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November 15, 2021November 28, 2022

5 Strategies For Stress Eating

Stress eating occurs when we eat in response to a stress signal instead of a hunger signal. It is reaching for food to calm our nerves, soothe our sadness, chase away boredom or buffer against other emotions we are uncomfortable with.

When we stress eat we are usually reaching for sugary and/or salty foods. It’s often food we eat with our hands. Hand to mouth eating frequently occurs without much awareness or mindfulness.

Tips to Help Decrease Stress Eating:

1) Being Body Aware – This means getting in touch with your body. Get back into your body, get grounded, get centered. Are you truly hungry? Pay attention to what sensations are going on in your body. Has your heart rate increased? Do you have butterflies in your stomach? Are you feeling fragmented and disassociated in your body? Feeling out of sync between body and mind?

You can bring yourself back to center by concentrating on your breath. Put one hand on your chest and one on your belly and breathe in deeply. Is the breath going to the upper chest area or the belly? You want the breath to go into the low belly. By doing this you engage the parasympathetic system (aka rest and digest) and reduce the sympathetic system (aka fight or flight).

2) Exercise your emotional muscle – Emotions are energy in motion. Don’t be afraid to show your emotions. We need to let emotions flow and we need to express them. When we don’t do this we “eat our emotions” with food. Emotional eaters tend to eat foods that are nutrient poor (junk food) instead of nutrient rich (veggies, fruits, healthy fats, lean proteins).

Keep a check on your feelings. One way to do this is to check in with family and friends. Be real about your emotions as this allows others to feel comfortable to open up with you as well. Journaling is also a great tool for expressing your emotions.

3) Developing alternatives – Rather than engaging in stress eating come up with alternatives. Make a list of 5 things that you can do instead of eat when you are not really hungry but are craving food due to emotions. Some ideas: call a friend, physical movement, journaling, nap, read a good book, organize a drawer in your kitchen or bathroom.

4) Having healthy foods available – If you can’t fight the urge to eat, make the best choices with the cravings you have. Ideas: avocado for someone who craves fat, fruit for someone that craves sugar, cacao powder in water for someone who craves chocolate, olives for someone who craves salt.

5) Fueling your body with real food – Be sure you are getting lots of nutrients so you are not vulnerable to the effects of stress. Food modulates our mood and if we stick with whole unprocessed foods our mood will be better and we won’t feel as stressed.

Your Partner In Health!
Sara Yadlowsky, FMHC

November 15, 2021November 28, 2022

A NEW take on an OLD favorite: a COLD soup for those last HOT days of summer!

Like so many of us with food sensitivities or allergies, the necessity of creativity in the kitchen has now become a joy. That said, I do not relish hours of prep time in the kitchen. This new version of my old favorite gazpacho, has replaced the tomato I can no longer eat with cucumber! It is gluten, dairy, nightshade free, full of nutrients, yummy and so easy, done in 15 minutes in the blender.

Cucumber Gazpacho: serves 4
2 cucumbers (unwaxed/organic if possible to be able to use the peels; if waxed, peel first)
2 T shallots (or onion if you don’t have shallots)
2 small garlic cloves
1 cup cilantro leaves
4 T lime juice
2 cups coconut unsweetened yogurt
½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black or white ground pepper
2 t coriander ground
2 T olive oil

1 handful arugula or baby kale or baby spinach

For garnish consider:
Lime zest (my favorite)
Diced avocado
Poached shrimp drizzled with lime, olive oil

Directions:

Put all ingredients in blender.
Chill in fridge.
Make sure it is REALLY cold so best to make ahead of time.
Enjoy!

Your Partner in Health!
Frances Meredith, MD

November 14, 2021November 15, 2021

Dry Needling with Dr. Kari Smith, PT, DPT

At Carolina Total Wellness we understand that our services and support are sometimes only part of the solution in optimizing our patients’ health. We have worked over the years with various medical providers in our community to establish a base of high-quality clinicians who are able to meet the various health needs of our patients. This is the first in a series of guest blogs from one of our community providers. Dr. Kari Smith, PT, DPT, describes one of her approaches to treating pain – dry needling.

