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The Difference Between Stress, Worry, and Anxiety

“Stress, anxiety, and worry, all have their place in our world, but when they become chronic, they can cause serious health issues.”

Stress, anxiety and worry… oh my! As the numbers show, there’s a really good chance that you are experiencing some form of stress, worry, or anxiety on a regular basis — even if you aren’t feeling them right at this moment.

In today’s episode, Dr. Nancy Lin, PhD, will help us get a deeper understanding of the differences between worry, anxiety, and stress. She will also share a number of research-based tips that have been proven to effectively manage all three, including dietary and other nutritional solutions that can have a profound effect on how your body and mind deal with the anxiety, worry, and stress we face every day.

Video Highlights

01:37: A Stressed, Anxious, Worried Society
06:19: Stress, Anxiety, and Worry Are Not the Same Thing
09:00: Worry
19:01: Stress
30:10: Anxiety
39:23: Wrap-Up

A Stressed, Anxious, and Worried Society

We’ve become a stressed-out, anxious society, now more than ever, and no one is exempt: we’re all worried or stressed out about something – we might be stressed about work, or worried about our kids, or anxious about our health, especially with the rapidly developing coronavirus situation. The list goes on and on.

If you’re struggling with any of these issues, you are not alone. In fact, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, over 40 million Americans are currently suffering from some form of anxiety disorder, and over 75% of all Americans reported feeling seriously stressed in the last 30 days. Stress, anxiety, and worry, all have their place in our world, but when they become chronic, they can cause serious health issues — like heart disease, digestive issues, depression, obesity, and diabetes — unless they are managed appropriately.

Stress, Anxiety, and Worry Are Not the Same Thing

Think about the last time you felt nervous or tense — would you say you were feeling worried, stressed, or anxious? If you struggled with answering that question, don’t beat yourself up; it’s often a really tough question to answer. We tend to lump all three — anxiety, stress, and worry — together, and use them interchangeably in conversation. But it’s important to point out that they are all distinctly different, and the steps we’re going to recommend for addressing each are also distinctly different.

Worry

A Chinese philosopher in the 8th century wrote this about worry…

“If you can solve your problem, then what is the need of worrying? And if you
can’t solve it, then what is the use of worrying?”

So what is worry? We all know what it feels like, but have you ever really thought about what it actually is? Worry is what happens in your brain (not in your body) when you dwell on negative thoughts, the things that could go wrong, or the unknown. If you’ve read any psychology, you may have come across an idea that “worry and guilt” are useless emotions. Worry is about the future, and guilt is about the past. But is worry entirely useless?

When we worry, we are thinking about pending or existing problems or uncomfortable situations. This stimulates your brain, and actually increases your problem-solving abilities, helping you develop a course of action to solve a problem, or motivating you to take action to keep you safe — all of which are good things, right?

Yes! But worry becomes problematic when your thinking becomes repetitive and obsessive — like a broken record that plays over and over in your head. Obsessive worrying causes you to feel nervous and restless, and makes it hard to think about anything else other than what you are worried about. And, although worry is not an actual physical reaction, it can lead to unwanted physical symptoms, including:

An increased heart rate
Breathing rapidly of even hyperventilating
Stomach and digestive issues
Sweating
Feeling weak or tired

Addressing Chronic Worry

So, what can you do to help with chronic worry? So many of us have that constant voice of worry in our heads, talking to us so often that we sometimes can’t even hear what it’s saying. If you find yourself dealing with chronic worry, try some of the following:

Listen! Be aware of your worry. Listen to your inner voice and make an effort to what’s specifically contributing to you feeling this way. Identify what you are worried about.
Give yourself a time limit (and a worry limit). Give yourself 15 or 20 minutes to process and worry about a problem and then make a conscious effort to move on to something else. This may sound strange, but give it a try — over time, and the more you make the effort to redirect your focus, the easier it gets.
Do something about it. When you notice you are worrying, what’s your next step? What is your plan? Remember the quote we just shared: “If you can solve your problem, then what is the need of worrying? And if you can’t solve it, then what is the use of worrying?” That applies here. If you can solve the problem, work on finding that solution.
Write down what’s on your mind. Jot down what’s causing you to worry, just to get it out of your head and onto paper. Research has proven again and again that writing about what has you worried, even for as short a time as 5 minutes, helps to calm your mind and ease the obsessive thoughts that come with worry. Try keeping a journal by your bed so that if worry wakes you up or keeps you from sleeping, you have an outlet for it. Taking a few minutes to jot down your thoughts, can make it easier to get back to sleep.

