Month: May 2014

There are three main sources of stress that negatively affect your health:

  1. Emotional Stress

  2. Poor Lifestyle Choices

  3. Chronic Pain and Inflammation (Known and Unknown)

If continued unchecked, emotional stress, poor lifestyle choices, and chronic pain have a cumulative effect, making you more susceptible to allergies, infections, inflammation, and toxicity. Chronic stress causes your adrenal glands, which are charged with producing hormones to help you adapt to stress, to “burn out,” leading to fatigue, depression, weight gain, sugar cravings, and hormone imbalance.

Below is a list of the top ten emotional stressors that contribute to adrenal exhaustion. How many have you experienced in the past year? Throughout your life?

  • Death of a loved one

  • Divorce or end of relationship

  • Relationship difficulties, frequent arguments

  • Change in residence

  • Overwork, or termination of employment

  • Pregnancy

  • Addition to family

  • Outstanding personal achievement (graduation, promotion)

  • Financial stress (mortgage, loans)

  • Personal injury or illness

Poor lifestyle choices also take a toll on your health. Do you engage in any of the below habits?

  • Frequent skipped meals

  • Regular consumption of refined sugar (processed foods, sweets, candy, sodas)

  • Need caffeine (coffee, colas) to get going

  • Too much or too little exercise

  • Poor sleep habits

Pain is the most obvious response from the body that something is out of balance. But you may also be experiencing chronic inflammation as a result of poor diet or undetected infection. When your adrenal glands have been functioning in overdrive for a period of time due to poor lifestyle habits or unchecked stress, other body systems begin to suffer as a result of the imbalance. Do you experience any the following symptoms?

  • Frequent colds, infections

  • Joint or muscle pain

  • Allergies

  • Digestive difficulties: constipation, diarrhea, bloating, indigestion

  • Chemical sensitivity

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you feel Fat, Fatigued, Depressed? Do you have a Hormone Imbalance (PMS, Hot Flashes, Infertility, Headaches) or Digestion Problems (IBS, GERD, Food Sensitivity, Constipation)?

What do these symptoms all have in common?

They can all be caused by chronic exposure to stress.  Over time, if you are exposed to high levels of stress your body will eventually break down in a predictable fashion, leading to an imbalance in Adrenal and Female Hormones.

The three main sources of stress that negatively affect your health are:

  1. Emotional Stress
  2. Dietary Stress
  3. Chronic Pain and Inflammation (Known and Unknown)

What’s the Solution?

 We custom-design individual health programs based on the results of lab tests that can easily be done in your home; most tests require stool, saliva, or urine samples. These health programs are based on lab tests that assess the function of three key body systems: Hormonal, Digestive and Detoxification.

Functional Medicine consultations are available at Costa Acupuncture with Michael Costa, L.Ac.   Consultations are conducted in person at our West LA clinic or over the phone for your convenience.

To get started on your individualized health program based on lab results, give us a call or e-mail us to set up a consultation.