Stress and the Change in Seasons: How Do I Get More Energy?

Have you noticed how hard you've been going lately?

It seems no matter what we're doing, we humans find a way to put the pedal to the metal and hit, "Go!"

From work demands, family responsibilities, to "What's for dinner?", there's always something pulling at us, demanding our attention.

Then Mother Nature comes along and does her seasonal thing.

In the Spring, flowers bloom and days get longer. In the Fall, the leaves change and die and days get shorter.

It's during these seasonal changes we hear this oft-asked question, "How can I get more energy?"

And you know what? That's a really hard question for us to answer! There are so many factors that can and do affect your energy levels.

We encourage you to first check with your doctor to rule out any medical condition. But for now, let's look at the two biggest challenges, weather and stress.

Does Weather Affect Your Stress Level?

It really is true. The weather affects not only your energy level but your mood! Just

ask anyone with seasonal allergies.

From sneezing, coughing, runny nose, and headaches, Spring and Fall allergies can greatly impact your energy and your frame of mind.

Shorter days in the winter mean less sunshine, which lowers your seratonin levels. Spring, on the other hand, means more sunshine and more daylight.

However, if you live in the Shenandoah Valley, you already know that even Spring can present challenges. People who have never had allergies often develop them!

That's why the weather not only affects your health, but in turn, it affects how you manage your everyday stresses.

How the Wear and Tear of Everyday Stress Affects Your Energy

Combine the natural rhythms of seasonal change with the unnatural stress of day to day living, and you can have a storm brewing.

When that happens, energy is the first to go. It's absolutely essential to make lifestyle changes to get you back on the road to good health.

Your body is telling you to get:

More sleep
Better nutrition
More play and less work time

What's more, chronic stress reduces immune function, which makes you more susceptible to illness.

A harried lifestyle, poor nutrition, and Mother Nature's changing seasons can all attribute to low energy.

We encourage you to re-evaluate your lifestyle and make the nutritional changes you need to support your body.

In addition, we carry Natural D-Hist to alleviate nasal and sinus congestion. It's formulated with a powerful combination of antioxidants, flavonoids, and proetolytic enzymes and botanicals.

Non-drowsy, Natural D-Hist works with your body!

Consider A Ketogenic Diet

Diet is an extremely important part of keeping and maintaining your energy, and managing stress. Relying on fast food, which is loaded with chemicals and devoid of nutrition, will rob you of your energy and your health!

Consider a ketogenic diet, a low carb, high fat diet. This type of diet uses your body's

fat as an energy source which causes insulin levels to drop.

Your body then becomes a fat burning machine. Clinically, the ketogenic diet has shown better results, including long term, than low fat, high carb diets.

Improved memory, focus, and energy are all benefits of a ketogenic diet.

To support a low carb high fat diet and a healthy lifestyle, we recommend and carry Dr. Mercola's MCT oil .

MCT, which stands for medium chain triglycerides, is a special kind of fat that gets its name from its chemical structure, as well as the length of its carbon molecules.

We like Dr. Mercola's MCT oil because it bypasses the digestive process, instead crossing the intestinal membrane directly to your liver. There it's used as a clean burning fuel, not just for your body but your brain, too!

There are many ways to include the tablespoon of MCT oil in your diet, including coffee, shakes, and salads.

As part of a healthy diet, include it for greater mental clarity, energy, and overall good health.

Adrenals and Stress

If you're experiencing chronic tiredness but your doctor can't find anything amiss, you may want to explore the possibility of adrenal fatigue.

There is no official diagnosis for this condition as it is hotly debated in the medical community as to its validity.

In the natural health world, we see it as a middle ground syndrome requiring a lifestyle style change. (Are you sensing a theme here?)

Some general symptoms of this modern day epidemic include:

Chronic fatigue
Brain fog
Hormone imbalance
Sleep disturbances
Decreased sex drive
Moodiness/irritability
Depression
Weight gain

Adrenal fatigue is a product of stress overload and poor nutrition.

And that can zap your energy!

The first order of the day is to begin swapping out processed foods for whole foods.

Packaged foods are loaded with chemicals and very little nutrition. Together, their ingredients don't offer the body the fuel it needs to thrive.

Secondly, if energy is an issue, most likely you crave caffeine and sugar. These two substances push your body to perform beyond its limits. Eliminating these stimulants will allow your body to rest and rebound.

Recovering from adrenal fatigue takes a concerted effort to bring about the return of robust health. Chief among those changes are the big two:

Diet
Lifestyle

Resting and exhausted body and replenishing it with good solid whole food is key. Once you begin to feed your body real food, you'll begin to see incremental changes in your health.

Dr. Wilson's Adrenal Fatigue Supplements

Because adrenal fatigue is a lengthy healing process, Jewell's Naturals carries Dr. Wilson's formulas to support the body back to wellness.

When adrenals are maxxed out, Dr. Wilson's adrenal fatigue formula supplements provide deep support to help you recover.

Combined with lifestyle and dietary changes, our clients have seen a remarkable improvement in their health.

Recovering Your Energy

Awareness is always the first step to recovering lost energy. And most importantly, it's a signal from your body that something needs to change.

Recognizing and accepting that you need to make a change in order to feel energetic and happy is the foundation that will allow you to move towards a healthier lifestyle.

It takes time to break old eating habits and to reconcile broken lifestyle patterns. But once you do, the life you live will be its own reward!