Millions of people suffer from stress and anxiety, so we’re going to talk about a simple and effective strategy for improving anxiety. First, I’d like to share two different stories.

The first story happened to me a few years ago in San Diego. I was walking back to my office on lunch break and I passed a guy who was obviously homeless. He reached out his hand and asked, “Sir, do you have any money to spare?”

I honestly didn’t. I had no cash, just debit and credit cards. However, he was an engaging fellow so I talked to him for about ten minutes. The entire time, I kept gazing down at his feet.

He had no shoes, no socks, and his feet were in bad shape. They were cracked, discolored, and on the verge of infection. I continued to talk to him, learning his story and how he had fallen on hard times. I looked down at my own feet. I had shoes and I knew I was only a couple blocks away from my office.

“You know what,” I said to him, “I don’t have any money, but I want you to take my shoes. I’ll walk back to my office, it’s fine.” I gave him my shoes and pleaded with him to seek care for his feet because I didn’t want him to lose them.

The point of this story is that there’s a difference between stress, which is a human experience, and stressors. Stressors can certainly cause stress, but it’s more about our reaction to those stressors.

For example, this homeless guy had his wits about him. He had fallen on hard times, but he was still quite positive. His feet weren’t causing him stress, but they were causing me stress because I’m a doctor and I wanted him to be well. He wasn’t anxious though, so you can see there’s a difference between stress from human experience and the stressors that cause anxiety.

Doctor Reveals His #1 Master Tip To Deal With Anxiety
How Anxiety Affects You Physically and Emotionally

Stressors can be in our environment or our social systems, and the anxiety from stress can be problematic both physically and emotionally. Physically, anxiety can cause sweating, palpitations, fatigue, headaches, shortness of breath, or muscle tension. Emotionally, anxiety can cause worry, fear, irritability, apprehension, or sleep disturbance.

It’s important to note that stress is not the only cause of anxiety. Some may have neurotransmitter imbalances, hormone imbalances, or reactive hypoglycemia. Anxiety can also be exacerbated by caffeine or food allergies.

The Difference Deep Breathing Can Make

Now for the second story. Several years ago, I had a patient who was a gentleman in his mid-50s with a very stressful job as an air traffic controller. He came in for an appointment with me and was on medication for both high blood pressure and anxiety.

During his appointment, he asked, “Dr. Shelton, is there anything else I can do to manage my stress and to help defeat the anxiety that I feel each and every day? Because it’s affecting my entire life.”

We sat down, reviewed his medical history, and made some changes to his diet and lifestyle. I also recommended a couple of botanical nutritional supplements to help with his blood pressure and anxiety.

The main thing I taught my patient that day though was deep breathing. I told him he only needed to engage in deep breathing exercises a few minutes every day to help with his stress, anxiety, and blood pressure.

He immediately replied that he didn’t have the time to do deep breathing or meditation, but I convinced him to do it for just a couple of minutes a day. I taught him a breathing technique that would use all three breathing muscle groups: the diaphragm which pushes out the belly, the intercostal muscles that expand the chest, and the scalenes which pull the chest up to the neck.

While there are many different deep breathing strategies, I taught him a simple one. Breathe in through the nose for eight seconds, breathe out through the mouth for eight seconds, and then repeat that process for as many minutes as you can.

The patient thanked me and it was about a year before he made another appointment. He came in beaming and was a different man entirely. He told, “Doc, I didn’t think I had the time for deep breathing exercises but I started with just a couple minutes a day and I loved it. It made such a difference in my stress and anxiety levels!”

At this point, he had progressed to 15 minutes of deep breathing a day. He was able to cut his dose of anti-anxiety medication in half and come off his blood pressure medication completely. A simple deep breathing technique, a few diet and lifestyle changes, and botanical nutritional supplements made a profound difference in his life.

Why Deep Breathing Exercises Have a Profound Effect on Anxiety

The nervous system is broken into two branches. One is the musculoskeletal which moves muscles and joints, and the other is the autonomic which is essentially responsible for all the automatic things your body does. The autonomic is involved in heart rate, breathing, digestion, the gastrointestinal tract, the genitourinary tract, and reproduction and sex.

The autonomic nervous system is broken down again into two branches. The first branch is the sympathetic, which is the fight or flight feeling you experience when stressed or fearful of danger. The second branch is the parasympathetic, which is quite relaxing.

The captain, so to speak, of the parasympathetic nervous system is the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve controls basically everything from the neck down, like heart rate, respiration rate, and digestion. The wonderful thing about deep breathing exercises is that you can use them to change how the vagus nerve speaks to the rest of the body and change how respiration relaxes you.

