Stress - A Modern Cause of Disease

Every day we are faced with a situation where our health is assaulted on all sides. There is not just one cause of disease. People get sick because of a number of converging changes. In Australia, according to government research, 50% of people aged 50 and over are considered to have some form of disability. 20% of children reported symptoms of Asthma to their Medical Practitioner in the past year, 30% of Australians over the age of 25 are at risk of Diabetes. Today we are faced with many enemies that simply didn't exist all those years ago.

Medical Science admits that they have no real answers to degenerative autoimmune diseases. They offer drugs to slow down the process while each of these has nasty side effects which can sometimes cause more problems than they solve. We have the twin problems of people having lesser quality of life from a younger age and living longer.

There are many forms of stress we face today that didnā??t exist years ago and this stress is now acknowledged as a major factor in the rise of disease.

Sources of Stress

When it comes down to it, anything that places stress on our bodies will cause us to age prematurely and lead us down the path towards disease and eventually death. We believe that we can maintain a high quality of life and extend our lives by many years by understanding stress and taking action to reduce stress.

Green Harvesting

The practice of picking fruits and vegetables before they are ripe is commonplace in Western Society. Even most organic fruits and vegetables are transported green to market. Most of us have the experience of purchasing a green banana which never ripened. This was because the store forgot to give it "ripening gas"! All this is done in the name of convenience. Lack of vital nutrients caused by this process increases stress. We need the phytonutrients so our body can cope with the other stress factors.

Soil Depletion

Did you know that there was a time when the land was left to regenerate occasionally so that mineral levels would replenish! In the Feudal days they practiced crop rotation and leaving the fields "fallow" or uncultivated every third year. Modern farming practices have solved that problem. With the use of chemical fertilizers, we are now able to reap the same crops from a field year after year. This causes even less nutrition in our food. Studies show the modern potato has lost 100% of Vitamin A and 57% of Vitamin C compared to its sister in 1950. There is very real stress added by the lack of nutrients in our soil.

Toxins and Pollutants

There are 75,000 new chemicals in existence today that weren't around in 1950. These represent an odorless, colorless, and place stress on our bodies. Only 3% of these have been tested in humans and hardly any studies have been done on the effects of combinations of these nasty substances. Our bodies were simply not designed to handle the stress caused by these. Testing shows that everyone has some of every chemical in use today in their bodies. Everyone suffers from this stress. The most toxic part of your environment is carpet in your home. Inside our homes is generally 5- 10 times the toxicity of the exterior areas.

Poor Diets

This is well publicised. The proportion of junk or highly processed food in our diets is rapidly increasing. Additional stress occurs from digesting these nutrient deficient foods. Pace of life is such that many do not prepare meals any more. It causes too much stress! When you add this to processed foods in your supermarket, you will understand why obesity is becoming a major concern for governments. Unfortunately, the Supermarket chains are a powerful lobby group, so expect a lot of rhetoric, and little enforcement from our governments. They will offer advice, but leave it up to us to decide. Like it or not, our supermarkets are mausoleums where food lies in state!

Home and Work Stress

This is stress everyone will understand. Let's face it, with all the modern devices, etc, life is getting faster by the minute. If you have children you will know this. There is uncertainty in the job market and 95% of people are looking at a reduced lifestyle when they eventually retire. Talk about stress!! Work and home life are more demanding and this places a strain on our bodies. Every time we experience stress, vital minerals and nutrients are taken from our bodies. Unless we replace these, we will get sick.

What to Do About It!

Stress is a modern fact of life. The various forms of stress speed up degeneration of the body. Replacing missing vital nutrients including essential glyconutrients and antioxidants helps us neutralise stress. We can deal with modern stress. It requires action to replenish what is taken from us. At healthyaussie we offer solutions.

John Gaydon has been interested in nutrition and natural health for over 20 years. He worked as Technical Manager for a division of Australia's largest Pharmaceutical company and has personally witnessed transformation to health in the lives of many people.