On a final note, research has confirmed that 85% of what we worry about never happens — so save your energy!

Stress

Stress is your body’s response — an actual physical response — to a stressor. It’s a reaction to something that happens in your environment — maybe it’s a response to an argument with your spouse, or what you feel when your waiting for the results of a biopsy, or maybe how you respond to what’s going on at work. Whatever the cause, it’s how your body responds to an external circumstance. And the stress response is an ancient one, which can be traced back to our earliest ancestors. Back then, the body’s natural response — or stress response — to something in the environment often meant the difference between life and death… between eating and being eaten.

Our body’s behavioral response to stressors hasn’t changed much at all since then. Upon sensing (or perceiving) an external threat — whether physical, mental, or emotional — our bodies still respond by releasing a huge dose of adrenaline and cortisol into our bodies. You’ve most likely heard the term “fight or flight”. That’s what we are talking about here — your heart beat increases, your hands might get sweaty or clammy, your breathing becomes more shallow… in short, your body is preparing to respond, either by fight or by flight. It’s preparing to defend itself, by fighting, or to save itself by running away.

Now occasional day-to-day stress typically isn’t a problem for our health, but when this response is the norm — meaning it’s chronic — then it tends to lead to serious health issues, including increasing the risk of heart disease, a weakened immune system, muscle and joint pain, and often chronic body inflammation.

Steps to Reduce Stress

There are a number of things we recommend for reducing stress, and they are not the same as what we recommend for worry or anxiety (in general). When you’re stressed, it’s a good idea to focus on the things you can control, while learning to accept the things that you can’t. To the best of your ability, learn to live and let live, and if you can’t change it, try to learn to be okay with it. We know that’s easier said than done, but doing so is really, really important for your mental and physical health.

Also, keep in mind that everyone responds to stress differently; what causes you stress, might not even be a blip on your neighbors radar (and vice versa). Keeping that in mind, it’s super important for you not to compare your stress with anyone else’s stress — doing so is only setting you up for one more stress!

Additionally, always keep in mind that stress is a physical response — your body is responding to something by releasing tons of adrenaline and cortisol. That being said, one of the very best ways to deal with stress is to exercise on a regular basis. You need to exercise for at least, 20 minutes daily.

Study after study demonstrates that at least 20 minutes of exercise can help consistently and effectively reduce stress. For an ideal stress-relieving workout, we recommend that you exercise between 25 and 30 minutes each and every day.

Equally important as the time you spend exercising, is the type of exercise you choose.

While any exercise is effective and will help reduce stress, research has demonstrated that certain types of exercise are more effective at relieving stress than others; yoga is one of those exercises.

Yoga for Stress Relief

Yoga has come a long way over the last few years. It is now recommended for everyone, from kids to seniors; it’s great for your mental and physical health!

The majority of those practicing yoga consistently report experiencing significant reductions in stress after starting yoga. You don’t need to become a hard core yogi to experience its benefits; performing short, simple yoga stretches is often enough to help you start to feel your stress subside and your mood lift. So remember, at least 20 minutes a day of some exercise — it’s your choice.

Anxiety

So, if worry is a mental response and stress is a physical reaction, then what is anxiety? Well, anxiety is actually the result of dealing with a combination of worry and stress — with one major difference. Anxiety is very similar to stress in that your body creates a physical response, but, unlike stress, there is no actual threat. Anxiety often occurs when you assume something bad is happening (similar to worry) but you have a physical response like you experience during real stress — even when there is nothing actually to worry, stress, or be anxious about. In other words, anxiety is an excessive focus on something that might happen in the future (or, excessive worry and stress with no identifiable cause).

