The Dr. Lam Show
The Dr. Lam Show
Understanding Your Body's Stress Reaction to Food & Effective Coping Strategies
Are you feeling unusually tense during meals? It might not just be your day-to-day stress; it could be your body reacting to the additional stress it has while you're eating. Discover the surprising ways simple things like eating food can trigger the stress responses and learn practical strategies to manage these reactions. Tune in to our latest video, where we dive into your stress levels, and arm yourself with knowledge and tools to create a more serene mealtime experience. Don't let food be a source of anxiety any longe - let's explore how to eat your way to calm together!
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Our body's ability to modulate and sustain us on a day to day basis requires energy. In fact, it is the number one concern from the body perspective. So the body has three organ systems, plus two auxiliary systems that governs this. It's not one, it's not three it's five. So the first one is thyroid, the thyroid is the basic metabolic rate. It's like the idling speed of the car, even when you're sleeping your body's burning energy. So the thyroid is responsible for maintaining that. Number two, you have the pancreas. Once you eat the food, which is like the gasoline for your car, the insulin kicks into action to move the sugar from the digestion of your carbohydrate into the cell. So it can go through the mitochondria for production of ATP. So we're dependent on this on the instance. So if you imagine you have a package from the post office, the package comes in, it's the food, which is the sugar, the insulin is really the messenger or the postal worker, that brings the sugar into the cells and into the liver. And once in the liver, the excess amount is put in the liver, after it's burned off in the cell. So you have a warehouse, the warehouses deliver. In the case of a car, it's like the engine of the car, you know, the gasoline goes through the gas pedal, which is the insulin, and it is delivered to the engine. And the engine is where the excessive amount is stored in the form of glycogen as well as a triglyceride. So, the liver controls how much reserve that you have. So we talked about the thyroid as the idling speed of the car, we talked about the insulin being like the gasoline pedal. And then we talked about the liver being like the engine, or in the case of the warehouse, the package is the sugar, and the insulin is the messenger and the warehouse is the liver. So once you continue to fill this up, then the body will regulate if there's too much in the liver, the liver will spill it out back into the bloodstream. If you use too much sugar because you're exercising or you're using too much in your brain power when you study or work, then the body will release more sugar from the peripheral tissues as well as from the liver and convert it back into the bloodstream, bring it back to the bloodstream to convert into sugar for your use. And if you are between meals, for a long time, the body will break down fat, which is in the liver as well as your peripheral tissue into ketones, where you can cross the blood brain barrier into your brain so that you can continue thinking and doing your work in the mental basis. Okay, so those are the three main things, the thyroid, the insulin, and the liver. Now, the body is very smart. There's two more mechanisms. One is called cortisol, which happens when you're under stress. Now when you eat something, that as far as the body's concerned, it is a stressful event. So the brain signals the adrenal glands to release cortisol and cortisol will lead to increase in blood sugar as well by helping the glycogen to break down. Why because the body wants to make sure that you have enough energy during the meal as well as between especially between meals. So the if your lacking in sugar, the cortisol will go up or if you under severe stress like you're under attack, then the cortisol will go up the glycogen will convert into sugar so it can be sent to your brain and sent to your muscle for you to run away from danger. Lastly, there is a kind of a what we call a turbo charge button that the body has as the last fight or flight response, which is to stimulate adrenaline. So if you're under stress or eat a meal that's very high in carbohydrates. For example, you know the body all of a sudden is has a need for high sugar or is flooded with sugar from the carbs. So therefore the body release adrenaline and adrenaline will also in turn, lead to insulin regulation and lead to glycogen breakdown as well. So when the body is under stress, insulin goes up. Because not only from the sugar that you were to eat, in many people when they under stress, the first thing they do is look for a doughnut. Why is because their body is sending a signal that they need blood sugar, but in addition, the body has an intrinsic built in mechanism of releasing adrenaline, as well as cortisol adrenaline from the adrenal gland. as well the center pop into the body and increase blood sugar, but this of course, the side effects okay? You know, the adrenaline will cause insomnia, heart palpitations, POTS, PVCs, ADD increase in blood pressure, and cortisol will lead to sugar increase insomnia, salt craving, central obesity, for example, the body has these three organ systems, the pancreas, the thyroid, and the liver to regulate on a day to day basis. It also has the reserve system of cortisol to make sure that there's enough sugar in the system and in case of emergency and acute stress, adrenaline so the bodies in his infinite wisdom has these five mechanisms, not one, not two, not three, but four and five, and you have to respect the body's ability to regulate because it's so important. Without energy, we are not alive. So it's that simple. So the body's miraculous design is perfect is concoction, so to say. And each organ has a different set point. And so not all systems are driven all at the same time, but you only need one, then the body will just use one, the body will decide. And if you pay attention, you regulate your cortisol, regulate your adrenaline reduced by reducing stress, for example, you support your adrenal functions with good nutrition such as the vitamin C's, etc. And you balance your carbohydrate intake. So your insulin is not overbearing and your liver doesn't have to work so hard and get jammed, then you're going to be a happy camper metabolically, your weight is going to be perfect. You're not gonna have excessive amount of deposit not only outside your organs, but also inside the organs. And your blood sugar will be perfect your lipid metabolism and your lipid numbers will be great and you are a happy camper, you're going to be able to process energy. When you eat the food, you're going to be able to store it when it's necessary, and your body will automatically break it down for energy and you don't feel any badness. And this is what happens to you when you are young. It's just that if you don't pay attention, you continue to wear down your body and you're gonna have adult onset diabetes, you're gonna have fatty liver, you're gonna have a food coma, if the insulin is overly produced, you're gonna have heart palpitations, you're gonna have fatigue. So all these things have central problems. The central problem is energy regulation imbalance. We call these five things the bio energetic circuit, within the neuro endo metabolic approach to internal medicine and stress. So I'm just going to give you these things here. So you appreciate how amazing the body is in really fine tuning and you don't have to do anything it's automatic. So just try not to kind of take it for granted. And do take care of it and you'll be a happy camper. Okay.