Your body always strives for homeostasis and health but if we don’t give our bodies what they need, stress and strain will accumulate leading to health issues.  This can be in the form of pain, disfunction of organs, brain fog, insomnia, fatigue and a plethora of other symptoms.

Why do people get sick in the winter months or around holidays?

The answer is not the same for everyone but the common denominator is some type of stress.  
Different stress affects different people at different levels.  Chemical, emotional, physical stress happens all of the time. There are some times that our body can handle the stress we put ourselves through and other times when our body is weaker, we can not handle the loads put upon our body. 

The holidays normally bring people together but it can also be stressful.  Family dynamics that may not be favorable, traveling issues, foods that are not giving us what our body needs such as sugar, pesticides, alcohol.  We also probably are not on the same sleeping schedule we are used to. 

Stress affects our physiological pathways and immune system.

This is what happens when stress overloads our systems.

• Adrenaline and cortisol levels:
  These hormones are released from a gland on top of the kidney.  It does not matter if it is chemical, emotional or physical stress, the body will respond the same way. 

These hormones are set off to protect us.  But these hormones have been functioning for thousands of years and now with the new stresses we go through each day and now these hormones can linger in our blood stream.  This leads to inflammation and stress on the body.

Adrenaline: Increases heartbeat, blood pressure, glucose levels and decreases digestion.  If we need to run or get away from danger, we need energy in the form of glucose, our heartbeat increases to run or defend and we don’t need to digest food. 

Cortisol: Breaks down protein and fatty acids to produce glucose. This causes high amounts in the liver and drops your blood stream leading to insulin resistance. It also decreases white blood cells that help fight off infections. 

So what happens with continued stress?

It suppresses your immune system and does not allow our body to kill new microbes that attack our body.  Now our body has released so much cortisol it can not produce enough to fight antigens and we get sick. 

Chiropractic decreases stress accumulation and helps our immune system work better.  This is a natural way of allowing your body to function optimally during the holidays and in general. 

Along with chiropractic care there are several things you can do while you are away and unable to visit the office.

• Breathe:
  Taking deep breaths relaxes your body and allows your stress responses to relax (cortisol/adrenaline)
• Avoid sugar, bread and bad carbohydrates:
  This leads to blood sugar imbalance.
  When you eat or drink 100 grams/8tsp of sugar, it can decrease your white blood cell count by around 40%. After sugar consumption the affects start less than 40 minutes after consumption and can last around 5 hours. 
• Decrease stimulant ingestion:
  Caffeinated coffee, soda, energy drinks drain your adrenals.  Instead try and drink decaf coffee or have herbal teas
• Take Vitamins:
  Vitamin C is always recommended but we need all nutrients to keep our body strong, so I suggest a high quality multivitamin.  It will help with fighting germs and keep your immune strong. 
• Garlic:
  This can help fight microbes with its ingredient of Alicin.  It fights bad bacteria, viruses and parasites.
• Probiotics:
  The digestive tract is a large component of the immune system and needs to be strong in order to get rid of bacterial antigens like Lactobaccillus and Bifidobacterium. 
• Get enough sleep:
  We need around 7 hours of sleep to regenerate and heal.  If we are awake our hormones that should be shut off during sleep are working overtime leading to weakness and risk of illness.
• Drink enough water:
  Most of our body is liquid and our lymphatic system flushes out toxins.  Each day our lymphatic system flushes out around 100 ounces so we need to replenish fluids so we get toxins out of system.