Let’s use the coronavirus as an example: sure, it’s normal to be concerned and worry about the coronavirus. But if you aren’t aware of your worry, this worry can quickly lead to anxiety — you watch the news, and as you hear more and more about the spread of the virus you continue to worry more about what’s going to happen or if you are going to contract it. Before you know it, every time you hear the word “coronavirus”, or someone coughs, sneezes, or clears their throat near you, your heart starts to race, your adrenaline starts pumping, your palms get sweaty — your body is physically responding to what your mind is perceiving as a threat, even when the threat isn’t real or isn’t present at that moment — that’s anxiety.

Natural Anxiety Treatments

Fortunately there are also several natural, effective treatment options that have been shown to calming the symptoms of anxiety, including:

exercise (again at the very top)
Specific deep-breathing exercises
Limiting your intake of sugar, caffeine, and alcohol,
Address nutrient deficiencies. This is perhaps the most overlooked, but still a very important way to reduce anxiety. There is a clear link between deficiencies in specific vitamins and minerals and not only anxiety, but depression as well.

Actually, that last point is also true for worry and stress — one of the most common, but also the most overlooked, contributors to anxiety, stress, and worry are deficiencies in B-vitamins, magnesium, and zinc. If you are deficient in these vitamins and minerals, and most of us are deficient in at least one, your biochemistry is affected. This can manifest as increased worry, stress, and anxiety.

In addition, where you get your vitamins and minerals from also matters, because if they are not food-based and absorbed well by your body then you’re not going to get the benefit you want. You want to get the right amount of your vitamins and minerals from natural whole food, not synthetic “food grade” or “food equivalent” sources, which have such poor absorption rates that less than 5% of that nutrient gets into the body.

That’s why we recommend throwing that traditional, rock-hard multivitamin tablet in the garbage today because that’s where they belong. Instead, use a food-based multi that provides just the right amounts of the specific minerals and vitamins — like magnesium, B-vitamins, and zinc — required to support your mental health, including helping to reduce worry and lessen the symptoms associated with stress and anxiety.

Dr. Nancy uses the Smarter Multi, which is designed to provide the exact right amount of each vitamin and mineral daily required to improve brain function, helping to regulate your all-important neurotransmitters — those are the little chemical messengers that send messages and signals from the brain throughout the body and contribute to the production of specific hormones that contribute to stress and anxiety.

Smarter multi is also the only multi that delivers all its nutrients in a form you would expect to find in nature. That’s because wherever possible, all its vitamins and minerals are derived from real food — organic, natural fruits and vegetables like fresh okra, spearmint, sesame seeds, dill, plums, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, broccoli, peaches, and pears. It really is different from every multi, and it’s super affordable too — less than a dollar a day and free shipping within the U.S. if you have a subscription.

Wrap-Up

We hope this has given you something to think about, and the tools to take action if you’re struggling with stress, worry, or anxiety. Remember: worry happens in your mind, stress happens in your body, and anxiety happens in both.

All three are distinctly different, but left unchecked, all three can contribute to serious health issues over time. You can reduce all three of these conditions by taking the steps we shared today. And do give Smarter Multi a try; correcting nutritional deficiencies is an easy and important first step

Minimizing the Mental and Physical Impact of COVID-19

“It’s the perfect time to start focusing on ourselves and especially our health more.”

The COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) crisis has a lot of people worried and wondering what to do. Now that more testing is becoming available, and we’re learning just how contagious it is, the numbers are undoubtedly going to spike soon. We’re also learning more and more scary things about this virus: for example it was recently discovered that the coronavirus was found on the surfaces of cruise-ship cabins 17 days after all the passengers left. This is no ordinary cold or flu virus.

It’s important that we all do our part — and that includes making sure we stay home, and doing everything we can to flatten the curve and stop the rapid spread! In today’s video, Dr. Nancy Lin, PhD, is going to explain why it’s important to stay home, as well as share ways that you and your family to take care of your physical, mental, and social health, while you go through isolation and disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Video Highlights

06:55: What the Medical Community is Telling Us About COVID-19
11:23: Steps to Flattening the Curve
19:58: The Silver Lining: Time
25:20: The Facts from CDC and WHO
28:24: Staying Healthy & Boosting the Immune System
33:30: Immune Influencers
35:55: Vitamin D and Immunity
42:51: Wrap-Up

Today, we’re going to focus on how to change the way you look at this situation and find positives in even the darkest of times. In addition to reviewing the new guidelines on what we need to do help combat the spread of COVID-19, we’ll talk about what you need to do to minimize the impact of the virus, if you do get it, which means building up your immune health now!

