Explore the Fascinating Stress and Pain Connection and How to Break Free

Brian Strickland  00:06

Hi, everyone, welcome back to Nutrition Made Simple, a video series that we created that takes a look at natural health topics and then we break them down into easy to understand and actionable steps that anyone can take. And today, I'm joined again by Ed Jones. He's the founder and owner of Nutrition World. And for the month of June, we've actually been looking at pain or discomfort, stress, and kind of the connection between them. And that's actually what we want to talk about today. Now, I think if anyone has experienced chronic stress, you would probably be the first to admit that there's some connection between chronic stress and pain. And that's exactly what we want to talk about today. So to start off, we just want to kind of define what chronic stress is, and how Americans are typically doing that today. So Ed, if you could take that and kind of explain what that is, in just culturally how people are kind of dealing with that stress?

Ed Jones  01:02

Yes, Brian. And, you know, I like the fact that we're on a kind of a multi faceted approach to what most of our life consists of, which is probably a lot of not handling stress, the way in the best ways possible. And you know, chronic stress is really a consistent sense of feeling pressured and overwhelmed over extended periods of time. And I think a lot of our society has come to just feel that this ongoing pressure cooker that we live in is the norm. But it's not, it isn't meant we're not evolved to handle this kind of stress. And it is causing devastation on on health, family, life, energy, everything you can imagine comes from this improperly considering what the stress is doing. And of course, we have so many people using medications because they're trying to function. And you know, there's a place for functioning. But there's also a place for resolving and healing. And that's what we want to talk about.

Brian Strickland  02:08

One of the main indications of stress is actually something called cortisol. And cortisol is a hormone, correct? 

Ed Jones  02:16

That's correct. 

Brian Strickland  02:17

And when we're stressed, our cortisol levels actually increase. But I'm going to let Ed talk about kind of what the implications are. And what happens when our cortisol levels are raised.

Ed Jones  02:28

Well, we need cortisol. Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands. Without cortisol, we would have never been able to survive the 10s of 1000s of years in is earth because it prepares us for danger. That is the actual signal of cortisol. And, and that happens from the adrenal glands. And so if we are being chased by a tiger in the old jungles, or if we are getting a phone call from the bank, or a relative that is having an emergency, then we can jump to the solution or jump at least into the problem as quickly as possible. Cortisol actually decreases pain cortisol itself, but as it wanes, it increases pain, which we'll talk about, but it also lower serotonin levels, we don't really want that. It raises blood pressure. And it decreases immune system all for the purpose of survival, right? It's a really great thing for one hour. And it's a horrendously damaging molecule, when it's ongoing each and every day. And and I'm certainly living an example of that I have admitted being over zealous with work, and also even in the gym, and a lot of these things are creating some some imbalances in myself at times, I'd certainly hope I'm getting wiser with the years but sometimes wonder about that.

Brian Strickland  03:51

Right. So the implications of stress and pain is kind of interesting, because it's this vicious cycle that never really ends until it's addressed. If we're in chronic pain that causes chronic stress, and then vice versa, if chronic stress is present in that can actually cause chronic pain as well. So can you just explain a little bit about how that happens? What's happening biologically or inside that's causing those things?

Ed Jones  04:18

Well, again, as we talked about, cortisol is preparing us for battle. And we all know that no one can battle day and night for years and years without suffering. Now, one thing if you think about people you've known or yourself who's taken prednisone for a long time, you see sometimes the devastation of that drug with bone thinning. Skin does so fragile, moods that are that are very sensitive. Sometimes sleep issues, sometimes altering appetite. Well guess what cortisol is? It's your own body's pregnant zone. So you can see the devastation of ongoing continuously and the thing is a lot of chronic stress which in multiple is going to hurt us. The number one way is excess cortisol. But there's other mechanisms, it's going to affect sleep in most people. Anytime you reduce sleep, you are going to lower the resistance of the body, the power of the body, the life energy of the body, we're born with this life energy, my two year old grandson has buckets full of life energy as your as your five year old. And we know it tends to wane with the years and it doesn't have to wane as much as we have allowed it to. And so this, this managing of cortisol, which is again, we can go back to managing stress is vital, it also affects your digestive tract. And that's why there's this interconnection between so many functions in the body that traditional healthcare people actually don't really recognize. They think that we are similar to a Ford F 150 truck that has all these separate components. And if you have something wrong, and this little part, then you go to the specialist that fixes it, very rarely, is that the case, negate can be occasionally. But most of the time, it's a synergy between brain and gut and immune system and nutrient level and this and that, and that's where functional Holistic Health comes in. That's what I love talking about across the board. So again, the cortisol, if we don't address it, if we don't manage it, it will and can be devastating to our health, and our emotions in the long run. And even with managing our weight.

