND ADRENAL HORMONES

Two pituitary hormones get involved in this process - STH (somatotrophic hormone) and ACTH (adrenocorticotrophic hormone). STH mobilizes the body's defenses against infection, but in the process also produces the symptoms of what we call "sickness" - headache, fever, tiredness, gastro-intestinal upset, etc. Stress research pioneer, Dr. Hans Selye, noted that certain negative emotions also produced the STH hormone . . . particularly emotions like defeat, futility and discouragement. Here's the point: Emotional stress can make you "feel" the same way as infectious illness because the same pituitary hormone is involved. A small increase in STH over a long period of time may result in diseases such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure, lupus and cancer.

Let's talk about the other pituitary hormone ACTH. ACTH acts on the adrenal glands causing them to produce cortisone. Again this happens in response to physical stresses like injuries and infections. But ACTH is also produced by aggressive , unpleasant emotions. This is where the familiar "fight or flight" response comes in. When you've got a bear chasing you out in the woods, your pituitary sends ACTH to the adrenals to get them to pump out the hormones necessary for you to run . . . or, if you decide not to run, to stand and fight. That's the "fight or flight" response.

The trouble is a lot of people constantly experience the "fight or flight" response due to ongoing low levels of aggressive, unpleasant emotions. When you're running from that wild animal or stand and fight it, your adrenal hormones do their thing for a few minutes and then it's over. The exercise and increased circulation dissipate the hormones so they don't damage you. But when you work in a job or other situation where the stress is ongoing, where you don't get to run away or physically fight, the ACTH activity on the adrenals does major damage. Common diseases produced by the ACTH hormone activity include peptic ulcers, some diabetes, and heart disease.

ACTH and STH hormones work in opposition to each other. When ACTH production goes up in response to a "fight or flight" situation, or emotional stress, the effects of the STH hormone are shut down, including the defense against infection. Sickness is more likely since the emotional stress is altering your usual immune system response.

"SAD" AND "MAD" DISEASES

We tend to end up with two categories of emotionally induced illness - "sad" diseases and "mad" diseases. The "sad" emotions produce the STH hormone and may result in diseases like arthritis, lupus and cancer. The "mad" diseases produce the ACTH hormone and may result in diseases like ulcers, diabetes, and heart disease. The "sad" diseases eat away on the inside, while the "mad" diseases typically manifest by blowing up on the outside.

Most people can be classified as either predominantly a "sad" personality type or a "mad" personality type. The "sad" type is more introverted, likes solitude, is drained by being around a lot of people, is moody, tends to hold feelings in, can be extremely creative musically or artistically, and outwardly doesn't show much difference emotionally from one time to another. The "mad" personality type is generally extroverted, likes being around other people, is a social success, comes across as being positive and energetic, and is very outward in expressing their feelings and opinions. Cancer is perhaps the classic "sad" disease and heart disease is the classic "mad" disease.

STRESS CATEGORIES

I want to look at seven common categories of emotional stress, seven of the most common emotional stresses we all experience . . . which in turn may lead to health problems:

1. Judgment and Guilt - Judgment is basically making negative evaluations of others (or of yourself). It's an "I'm right, you're wrong" type of emotion. Judgment results in, or is often associated with, guilt - an emotion of self-condemnation, what has been called the cancer of the conscience. Judgment and guilt have at their root an offense - with judgment, an offense of someone else, and with guilt, an offense you've committed that's eating away at you.

2. Suppressed Anger - This is where you're mad or embittered against someone, but you don't express it. The anger is buried but eating away at you inside. Christians commonly suppress anger, since we feel it's unspiritual to show anger.

3. Rejection - You don't feel approved of or accepted by others. People communicate to you that you're not OK . . . people like your parents, spouse, children, or so-called "friends."

4. Low Self-Esteem - Perhaps one of the most destructive of all emotional stress categories, this is a feeling of personal unworthiness - a negative, unloving attitude toward yourself.

5. Overwhelmed - Many people are "buried with burden," surrounded by circumstances that are more than they can handle, making them feel unable to perform to expectations.

6. Frustration - This is the stress of contrary experiences - the feeling that things just aren't going to according to plan.

7. Deep-Rooted Fear - Finances, marriage, children, or job problems can produce this "what will happen if" emotional stress.

NUTRITIONAL ANSWERS TO STRESS

Nutrition, or any other physical treatment is not the answer to the root causes of emotional stress. However, it can help your body cope with emotional stress while you're working on the root causes. Supplementation that can help at this level includes B-Complex, calcium and magnesium, adrenal glandular, and relaxing herbs like Kava Kava, Valerian, Scullcap, and Passion Flower.

BIBLICAL ANSWERS TO STRESS

As we approach resolving the above seven areas of emotional stress, note that the first four concern your view of other people and yourself, while the last three concern your view of your circumstances. May I submit to you the idea that if you adopt the correct view of yourself, others, and your circumstances, you can resolve virtually any kind of emotional stress? I've found two basic principles from the Bible that do just that. The first relates to your view of yourself and others, while the second concerns your view of your circumstances. They are perhaps the two greatest doctrines in all the Bible:

1. Grace - Grace means "unmerited favor," getting something that you don't deserve. The ultimate expression of God's grace is the Cross of Christ, where the price for sin was paid - not only your sin, but everyone else's. God judged all sin on the Cross, so there's no "judging" left to do and no guilt left to feel. When we judge others or have suppressed anger or feel guilty for already confessed sin, we're in effect, re-crucifying Christ - not believing that what He did was adequate to fully pay the price.

The Cross also relates to rejection and approval need. The only person you have to have the approval of is God, and you've already got that based on His grace. If we're hung up on having to have someone else's approval, we're making that person a god in our life - that's idolatry. The Cross frees us from the need to "perform" for others, since all the ultimately important "performing" was done for us by Christ on the Cross.
What about low self-esteem? The foundation for having a positive self-esteem is seeing yourself the same way God sees you. God sees you through his grace, through the complete penalty already paid for you by Christ. If you really embrace what happened at the Cross, there's no legitimate basis for having a low self-esteem.

2. Sovereignty - Understanding the Sovereignty of God releases us from the three remaining stress areas - feeling overwhelmed, frustration and deep-rooted fear. When the Bible says that God is sovereign, it's saying that He's in control, that nothing ultimately goes on without his permission. The way I like to put it is to say that He's behind every circumstance, working as Romans 8:28 says, "all things together for good, to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." Trust Him and be stress-free.

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this publication is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose illness nor prescribe treatment. Rather, this material is designed to be used in cooperation with your nutritionally-oriented health professional to deal with your personal health problems. Should you use this information on your own, you are prescribing for yourself, which is your constitutional right, but neither the author nor publisher assume responsibility.