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Are You a Stress Eater?

The key to losing weight and keeping it off is supposed to be very simple. I am sure you have already heard this strategy, “eat less and move more;” sounds pretty logical.

Well, if this plan were so simple, then why do so many people struggle with keeping the extra weight off? Why are the statistics regarding obesity and activity levels in the United States looking so dismal?

• 58 Million People Overweight
• 40 Million People Obese
• 3 Million Morbidly Obese
• 8 out of 10 over 25 years Overweight
• 78% of American’s not meeting basic activity level recommendations
• 25% are completely sedentary or couch potatoes
• 76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 yrs old since 1990

Taking in account these statistics and the obvious threat to our heath, one would think the advice, “eating less and moving more,” would be more successful. Yet, the statistics are getting worse every year.

The impact excess weight has on our health, confidence and well being is undeniable. I know first hand. I come from a family where everyone is one sandwich away from needing to call Jenny Craig. Really! Naturally, I grew interested in health and fitness at a young age. I began moving more by joining high school sports, which led into bodybuilding, power lifting, endurance training, and eventually I worked as a personal trainer and wellness consultant. I trained regularly, to keep the unwanted weight at bay. If I’d gained a few extra pounds, it was time to hit the pavement—sometimes, I even used the garbage bag and sweat pants trick. (What were we thinking in the eighties?) Regardless, I knew that if I didn’t stay on top of it, I was destined for the same outcome as my family genetics foretold.

However, even with all of that working out, I was still a little “fluffy” as one person put it. I remember it: at the gym one of the guys thought it would be funny to call me “Waters,” on account my body was always puffy and bloated. In my defense, a nice, young lady spoke up and said, “he’s just fluffy, that’s all.” I know she meant well, but she didn’t exactly do me any favors. Those meatheads had a good laugh at my expense.

To manage my proclivity for “fluffiness,” I tried many popular diets—The Zone, Adkins, Balance and The Carbohydrate Addicts Diet, all which focused on keeping the blood sugar balanced. When we eat high-calorie, low-nutrient foods, such as simple sugars and refined wheat products, the blood sugar spikes and the body releases excess insulin. This repetitive pattern is known as hyper-insulinemia (a medical reference for obesity).

Naturally, I changed the way I ate. I began eating low-insulin-promoting carbohydrates and a balanced diet. To their credit, much of the information from those food programs was right on. I saw positive results. For a while, I got my body to the point of what fitness fanatics worship as, “ripped” or “cut.”

But, that never lasted very long. As soon as the “you know what” hit the fan, I was back to some of my old eating habits.

I began to notice when my emotions peaked, no amount of will power could keep me from breaking my plan. Amazingly, it didn’t matter if the emotions were good or bad. If I was up, I celebrated with food—pizza to be exact. And, if I plummeted down, I celebrated with food—pizza to be exact. I began to realize that emotional stress was the culprit of my poor eating habits. Surely, blood sugar imbalance from high-insulin carbs and overeating played a role in the weight gain, but emotional stress was the underlying factor that spurred those eating habits in the first place. Like many, food made me feel better. Rather, I should say that food made me not feel at all.

After investigating deeper, I found it ironic that most of our eating habits started in the crib. As babies, when we cried, unless we had a high temperature, our parents were clueless to the source of the problem. Was it from hunger, sadness, pain or loneliness? How could they know? After all, as babies, we couldn’t exactly communicate the problem clearly to them. The cure-all solution was the good ole’ baba, usually filled with milk (which supplies galactose—milk sugar) or some sugar filled fruit juice. If you’re from the South like yours truly, it may have been super potent, sweet tea. Whoa! That stuff is so full of sugar you can put it on your pancakes in the morning. Once we’re old enough, the alternative cure-all is one of the infinite variations of wheat. Unknowingly, I learned at a young age that any emotional “ups and downs” were to be anesthetized with food.

Now, if that was all there was to it, we stress-eaters could will our way out of this mess. Right? But, that’s not all!

When we eat high sugar producing carbs, such as refined wheat products, a little known substance called “glucomorphine” kicks into action. The key word here is “morphine.” Glucomorphines are natural painkillers! They sedate pain and provide a buzz! So, if you have an eating history like mine, then you’ve too learned to anesthetize feelings with food. When we experience major mood swings, the body interprets that as pain. Then, we begin to crave high-sugar producing foods to get the buzz from the anesthetizing glucomorphines. Our reaction to avoid discomfort compounds; in turn we become extremely addicted to the glucomorphine rush. Similar to that of a heroine addict, though it’s not as destructive as sticking a needle in our arm, in time, unhealthy eating habits can lead to obesity, heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

Once I knew the real problem—I was a glucomorphine addict—I wanted to do everything I could to kick the habit. Lo and behold, as the old saying says, “if we look for something hard enough, we’ll find it.” And find it, I did. You could say I found the ancient Chinese Secret—or at least the “secret solution” for this problem.