What is dry needling?
Dry Needling is a soft tissue manual therapy technique performed by a certified clinician with a professional degree in the medical field. The clinician safely guides a sterile monofilament needle into dysfunctional muscle tissue to aid in pain reduction and restoration of proper movement patterns. This technique involves identifying and treating a muscle trigger point (a collection of muscle fibers that lack healthy blood supply, have a higher resting electrical state and contain pain-generating chemicals). Left untreated, muscle trigger points can lead to altered joint movement, as well as increased stress on surrounding soft tissue.

A clinician may also use dry needling with electric stimulation to release overactive primary muscles, or to wake up dormant stabilizing muscles by improving their neural response. Primary muscle groups are comprised mostly of fast-twitch muscle fibers, so they fatigue quickly and require de-activation to recover. Stabilizing muscles contain more slow-twitch fibers and can withstand longer bouts of activation. Our bodies experience pain or movement dysfunction when the stabilizing muscles are inactive, and the larger muscle groups work over-time. Through dry needling with electric stimulation, the clinician activates these stabilizing muscles so that stress is taken off primary muscle groups, allowing these larger muscle groups to function optimally, but also have time for recovery.

Does it hurt?
The needles are much smaller than ones used for an injection, so often patients do not feel the insertion of the needle in the skin. There is also nothing injected (as the needle is solid), so patients do not experience the burning sensation that is commonly felt when a fluid is injected into the body. The most common sensation is a light cramping when the needle activates a deep twitch response in the trigger point. This is an effective response that is documented in the literature that indicates that the trigger point has been released and immediate changes in muscle length are observed. Some patients feel soreness after the treatment, similar to muscle fatigue after a strenuous workout. Your therapist will be in constant communication with you throughout the procedure to alter or cease treatment as needed.

How will I know the treatment is effective?
Your therapist will perform a series of pre-treatment tests to determine areas of pain, movement dysfunction, or loss in strength. Following treatment, these areas will be re-assessed for improvement, and often there are immediate results. Your therapist will then recommend corrective exercises to maintain the gains made during the manual therapy session.

If you are suffering from pain and feel that dry needling may be of benefit to you, feel free to discuss this with your functional medicine physician at Carolina Total Wellness or contact Dr. Smith at Prevail physical therapy.

Dr. Kari Smith, PT, DPT
Founder, Owner, Physical Therapist, Prevail
p 919-482-9648 | f 919-589-4839
kari@prevailphysio.com www.prevailphysio.com
100 Keybridge Dr., Morrisville, NC 27560

November 14, 2021November 14, 2021

Supplement “TAKEOUT” Option

By: Ashley Beurer, Office Manager

In person supplement pick up includes a 10% discount on all supplements ordered. If you prefer shipping, we will continue to provide free direct shipping for online orders.

• Place your order for supplements through the “Online Store” on the home page of your patient portal.
• At check out, use the promo code TAKEOUT, Click APPLY and then complete your payment
• If you use the TAKEOUT promo code, we will NOT ship your supplements. We will ready them for office pick up.
• Supplements must be ordered by 5 pm the day BEFORE you would like to pick up. The order will be ready by 9 am the next day and you may pick up anytime Monday -Thursday from 9 am to 5 pm or Friday from 9 am to 12 pm.
• Please do NOT call the practice to place your order on the phone or request via messages.
• When you come to the office to pick up your supplements, they will be ready for you by the front office door on our pick-up shelf.

Please contact our office for an appointment to further support and personalize your path to wellness.

Your Partner In Health!

Ashley Beurer, Office Manager

November 14, 2021

Health Benefits of Napping

By: Susan D. Denny, M.D., MPH

With the hectic pace of day-to-day life, many people don’t get the recommended amount of sleep each night. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults typically need between seven and nine hours of sleep per night in order to function at their best. Getting a few less hours for even a few nights in a row can have the same effect as staying awake for 24 hours straight. And, over time, chronic sleep debt can contribute to fatigue, increased stress levels, reduced attention span, and declined cognitive performance.

One way to combat the effects of sleep deprivation—and repay some sleep debt—is to incorporate daytime napping into your schedule. The length of the nap and type of sleep you get during that nap help determine its potential health benefits. The table below identifies these benefits.