We’ll also share the most effective, research-based ways to make sure your immune system is at its strongest and working to keep you safe and healthy.

What the Medical Community is Telling Us About COVID-19

We’re not going to go into the statistics surrounding the rapid spread of the disease, as these are available from a wide variety of resources and constantly updated. What we do want to focus on is the measure that has been shown to be the number one way to flatten the curve and slow the spread of this dangerous virus.

It starts with all of us — not the government (though they need to do their part too)! What we all need to understand, and take very seriously, is that COVID-19 is not just a virus that affects the elderly — not by a long shot. Young people can not only get COVID-19, but they also spread it at a faster rate, since higher levels of the virus have been reported in younger adults .

In fact, according to the current data, 18-49-year-olds represent more than 50% of the COVID-19 cases in the country, and we’ll probably find that number to be higher once testing is more widespread. So, they can get COVID-19, they can get sick — in some cases very, very sick — but most people in this age group will recover without lasting damage. However they can and do transmit the virus to others, including the older population.

And we now know it’s a very dangerous virus for older people — that’s why it’s so important for us all to be aware and do our part. It seems to be most dangerous for people with conditions like hypertension, which affects half of Americans over age 50, and almost 80% of people over 75. For these people COVID-19 is no joke; it’s a killer.

For those of us in the 18-49 demographic we really need to be aware that they can transmit this, even without a direct transmission (like a cough or a sneeze). You can touch a surface or sit at a table, and up to 24 hours later (or perhaps even longer as we’re now learning), someone else can touch the same surface, or sit at the same table, and contract the virus. So, it’s really important for all of us to take the appropriate steps to stop the spread and flatten the curve of this virus — that means taking seriously the basics the medical experts have told us.

Steps to Flattening the Curve

Practicing social distancing

Stay 6 feet from all non-family members (and any sick family members). Six feet is probably further away than you probably think, so measure it out to get an idea what that really looks like. Social distancing means maintaining at least 6 feet of distance from non-family members at all times.

Stay home until your city or state gives you the all clear

This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to lock yourself inside. You can go outside; go for a walk, garden, sit on your deck and read a great book, play in your yard with your kids, go for a jog with your dog away from people — just maintain the 6 feet of distance between you and non-family members and try not to touch anything. In fact, best to stay away from places like parks and other high-contact public areas altogether.

Wash your hands a LOT

Wash your hands regularly, for at least 20 seconds, with warm soapy water. When you can’t wash, sanitize with hand sanitizer made of at least 65% alcohol. Also take a few extra minutes every day to wipe down your counters, your phones, your door handles, your car keys, and even your glasses with an alcohol or bleach-based cleaning product. Any surface that gets touched regularly, should be cleaned regularly.

Understand that Life is Different Now

This is a major thing — what you can’t do is act like it’s life as normal. This new version of our lives could go on for several months — 2, 4, 5, or even 6 months or more. We need to accept that this is not going away in the near future; this is our new reality going forward but it won’t be forever.

As we’ve said all along, let’s not panic. Let’s be concerned, aware and informed. None of that has changed. We’re close to where the models predicted we would be at this point.

We do understand understand that it’s easy to feel like the world is spinning out of control, but it doesn’t have to feel that way; we all have the ability to take back some control, to think this through, and to be intentional with each decision we make as we navigate through this COVID-19 pandemic.

We know there are going to be challenges, and some personal hardships for sure, but we will get through this together.

However, this is going to be harder for some than for others. Many are experiencing cabin fever and boredom, or more serious issues like emotional pain, loss, depression, and isolation. These issues are very real, and for many they feel worse than contracting the virus and may have more lasting damage. This way of living is not what we know — no more hugs, and handshakes — we can’t do what we’ve always done. For a society that already had an isolation and loneliness problem, this is loneliness on steroids for many.