Studies on Deep Breathing  

Let’s take a look at two studies on the positive effects of deep breathing. The first study was done on a group of musicians from the Julliard School of Music, where there was a study group and a control group. The study group was instructed to engage in deep breathing exercises for 10 to 15 minutes a day and the control group was vaguely told to ‘relax.’

Scientists found that the study group had better vagal tone, sleep, preservation of safety, performance, coping skills, and focus. They experienced less anxiety just through deep breathing.

Emotions are not solely a phenomenon within the brain but are composed of body responses as well. These can include autonomic and behavioral responses such as changes in heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductance, and respiration. Among these physiological responses, respiration has a unique relationship to emotion. While the primary role of respiration concerns metabolism and homeostasis, emotions such as disgust, anger, and happiness also influence respiratory activities.

While respiratory change that accompanies emotions can occur unconsciously, respiration can also be voluntarily altered associating with an activation of part of the brain called the motor cortex. There may be no physiological expression for the association of the three areas of the brain that regulate respiration: the brainstem, the limbic system, and the cerebral cortex. The brainstem works to maintain homeostasis, the limbic system is responsible for emotional processing, and the cerebral cortex controls intention. If you’re able to grab hold of that vagus nerve, you can change how the brain functions and responds to stress.

The second study was done on Zen meditation practitioners. The scientists asked the study group to continue their practice, and then had a control group as well. The study group was asked to focus on deep breathing exercises with all three muscle groups: the diaphragm, intercostals, and scalenes. They engaged in deep breathing exercises for 20 minutes a day.

Compared to the control group, scientists found there were dramatic changes in heart rate, incidents of asthmas, abdominal pain, pro-inflammatory cytokines, blood pressure, anxiety, and mental focus.

Just 20 minutes of deep breathing a day caused these significant improvements in physiological function. The respiratory system listens and carefully remembers how previous stimuli affects breathing. For example, repeated slow breathing sessions trigger a respiratory memory to strengthen the ability of respiratory motor neurons to trigger the contraction of breathing muscles, even when you’re not thinking about it. This type of respiratory plasticity is known as long-term facilitation

If you can commit to a few minutes of deep breathing exercises every day and increase the length over time, you’ll see a difference in your stress, anxiety, and other physiological effects that stress can cause. Never doubt that small changes, like deep breathing exercises, can have a profound effect on your health.

Zenith Labs created a supplement called Meditation in a Bottle. It contains several botanical adaptogens that help with stress hormones such as cortisol. Meditation in a Bottle can help with adrenal health, along with reducing the amount of stress and anxiety you feel.

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I believe in the original meaning of the word doctor, ‘docere’, which means teacher. I’m here to help educate you on how to take care of yourself in ways that you may not have heard of before, but that are effective. I always want to hear your ideas and feedback so be sure to leave me comments below!

 

 

 

High blood pressure is one of the most silent, deadliest killers that afflicts modern society. If you struggle with high blood pressure, read on to learn about the best foods to eat for high blood pressure.

Patients on high blood pressure medications may experience side effects such as coughs, headaches, and erectile dysfunction. Controlling your diet could help control your blood pressure naturally.

High Blood Pressure Diets

In the early 90s, researchers, physicians, and scientists wanted to know what type of diet contributed to high blood pressure and what kind of diet could reverse high blood pressure. After all, no one really wants to be on medications that can cause dangerous side effects. So, they developed something called the DASH diet: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. Originally, the DASH diet was thought to be an effective diet for high blood pressure because of low sodium or low salt intake. Now, we know that the DASH diet is actually helpful because it’s high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and lean meats, and low in fat dairy products and fatty meats (which are contributors to high blood pressure). Processed foods are also not allowed on the DASH diet.

Other diets have shown similar results for helping with high blood pressure. For example, the Mediterranean Diet, which is high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, seafoods and berries. We looked at both the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet to see what they had in common to be able to develop the best diet for reversing/resolving high blood pressure. It came down to something called the “dietary inflammatory index”, which promotes inflammation that we have to curb if we want to reduce high blood pressure.

Here’s what all these diets had in common: They were high in potassium, magnesium, and the essential fatty acids Omega-3, Omega-7, and Omega-9. You should try to include these components in your high blood pressure diet.

The Best Diet and Foods to Reduce High Blood Pressure

If you want to reduce high blood pressure through the foods you eat and your general diet, here are some tips that you should follow daily.

What you should eat:

• 4-6 servings of fruits and vegetables. Beets, sweet potatoes, bananas, and avocados are especially important because they are high in potassium and magnesium.
• 4-6 servings of legumes or beans.
• 1-2 servings of nuts and seeds.
• 2-3 servings of seafood or healthy fish with omega-3 fatty acids.
• Include coronary herbs to your meals. These include garlic, ginger, oregano, thyme, and rosemary.