Nap Duration and Potential Health Benefits

10-20 minutes:
Reduces sleepiness; improves cognitive performance; increases alertness, attention, and energy levels; improves mood; improves motor performance; reduces stress levels

20-30 minutes:
Enhances creativity; sharpens memory

30-60 minutes:
Sharpens decision-making skills, including memorization and recall; improves memory preservation

60-90 minutes:
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is critical for problem solving; helps make new connections in the brain; enhances creativity; reduces negative reactivity; promotes happiness

The following is a list of tips and tricks to help you make the most of naptime:

Choose a dark, quiet, comfortable place where you can relax.
Try to limit the amount of noise and light in the room, and make sure the temperature is comfortable.
Choose a time that works for you, and aim to nap at that time each day to establish a routine. You may find that restricting your naps to early afternoon (between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm, or an hour or two after lunch) is less likely to interfere with your nighttime sleep patterns.
Set an alarm on your cell phone, watch, or computer so you don’t sleep for too long.
If you’re napping at the office, try closing your door and hanging a sign that says, “will return in 20 minutes.” Alternatives to this are napping in your car or on an outdoor bench.
Wherever you nap, bring along something that you associate with sleep. Some ideas include a sleep mask, neck pillow, relaxing playlist and headphones, cozy blanket, warm socks, and lavender essential oil to dab on your pulse points.
Keep in mind that longer naps may be accompanied by sleep inertia, or a period of grogginess that sometimes follows sleep. Give yourself time to wake fully before returning to any activity that requires a quick or sharp response.

Your Partner In Health!
Susan D. Denny, MD, MPH

August 29, 2021August 29, 2021

Five Tips to Get Back on Track with Exercise

August 29, 2021November 28, 2022

Gluten in Medication

“What? There’s gluten in my Advil?”

Those with food sensitivities are always on the lookout to avoid exposure to foods we know cause trouble for us. As someone with food sensitivities myself, I was horrified to discover that a migraine medication I was taking contained food proteins to which I knew I was sensitive. How could that be?

Medications, both over the counter (OTC) and prescription, need to have “fillers” to hold the tablets together. These often come from corn or potato starch, but can also have ingredients that contain gluten or soy as well.

Most prescription medications now are gluten free though not all are certified as such by the manufacturer. Several blood pressure medications contain gluten. Gluten containing OTC medications include Advil Liquid Gel and Advil Liquigel Migraine Caps.
“Red flag” Ingredients in medications that can have gluten hidden within include:- modified starch, pregelatinized starch (can be derived from potato, corn, tapioca or wheat)
-dextrate and dextrin (can be derived from potato, corn, tapioca, or wheat)
– dextrimaltose (may be derived from barley malt)
-Maltodextrin (may be derived from potato, corn, tapioca, or wheat)
– sodium starch glycolate (usually derived from potato, but may come from corn, tapioca, or wheat)
-caramel coloring (when barley malt is used).
-All of above are suspect if the source is not specified

Now, let’s talk more about “inactive” ingredients. Ingredients such as corn starch or potato starch may be labelled as “inactive”, however, for some of us they can certainly trigger some very “active” immune responses.

Corn starch is a frequent filler in many OTC meds as well as prescription meds. These include multiple forms of Advil, blood pressure medications such as amlodipine, birth control pills, cholesterol medicines, such as atorvastatin, and common antibiotics such as azithromycin.

Other inactive ingredients may be important, causing immune reactions in some people. For this reason, I always advise choosing the cleanest version of a medication possible when needed. An example of this is the difference between NP Thyroid and Armour. Armour contains inactive ingredients which may be reactive for some, including sodium starch glycolate (gluten free), a food coloring, and microcrystalline cellulose. NP Thyroid contains maltodextrin (gluten free), mineral oil, calcium stearate, and dextrose monohydrate as inactive ingredients. These tend to provoke fewer immune reactions.

Often the “inactive” ingredients are not evident on the label. For over the counter medications you will need to peel back the label and look underneath. If there is no information on ingredient sources, call the 1-800 number on the label to be certain.

A most helpful resource is www.glutenfreedrugs.com On this website, kept up to date by a pharmacist, you can look up most drugs to find whether gluten, potato, corn, or soy are within. Another helpful resource is www.beyondceliac.org .

Your most valuable resource is your pharmacist. Speak to them personally to get them on your team, letting them know your particular food sensitivities. They will add this to your profile and double check any medication to make sure it is absent of your food triggers. They can also be helpful checking ingredients on any over the counter product you might consider using. Though they cannot do this on the spot, they can research the ingredients and get back to you. My pharmacist at Publix has been an immense help to me. I am so grateful to have her on my “team”.

Your Partner in Health!
Frances Meredith, MD

August 29, 2021August 29, 2021