The Silver Lining: Time

But the good news is many of us now have time — more time than we’ve had in years. Everything we know about “normal life” has ground to a screeching halt, so now we have the precious gift of time. As we ride COVID-19 out, the most important question is how do you use this time positively and productively?

That’s what we want to talk about today — the possible silver lining — making the best of this situation and how you can use it to ensure you stay as healthy, as happy, and as engaged in possible!

So, first things first: life is going to be a lot quieter. We won’t be going to family gatherings, parties, vacations, restaurants, or the other things we are used to doing, anytime soon. Sure it’s sad that we won’t be able to do these things for a while, but there is also going to be less noise and distraction. We’ve stepped away from the hustle and bustle of life as we knew it, and that can be a really good thing. It gives us the opportunity to work on ourselves, and all the other things you wish you had time for.

If you’ve ever said, “I wish I had more time to (draw, write, spring clean, learn a hobby, or something else), you do have it now.

It’s the perfect time to start focusing on ourselves and especially our health more. So try to make peace with the situation and accept it. Your mission now is to take care of you and to find a way to be socially distant while at the same time being spiritually and emotionally connected with those around you.

As crazy as this situation is or feels, take a few deep breaths and realize that it has given us gifts… our job know is to identify what those gifts are, and how to use them. It could be more quality time with your kids, and an inside look at their education, time to work on projects you haven’t been able to get to, time to get your herb garden shape, or finally write that book, and time to evaluate your health.

The Facts from CDC and WHO

Most people are going to feel anxiety, because we don’t know exactly what’s coming next. But let’s pay attention to the facts — real facts from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) — not politicians or the news media who don’t always get the facts straight. And remember, many people will get the virus; in fact, there’s a real strong chance that 80% of us will contract COVID-19 over time. But don’t panic: the facts tell us that 98% of people who get the virus will be okay. We know that grocery stores will function and food is available, pharmacies will function and medicine is available, law enforcement and firemen are working, and we will have protection. But we all need to do our part, because if we can spread it out so that we don’t all get sick at once, then our hospitals have a better chance of dealing with this.

Life is about facing challenges head on, working together, and overcoming these challenges, right? So let’s make sure we are doing everything we can to make sure we are taking care of each other as we face this challenge.

Staying Healthy & Boosting the Immune System

We also want to make sure you are doing everything you can to take care of your health during this time. And while there isn’t a vaccine or a cure for the COVID-19 virus, there are plenty of steps you could, and should, be taking to strengthen your immune system and to keep yourself healthy!

Recently, the New York Times published an article about boosting the immune system. It was a very straight-forward science- based piece about what really has been proven to affect your immune system and what is just anecdotal without proof. It had a lot of really good advice and tips that we want to share with you.

If you watch Dr. Nancy’s shows regularly, you know she is always focused on supporting a strong, healthy immune system. Now, with COVID-19 here, people are literally searching the internet high and low for the best ways to maintain a healthy immune system. Unfortunately, as with anything online, these searches can produce a lot of misinformation on what works and what doesn’t when it comes to strengthening your immune system. So, let’s clear this up: here’s what science and research says about what you should be doing to keep your immune system strong and healthy, including the one surprising step that is proving to be an absolute immune-boosting essential.

Genetics

Your genes — traits passed down from your parents — play a role in a number of health issues, including whether you have a strong or weak immune system. However, the research tells us that when it comes to your immune system, your genetics are a factor but not a major one in regards to how efficiently (or inefficiently) your body responds to illness and infection.

In fact, research studies examining the immune systems of twins showed that the strength of the immune system is largely determined by factors other than our genetics — things that we control, not things we are born with. The most common factors have to do with our stress levels, our diets, the amount of quality sleep we get, and how we exercise — all of those factors play a significant role into the health of our immune systems.

What does this mean? It means good news for all of us. It means that we have significant influence over the health of our immune system; more than we ever realized. We have the ability to make choices that directly determine (at least partly) how our bodies respond to respiratory viruses and other health issues.