What you shouldn’t eat:

• Restrict yeast products and baked goods.
• Eliminate all processed foods. These tend to be high in sodium and salt.
• Limit fatty meats to 2-3 times a week. Try to incorporate more lean meats such as poultry and grass-fed beef or seafood into your diet.

Changing your diet can help you manage your high blood pressure better, and even come off medications that cause terrible side effects.

There are a couple of supplements available that can help reduce blood pressure tremendously: BP Zone and Omega 3-7-9 + Krill fatty acid. You can reduce blood pressure a number of ways, but it all starts with your diet and using food as natural antidotes to your body’s ailments.

We want to know if you’re struggling with high blood pressure, how your diet impacts you, and what you’re using to manage your high blood pressure, so do write to us in the comments below. We’re on this journey with you.

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If you liked this video/article, do share it with your friends and loved ones. Subscribe to the Youtube channel for weekly tips on new tools and techniques to improve your health and well-being.

I believe in the original meaning of the word doctor, ‘docere‘, which means teacher. I’m here to help educate you on how to take care of yourself in ways that you may not have heard of before, but that are effective. I always want to hear your ideas and feedback so be sure to leave me comments below!

If you’re struggling with an increased BMI (body mass index), elevated waist circumference, increased skinfold thickness, or if you’re overweight or obese, then read on. There’s one simple daily habit to incorporate into your life to help prevent weight gain. Dozens of studies have shown how effective this one habit is.

Daily Habit To Help with Obesity

Don’t overlook a healthy diet and regular exercise

Now, that’s not to overlook how important daily movement and therapeutic exercise is to the prevention of weight gain. Simply walking for 20 minutes a day, three to five times a week is highly recommended. If you’re able to incorporate more vigorous exercise in your routine, that’s even better.

You can’t overlook how important a healthy diet is either. Try replacing the bad fats in your diet with healthy fats like omega-3s, -7s, -9s, and eating more fruits and vegetables. In order to get enough micronutrients and macronutrients, it’s recommended that you eat nine servings of fresh produce in five colors every day.

One simple tip to prevent weight gain

However, there’s one simple tip that dozens of studies have shown will help prevent weight gain: don’t skip breakfast! Let’s take a look at six of the most impressive studies.

1. The first study was done with 272 individuals over the age of 60, comparing those who ate breakfast to those who skipped breakfast. The individuals who skipped breakfast were 44% more likely to have obesity affect their lives.
   

   It’s already clear how important eating a good breakfast is. The gold standard is to eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.

2. The second study showed that obesity was 1.5 times higher in individuals who did not consistently eat breakfast.
3. A third study showed that individuals who skipped breakfast had lower energy levels, but individuals who did eat breakfast could engage in more physical activity throughout the day.
4. In a study done with adolescents, skipping breakfast was associated with a worse lipid profile. These individuals had worse cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome.
   

   Clearly eating breakfast is important for weight management in both the young and old!

5. The fifth study showed that breakfast significantly contributed to the daily micronutrient intake by providing an average of 24% more dietary fiber, 32% more iron, 30% more calcium, 32% more folic acid, and 37% more of a B vitamin called riboflavin.
6. The last study showed that habitual breakfast skippers are at an increased risk for the development of cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, and high blood pressure. This study was conducted in India, and the consistent breakfast skippers were more overweight and more obese.

Dozens more studies that show the importance of eating breakfast daily. It’s a simple habit you can incorporate in your life, starting now! Remember, simple changes can affect the trajectory of your entire life moving forward. Incorporating breakfast in your daily routine is important for maintaining a healthy weight, and will reduce risk factors like cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and more.

At Zenith Labs, we have developed a supplement call Trim-14. When you pair this supplement with good habits like eating breakfast daily and getting in healthy movement, it can help you achieve or maintain a healthy weight.

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If you liked this video/article, do share it with your friends and loved ones. Subscribe to the Youtube channel for weekly tips on new tools and techniques to improve your health and well-being.

I believe in the original meaning of the word doctor, ‘docere’, which means teacher. I’m here to help educate you on how to take care of yourself in ways that you may not have heard of before, but that are effective. I always want to hear your ideas and feedback so be sure to leave me comments below!

 

 

 

Did you know that estimates from a recent study from Harvard University show that nearly 950 million people worldwide struggle with high blood pressure and the negative consequences that come along with it? The number varies from country to country but in America, it’s somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of the population. In some countries, as much as 50% of the population struggles with high blood pressure. If you’re one of those individuals, you might want to try doing this exercise consistently to help manage your blood pressure.