Brian Strickland  06:28

Okay, so for let's just try to do an example real quick for the person who's kind of having that chronic stress it, it's day in and day out, it never really goes away, what are some practical steps that they can take to lower those cortisol levels and kind of get back into balance?

Ed Jones  06:48

Well, Brian, and I think we all need, and I certainly do have certainly learned a lot about how hopefully to help other people's health by my own challenges, and creating what I consider a toolbox. We can't randomly keep grasping for fixes and cures, the American people, including me, have had a horrible track record of working through stress by distraction, distraction, meaning, overwork at work, because you don't want to think about it and watching TV too much over drinking, 

Brian Strickland  07:24

Playing video games.

Ed Jones  07:25

Absolutely. Video Game, social media, even socialize, anything to keep from looking inward. And I'm a big, big believer in an inward journey being a seeker. And one way to do that is journaling. And I have probably 500 pages of journaling over the past 15 years. And it was odd because last week, I actually which I rarely do look back about 10 years. And I'm wondering who is this person, and I feel proud of myself, because I obviously did learn a few things through life's lessons. But in journaling, you really have this almost companion you can use to help you become a wiser person, and putting things in better perspective through journaling. Secondly, is I'm a person who believes in working toward learning to be the witness to your story, rather than just the actor in your story. And I know that may sound odd to some people, but and you can do it through many methods. I mean, I use a lot of meditation, but people can do it through exercise and through solitude and soul searching and journaling. But understanding that  the movie of Edward is playing, and I'm watching it most of the time, but I didn't used to know that I used to think I was the movie. And I think that's a part of separating from being brutalized by the stress because when you see it, like you wouldn't be super stressed going to watch a really superhero movie, and you see all the action on the screen cuz you kind of have a place you know that you're not in that. And I think when I started changing the word problem to a word called situation. I have a situation at work that I have to get back to. Doesn't that sound more easier to handle and less aggressive than the word problem? Problem just incites cortisol the word itself does. And then lastly, the last few is exercise. Proper exercise is imperative. You know, they call sitting the new smoking because the devastation of our body and blood chemistry by being inactive is probably one of the worst things on earth is actually equal to probably smoking. And so even if it's modest exercise, but something almost every day. Now sometimes I will over exercise which can actually be detrimental to cortisol but most people are reasonable not like me. And then eating low inflammatory foods. Part of every condition is inflammation. That's why I believe in not eating processed foods and a lot of carbohydrates and eating healthy fats and healthy proteins as we always speak about and being very choosy of the drinks that you drink like the colas iand the juices, very inflammatory. And then, of course the last two one is bodywork. I'm a huge fan, of course here at Nutrition World we have 17 practitioners. And a lot of those are body work people, the regular massage, the regular acupuncture, therapies, Pilates, chiropractic, I mean, we have so many things. And we even have a personal gym, Maxx Fitness. Mackie has been with me 19 years, he does tremendous work for personal training. And then lastly is the brain balancing nutrients, you know, the body, the gut, the brain, they're all connected, as I spoke earlier, but omega three and B complex and ashwagandha, to me are the three big hitters that if you're really wanting to manage stress, ashwagandha omega three and B complex, if you do nothing else, get those three, because they're going to help lower cortisol and help you to get back to a place of harmony. And you know, when we live under stress continuously, we forget what that was like. I mean, some people may be on vacation, they get to feel it. That's a sad, sad way to live. And I've been chased by invisible ghosts, a lot of my life, and I'm hoping to, to be able to, and I am doing a pretty good job of managing that. But it's a management thing, you'll never kick them out the door, it's gonna be something that will be an ongoing intent that we have to create the intent to reposition ourselves with how we look at life.

Brian Strickland  11:27

Yeah, I mean, like with any other change, it takes some intention. And it's an intentional change that has to take place. And that can be done through various practices, like Ed mentioned, meditation, journaling, talk therapy, you know, whatever the case may be what's what's the best fit for you. We just really encourage you to explore those options. And on the supplement side, too, I mean, those three are actually pretty, I mean, they're fairly inexpensive supplements, but be picky if you're, especially if you're not purchasing from us because they are definitely not all created equal. With the ashwagandha, we actually just released a video yesterday at the time we're filming this, about that particular product and the KSM 66 is what you want to look for for the ashwagandha. And then with the omega threes, you're looking for EPA and DHA, which are the active ingredients in those and you want a fairly high dosage around 2000 milligrams. And then the Wii complex is such an easy one that can have such a dramatic effect. And that one's really inexpensive. It doesn't cost much at all. So, man, thanks, Ed, for sharing all of that. We hope this was helpful for you. If you have any questions, of course, please ask us reach out to us here on YouTube social media. Give us a call or visit us in store. We're always happy to help and answer any questions that you have. And we'll see you next time. Thanks for watching.

Ed Jones  12:51

Thank you.