Immune System Influencers

There are a few immune influencers that most of us know.

Stress is one example. It’s pretty simple: less stress, less illness. Lower stress supports a stronger immune system.
The same goes for sleep: research demonstrates a direct correlation between sleep and your health. For example, those who sleep less than 6 hours per night are over four times more likely to catch a cold or get sick when compared to people who sleep 7 or more hours per night. So get your sleep! No more late night Netflix binges.
Exercise and diet. People who exercise and those who eat better have better immune systems.

Vitamin D and Immunity

One thing many people don’t know is the proven profound effect vitamin D has on your immune system. We often hear about vitamin D’s benefits for a number of reasons, including: better bone health, mood, and more. But more and more research is demonstrating that vitamin D is a key factor in supporting a strong, healthy immune system.

In fact, recent research shows us that supplementing with vitamin D on a regular basis could help your body fight off a respiratory illness — and not by just a little. Get this: in one study, older adults who supplemented with increased amounts of vitamin D on a regular basis had 40% less respiratory infections than those who took a regular, standard dose. The study also concluded that supplementing with vitamin D showed an overall protective effect against acute respiratory tract infections.

You can see why making sure you’re not deficient in vitamin D is important. If you want an overall stronger immune system and if you want to help decrease your risk of respiratory infection, then supplement with a high-quality source of vitamin D.

The “high-quality” part is where it gets tricky. There are literally hundreds, and probably even thousands of low-quality vitamin D’s on the market today — don’t be fooled by their catchy names or tag lines. You need to make sure you are supplementing with only the best form of vitamin D that not only provides a full therapeutic dose of the vitamin in its active form, but is also 100% plant-based. That’s hard to find, since most vitamin D supplements are made from the excretions of sheep glands. Smarter Vitamin D checks all these boxes: it provides 5,000 IUs of plant-based vitamin D3 along with vitamin K2, which is an absolute must when supplementing with vitamin D.

For years we heard that you need to get 20-30 minutes of direct sun each day — that’s what’s been recommended to help you get enough vitamin D and improve your health. But new research is showing us that it is just not that simple. In fact, we are finding that it’s really difficult to get enough Vitamin D from sunshine or food alone. That’s another reason getting a good plant-based Vitamin D supplement is so important.

This is all part of supporting a healthy immune system. We are nearing the peak of the worst pandemic in our history and we are still in our winter/spring virus season. What does that mean? It means that 90% of Americans (that’s 9 out of 10) are deficient in Vitamin D — leading to weakened immune systems and increased risk of respiratory illnesses. Talk about horrible timing, right?

Keep in mind that a multivitamin won’t contain the therapeutic dose (the dose required to make up for a deficiency), and if you are deficient, it can take a week or two to get your levels up to where they should be, so start as soon as possible.

Wrap-Up

To summarize, we are currently in uncharted territory. COVID-19 has turned our lives upside down — but we can take some control and make sure we are doing everything we can to stay healthy and fit, both physically and mentally to make the best of a really bad situation.

Take this time to focus on you: set goals, spend time with family, cook some great meals, read a few great books, listen to amazing music, exercise, and make sure that you are supporting a healthy immune system. Smarter Nutrition vitamin D has been sold out for a while, but it’s back in stock.

Stay healthy, stay well, and stay positive — we are going to get through this, together!

Preventing Nutritional Deficiencies During Quarantine

“Let’s talk about how to eat in a healthy way, and ensure you and your family are getting enough of each essential vitamin and mineral every day.”

Today’s fresh live show with Dr. Nancy is the latest in her series on maintaining health while home on COVID-19 lock-down. Because of a lack of availability of fresh fruits and vegetables, people are relying more on packaged foods. This means foods higher in saturated fat with more refined sugars, and less essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals.

Dr. Nancy is back in the kitchen with the tips and recipes we can use to get more nutrients out of our pantries, plus the right supplements to quickly get key vitamins and minerals back to healthy levels again!