The Benefits of Breathing Exercises on Blood Pressure

The parasympathetic nervous system is controlled by something called the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve basically controls everything from the neck down. It controls most of the processes that we don’t have to think about. It controls heartbeat, heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and digestion. Having more control of your vagus nerve can help you take more control over reducing your blood pressure, anxiety, asthma symptoms etc. Deep breathing exercises are actually one way of doing this.

Deep breathing exercises can actually help you take hold of your vagus nerve and help with issues like high blood pressure, asthma, anxiety, diabetes, stress, and help improve your overall health and wellbeing.

A study done at the Julliard School of Music showed that musicians who implemented deep breathing exercises for 10-15 minutes a day had reduced stress and sympathetic nervous activity than another group who didn’t practice deep breathing exercises. They had lower blood pressure, incidences of asthma, and reduced abdominal pains and anxiety. They were also more calm, confident, and generally performed better. The musicians who practiced deep breathing exercises had more hold over their vagus nerve than those who did not.

Another research study done on a group of Zen practitioners showed that there were changes in blood pressure, heart rate, asthma, abdominal pain, proinflammatory cytokines and chemicals throughout the body and mental focus for 24 hours after just a 10 – 15 minute episode of deep breathing exercises. And when they continued this every day for a week, two weeks, a month, and two months, those effects compounded. They showed that the effects lasted not for just 24 hours, but 36 to 72 hours. Additionally, blood pressure, heart rate, asthma symptoms, abdominal pain, and proinflammatory cytokines all improved.

There are three important muscle groups that control respiration:

1. Diaphragm: This is a big important muscle that is domed underneath the rib cage. Most of us do not utilize this muscle.
2. Intercostal muscles: These are small muscles between the ribs. Some of us use these muscles.
3. Scalene muscles: Most of us only use this third group of muscles which basically lifts the rib cage up to the head and neck area.

If you exercise the diaphragm through deep breathing exercises and then expand the chest out using those intercostal muscles and then rise the chest up towards the neck and the head, you can strengthen those muscles so that unconsciously when you’re not thinking about it, they’re stronger and bringing in more breath for you with every inhale.

10 and 8 Breathing Technique

If you’re thinking about trying some deep breathing techniques, here’s an easy one to get you started. All you need to do is practice this for 10-15 minutes a day to grab hold of that unconscious vagus nerve effect.

1. Inhale for about 10 seconds.
2. Hold for 1-2 seconds.
3. Then, slowly exhale for 8 seconds.

If you are one of those individuals that struggles with high blood pressure, implementing this breathing exercise every day can make a significant impact in your blood pressure. You don’t have to spend money at a gym to do this and all you need is 10 to 15 minutes a day. It just needs to be done and performed consistently, and it can make significant reductions to your blood pressure and help with a number of other health conditions. We’ve also developed a supplement called BP Zone, which can also reduce significantly your blood pressure.

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If you liked this video/article, do share it with your friends and loved ones. Subscribe to the Youtube channel for weekly tips on new tools and techniques to improve your health and well-being.

I believe in the original meaning of the word doctor, ‘docere‘, which means teacher. I’m here to help educate you on how to take care of yourself in ways that you may not have heard of before, but that are effective. I always want to hear your ideas and feedback so be sure to leave me comments below!

You have so much power to reduce your risk factors and prevent the progression, if not reverse the risk factors for the number one killer in the United States — heart disease. We’ll be reviewing researched nutritional strategies to help you achieve those goals. Small choices that you can make can really change the trajectory of your risk factors, and how you live a happier, healthier life.

Statistics about Heart Disease

Let’s review some statistics — scary statistics. It’s estimated that 17,900,000 people die every year from cardiovascular disease, and that accounts for nearly a third of all deaths. Unfortunately, over 75% of these deaths from cardiovascular disease occur in low or middle income households. 1,100,000,000 people in the world have high blood pressure and hypertension, and only less than one in five have it under control. In the US alone, approximately 85,000,000 people suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease causing about 2200 deaths a day, averaging one death every 40 seconds. Almost one out of every three deaths results from cardiovascular disease.

Not to mention the economical price. Direct and indirect costs of cardiovascular disease and stroke are estimated to be at $320,000,000,000 a year, and this figure is only increasing. One study showed that 98% of seven to 12 year olds showed at least one major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and 54% showed three or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Another study on people enrolled or enlisted in the army showed that between the ages of 18 and 23, they were already showing signs of atherosclerosis.