At the time, I was in Chinese Medicine College, working my way through college as a personal trainer and wellness counselor. To maintain my heavy work and study loads, I began searching for something that could give me more energy, naturally. In the herbal clinic, I found that certain herbs, such as American Ginseng, Astragulas, Licorice, Eluethero Root, Lychii Fruit, and Poligonatum Multiflorum, would do just that. They are known as tonic herbs. According to Webster’s Dictionary, a tonic is “something that lifts the spirits or makes somebody feel better generally; a medicine that purports to make patients feel stronger, more energetic, and generally healthier.” That was exactly what I needed.

I began boiling these herbs into a thick, strong tasting brew. Whew! That stuff was bad. But, it worked! I felt incredible energy, without the super-weirdo effects of caffeine, and it didn’t disrupt my sleep. Before long, I noticed that I was losing weight too. In fact, I had to have all my pants taken in—twice. By the time I went in for a third alteration, my wardrobe was history. My body changed so dramatically, I had to get a totally new wardrobe.

At the time, however, I hadn’t put two and two together. I thought the weight loss resulted from my heavy workload. Until, I’d taught some of my clients how to make the brew. When I noticed the weight falling off of them, then I realized the herbs instigated the weight loss.

Needless to say, I began to read and study everything I could find regarding these herbs. It turned out that Russians popularized them in the west and called them adaptogenic herbs or simply adaptogens. The Russian scientists discovered their powerful influence after using them on their Olympic athletes—the athletes’ recovery time was miraculously minimized. Basically, the adaptogens helped them better “adapt” to the stress of training. Later in clinical trials, they found that adaptogens help the body cope with all kinds of stressors, be they mental, emotional, physical, or environmental; hence the name “adapt-ogen.”

Though, I began taking adaptogens for the energy boost, now, I knew why they gave me more energy. They nursed and restored the adrenal glands, the body’s primary mechanism for dealing with stress. After prolonged stress, my adrenals were exhausted, which inhibited my ability to deal with stress effectively. Therefore, I could not control my cravings when stress piled high. When I drank the brew, the adaptogens didn’t take the stress away, but rather enabled me to better cope with the roller coaster highs and lows of stress by restoring the adrenals. The herbs helped my biology get back to balance and in turn I felt better. I didn’t crave unhealthy carbs for their glucomorphine rush. The result, when I was up, I didn’t celebrate with pizza, and when I was down I didn’t anesthetize with chocolate. Surprisingly, I noticed that I had stopped eating late at night too. For me that was a huge change, because for years, I would eat some sugar producing food right before I went to bed to knock me out. But, not anymore—I was no longer a stress eater!

What does that mean?

For starters, for all of us stress eaters, this means less food in our pile holes, which, in turn, means less junk in our trunk! When supplementing with adaptogens, whatever diet or nutritional plan we are on, it is much easier to stay on it! When I put clients on this regimen, it was amazing to watch them lose anywhere from 10 – 20 pounds in as little as a month. All they did different was to add these potent herbs to their healthy lifestyle. Their stress cravings reduced to a bare minimum! Not to mention, their meal sizes greatly reduced—naturally. Several clients dropped all the way down to their high-school weight—myself included! For me, that was a 20-pound loss! I went from 175lbs to 155lbs in a few short months. And that was my exact weight when I played high school football almost 25 years ago!

Adaptogens truly work wonders.

Furthermore, they are known for a unique dual-directive function. This simply means that they neither inhibit, nor over stimulate the body’s functions. They have a normalizing effect on the body, which means they help to balance all of the body’s functions, including the blood sugar. Because of this, adaptogens can be taken for prolonged periods of time without causing any irregularities within the body. It’s just like eating powerful food.

For those of you interested in taking adaptogens for weight loss, here are some suggestions.

Some of the more common adaptogenic herbs are: Licorice Root, Ginseng, Eluethero Root (Siberian Ginseng), Cordyceps, Shitake Mushroom, Mataike Mushroom, Schisandra and Astragulas. All of these can be found in single herb formulas or multi-herb formulas. I prefer the multiple herbal formulas. When taking adaptogens, or any herbs for that matter, make sure the form can be easily assimilated and harnesses the power of the herbs. Many products today denature the herbs during the manufacturing process by turning the plants into pills. Ideally, herbs should be raw in powder, extract or concentrate forms! I suggest taking them in the form of an extract or powder. Take time to research the manufacturing process of the product’s suppliers. Lastly, remember these herbs are intended for general wellness supplementation—the benefits are wide spread, but if you have a specific ailment, consult your own integrative physician.

If you are interested in more information regarding adaptogens, and where to find the best adaptogenic supplement, visit http://www.shentrition.com.

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