Video Highlights

04:52: How Quarantine Affects Our Diets
13:24: Anti-Inflammatory Foods
16:51: Getting Creative with Shopping and Cooking
22:59: Prevent Deficiencies by Supplementing
28:31: Wrap-Up

We know most of you have social distancing down pat by now. You’re staying home as much as possible, and maintaining at least 6 feet of distance from everyone when you have to go out. While you are at home, we’re sure you’re being diligent there, too; washing your hands, getting enough sleep, exercising, and getting your vitamin D. Doing these things will help keep you healthy and your immune system strong.

Something else that is more important now than ever is to keep both your immune system up and your inflammation levels down by eating right. It’s tough for many of us to make that happen right now, but missing out on key essential vitamins and minerals is not what you need right now — so let’s talk about how to eat in a healthy way, and ensure you and your family are getting enough of each essential vitamin and mineral every day, while you’re sequestered in at home during the pandemic.

This is really a serious topic right now. Everyone should be taking steps to take care of their immune system right now. The Covid-19 models still show that there is a good chance more than half of Americans may get over time, even if we flatten the curve! So you really need to take every precaution to make sure you are optimizing your health and ensuring your immune system is ready should you contract the illness.

How Quarantine Affects Our Diets

We are all living in unprecedented times. Essential items like toilet paper are still hard to find. Grocery store aisles have improved a bit, but the variety we’ve come to expect is just not there. A lot of us aren’t able to buy the fresh organic foods and brands we’re used to. Plus, we’re limiting trips to the market, which means we’re eating more packaged and processed foods than ever.

Because of this, chances are good that your diet has undergone some changes in the last month, and not for the better. There are so many memes floating around the internet lately talking about “eating your feelings,” and although they’re meant to make us laugh, a lot of them do ring true.

Stress levels are off the chart as we settle into our new normal. Most of us are either not working or we’re working from home. And many of us are getting tired of cooking, on top of everything else we need to do. We’re all struggling to strike that balance: working while also caring for children and other family members, and often without any breaks.

So we’re all stressed, which means adrenal glands get triggered sending shots of adrenaline coursing through or veins to help us cope. Now initially, adrenaline actually works to suppress the appetite and provide energy — but it’s short-lived. The continuous release of an additional hormone, called cortisol, occurs if a stressful situation is ongoing — like when a worldwide pandemic hits! This cortisol contributes to your desire to comfort eat right now.

And with all this craziness going on, that desire often doesn’t translate to grabbing a piece of fruit or a big, beautiful salad. No, this is when the body craves comfort food high in fat and sugar. Plus, with everyone home all the time, it’s easy to fall into a vacation mentality and indulge in sweet treats, cook heavier meals, or order take-out too often.

But what really has people grabbing for foods higher in saturated fat and containing more refined sugars than they are used to, is the fact we already mentioned, that people are relying on packaged foods at this time much more than they typically would.

We’re also seeing a lack of availability of fresh fruits and vegetables. It’s not because we’re having a shortage — it’s because many people are panic buying. First it was the packaged foods and now it’s happening with fruits and vegetables. Panic buying is just as the name implies; if you live in a part of the country where there is snow, you might see this in the days leading up to a predicted blizzard, or if you live in a part of the country plagued by hurricanes. People flock to the grocery stores and big box retailers and often buy more supplies than they will ever need to weather the storm.

The problem is, panic buying has a ripple effect. Once people see the shelves being depleted, they start to panic and stock up on items, too, and that is why we’re still seeing a lot of empty shelves in our grocery stores and big box retailers. And it’s not like we can go out and shop every day at local farms — we all need to avoid going out as much as possible. So we find ourselves having to get creative in the kitchen.

Anti-Inflammatory Foods

If you watch Dr. Nancy’s show regularly, you know she is a big proponent of eating an anti-inflammatory diet. If this is your first time tuning in or you’re unfamiliar with that, it includes foods like:

Quinoa
Brown rice
Legumes, including black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, and lentils
Organic nuts like almonds, walnuts, and Brazil nuts
Tahini
Lean protein like chicken and turkey
Extra virgin olive oil
Toasted sesame seed oil
Raw cacao powder
Apple cider vinegar
Nut butters like almond, cashew, and sunflower seed
Spices like turmeric, black peppercorns, and ginger

Organic fruits and vegetables also make the list — in fact, they’re usually listed first, but there’s a key difference between these and the other items on the list: the other items are not as perishable as fresh produce, and chances are, you have some of these items in your pantry or even your freezer already!