So this is a disease that starts in your youth, but you have the power to really change your risk factors and prevent the development of cardiovascular disease.

Common Risk Factors of Heart Disease

Let’s look at some common risk factors and how to address them nutritionally.

1. High cholesterol

We all know high cholesterol is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Studies show that eating breakfast can improve cholesterol, as well as eating smaller, more frequent meals. Eggs do not seem to be a problem, actually up to 28 eggs per week showed no increase in the body’s production of cholesterol. You should be eating foods that are high in omega and seven fatty acids, nuts and seeds, garlic, high-fiber foods, beans and legumes, and rice bran oil. It’s important to avoid foods that are high in sucrose and fructose, and limiting your alcohol intake.

It’s no wonder vegetarians and vegans have a lower risk factor of cardiovascular disease with a diet high in fruits and vegetables.

2. Homocysteine and C-reactive protein

These are both independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease or heart disease. Homocysteine can be improved by eating fruits and vegetables, avoiding coffee, and eating foods that are high in essential fatty acids.

A Mediterranean-type diet has been shown to reduce C reactive protein. In addition, high fiber intake, limiting alcohol, limiting food allergies and barbecue or charred foods, all helps reduce C-reactive protein.

3. Platelet aggregation

Platelet aggregation is also an independent risk factor for heart disease. Avoid foods in high sucrose and eat a low fat, whole foods diet, limiting sodium or salt intake.

Once again, the Mediterranean-type of diet could help here. Tomatoes, and the allium family (garlic, onions, leeks), a glass or two of red wine, dark chocolate, grape juice, green tea, essential fatty acids, and culinary herbs like ginger, rosemary, thyme, and oregano, have been shown to help with platelet aggregation.

4. Lipoprotein A

Another risk factor for heart disease, we can improve Lipoprotein A levels by avoiding trans-fats, unfiltered coffee, incorporating red wine and grapes, eating a diet that’s rich in vitamin C foods and essential fatty acids.

5. Fibrinogen

Fibrinogen is also an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Eating a diet high in fiber, and reducing intake of senior saturated or trans-fatty and refined carbohydrates is important. Your diet should include more of the allium family of vegetables, cayenne, apple cider vinegar, vitamins C, E, and B, and enzymes like Nattokinase or Bromelain foods that are high in zinc.

6. High blood pressure

High blood pressure is an absolute contributing factor to cardiovascular disease. You need to avoid heavy metals like lead and cadmium, which have been shown to have a relationship with the development of hypertension. To help this, reduce sodium intake, processed foods that are typically high in salt, and avoid sucrose and fructose. Stick to a diet high in fruits and vegetables.

Are you seeing a pattern here yet?

The Best Diet to Prevent Heart Disease

It is recommended to follow a vegetarian diet, and have nine servings of five colors every single day. Include water-soluble fibers such as pectin and oats and rice bran, vegetable proteins, beans and legumes. These foods happen to also be rich in sources of magnesium and potassium, which helps to prevent heart disease. The allium family, garlic, leeks, onions and culinary herbs and spices, can be used to flavor your food but also use them to live a longer life.

Avoid sucrose and fructose, refined carbohydrates, fast foods, fried foods, chard foods, highly-processed foods that are high in sodium and salt, a diet that’s rich in essential fatty acids. Cold water, fish, nuts and seeds, avocado, olives and grass-fed free range meats such as beef or chicken or eggs. Obviously, avoid smoking. The intake of coffee in moderation seems to be protective as long as that coffee is filtered, so unfiltered coffee actually increases cholesterol and triglycerides which contributes to heart disease. Alcohol really needs to be taken in moderation. If you drink nothing, your risk factors go down. If you drink too much, your risk factors go way up. But if you drink in moderation, say between one and three glasses of particularly red wine rich in flavonoids, you may actually reduce your risk factors for heart disease.

We have created other videos on high blood pressure, so do go check those out. We’ve created a couple of supplements, one for blood pressure called BP Zone, and one that’s rich in omega 3-7-9 fatty acids, it’s called Omega 3-7-9 + Krill. Give them a try and supplement with these nutritional strategies so you can prevent the progression of heart disease.

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Find out which heart health mistakes you’re making, and how to spot heart attack symptoms before it’s too late.

If you liked this video/article and found it useful, do share it with your friends and loved ones. Subscribe to the Youtube channel for weekly tips on new tools and techniques to improve your health and well-being.

I believe in the original meaning of the word doctor, ‘docere’, which means teacher. I’m here to help educate you on how to take care of yourself in ways that you may not have heard of before, but that are effective. I always want to hear your ideas and feedback so be sure to leave me comments below!