As you can deduce from the name “anti-inflammatory foods”, these are foods that help keep inflammation in the body at bay. And when the body’s inflammatory load goes down, then you are less affected physically by stress, sickness, or disease, and your immune health gets a needed boost!

Getting Creative with Shopping and Cooking

Most of us right now are having to use a little creativity when it comes to mealtime. One thing you might try is buying organic frozen produce. Frozen produce usually isn’t as good as the fresh stuff, but it’s far from bad and in some cases it can be even better.

Fresh produce is often picked before it’s fully ripened to account for transportation time to your local grocery store. This stunts the development of the produce’s nutrients. Frozen produce, on the other hand, is picked later when they are more ripe and contain the most nutrients. It’s then blanched, which takes away some nutrients, and frozen within hours of being picked, locking in the nutritious goodness. So keep an eye out for those; this can be a great way to get fruits and vegetables into your diet.

Anti-Inflammatory Pantry Staples

Two great foods to use as a base to an anti-inflammatory diet are beans and rice. Beans and rice, when eaten in combination, make a complete protein (meaning it contains all nine of the amino acids essential to your daily diet). You need these amino acids to help with:

Mood
Synthesizing hormones
Preserving muscle… and
Boosting immune function

Simple Beans and Rice Recipe

To start, cook up a batch of rice according to the package directions, on the stove or in a rice cooker. It may be a good idea to soak the beans the day before cooking. This can help make the beans more bioavailable to the body, and make digestion easier.

Next, add a little onion and garlic, as well as some of the other spices mentioned, and just like that you have a meal the whole family will love. Get multiple meals out of the leftovers by adding a splash of creativity — add ground chicken or turkey, steamed vegetables, or put it on a bed of greens with a homemade apple cider vinegar and olive oil dressing. You can also add bone broth to the rice and beans to create a delicious chili. As a bonus, organic chicken bone broth is another great immune boosting food.

There you have it! Simple meal options the family can enjoy for days, and each one made with inflammatory-fighting foods.

Prevent Deficiencies by Supplementing

Give these foods a try, but keep in mind chances are we’re all coming up short these days in key nutrients that we really need right now like the B vitamins, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Zinc, Boron, Magnesium, and more.

This is not the time to walk around nutrient deficient! That’s why we should each be stocking up on a high-quality, food-based multivitamin. And you need something better than what you find on grocery store shelves — like the Smarter Multivitamin.

A few things you should know about the incredible multi: there’s a formula for men, and one for women, and each is formulated to deliver the specific right amount of nutrients your body needs.

That means it doesn’t contain excessive amounts of vitamins and minerals you don’t even need. Many traditional multivitamins contain way too much of certain cheap nutrients, which can throw your body out of whack, and too little of other nutrients to address any deficiency. The Smarter Multi is a perfect balance of essential vitamins and minerals, primarily sourced from organic, whole food sources — not a bunch of synthetics created in a lab like you find in the traditional rock-hard multi tablet.

In fact the minerals come in loose pack powder capsules so you absorb them quickly, and the vitamins come separately in an easily absorbed veggie softgel. Both are super gentle on the stomach.

The best part, though, is where the nutrients come from. For example:

Calcium is derived from almonds, Amaranth grain and the superfood red-green algae
Magnesium comes from sesame and sunflower seeds, spearmint leaf, dill and okra
Zinc is derived from wheat germ, pumpkin seed, watermelon, banana and cocoa
Boron comes from prunes, broccoli, peach, and pear

Wrap-Up

We know it’s a challenge to whip up healthy meals while fresh fruits and vegetables are harder to come by, but it’s important to choose healthier options wherever you can to support your immune system and overall health. Also make sure you take your Smarter Multi every day for the added insurance! For a limited time, when you use coupon code: IMMUNEBOOST during checkout, you’ll get 10% off your Smarter Multivitamin order.

Remember to stay safe out there and do everything you can to protect yourself and others during this strange time.