7Welcome to "Healthy Living!"
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I'm your host Margot Marshall.
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Can stress cause
high cholesterol?
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Can what's going on in our
mind really affect our body?
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You might be
surprised by the answer!
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Joining me in the studio
is Jenifer Skues, a health
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psychologist and Dr. John Clark.
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Welcome Jenifer,
welcome John! Thank you.
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Nice to have you with us.
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And we're going to be
having a talk today that
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I'd like you to
start off with John.
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Well, I want to tell you
about a lady who illustrates our
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high cholesterol and
high stress scenario.
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I was at a set of
meetings and we had many
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presenters in different
rooms, and I met this lady
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at lunchtime and she said, "Dr.
Clark, can I talk to you about
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my cholesterol?"
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I said, "Sure, let's
talk about your cholesterol."
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She said, "I have high
cholesterol and I've been
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doing everything I can
to get it down and I have
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not been successful."
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She says, "I've
been exercising."
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"Well that's a good thing."
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She said, "I've been eating
a vegan diet (in other words,
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a plant-based diet),"
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"Well that's a good thing."
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She says, "I've
been getting extra fiber
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like oat bran."
"Well that's a good thing."
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She was on the right track.
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But she said, "I cannot
get my cholesterol down."
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So I was a bit puzzled.
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Okay, you're eating a lot
of good things here and this
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is working well for you but
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it's not bringing
your cholesterol down.
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And so I started
asking questions...
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I said, "Well, (knowing
that there were many meetings
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going on), have you
come to any of my meetings?"
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She said, "Well, I would
have liked to have, but I wasn't
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able to because I was interested
in these other meetings
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over here where
one of the presenters
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is talking about stress!"
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I said, "Well that's
interesting, I did notice
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his name on the
board and his topics,
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but it's interesting."
She said, "Yes it is."
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I said, "How is
it going for you."
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She said, "Well, it's
going well but... and it was
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going well until he asked
us to take out a piece of paper
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and a pen and then he
said, "Start writing about your
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most troubled relationship."
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She said, "At that
point, my mind went immediately
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to my ex-husband and
all I could do is cry."
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Okay, big clue going on there.
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So this is right on our
topic today about stress
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causing high cholesterol.
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Jeni, this is your specialty.
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It is, so I do a lot of what
we call, "stress management"
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because everyone I see has high
stress levels - whether it be
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because of their
disorder or because of
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things that have happened.
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And I, in specializing
with people with trauma,
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a lot of them have very high
stress and there are actually
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three stages of stress
and this was identified by
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a gentleman by the name of
" Hans Selye" back in the 50s.
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And he observed and put
it into these three stages
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which still
stands today with people
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who are working with stress.
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It gives us a really good view.
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Your first stage is
called "the alarm stage,"
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and what happens in the alarm
stage is that you can be doing
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something quite
casually and something happens
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and it triggers
the alarm response.
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For example... Driving down
the road and a car shoots out
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and nearly hits you - well if we
didn't have the alarm response,
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we would be going, "Here
comes a car and I'm going to die
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literally," so that gives us
the ability within nanoseconds
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to put the foot on
the break, stop the car.
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But in that process, you
have an incredible surge of
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adrenalin and cortisol
which overloads the system
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and that's fine for short-term
but when it's long-term,
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it becomes a problem.
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But the interesting thing
is, in nature, they've actually
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observed this in animals
because we have what's called
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"the fight/flight response." Yes
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And that's what the alarm
reaction is, it sets up that
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fight/flight and that's
what the adrenalin and cortisol
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is to fight off the
stress or whatever it is,
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or to able to run from it.
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So, an animal when it's being
chased by a predator in nature,
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and say the predator catches up,
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maybe it's the dear and
the lion and what will happen
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is that dear can do a
drop and it's unconscious.
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It's like it's dead, it's in a
stage of total unconsciousness.
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Sometimes that predator will
think - it will come back later
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or it's already dead
and will leave it alone.
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And they found that animal
will come out of that state
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and they do heavy
breathing, shaking, trembling,
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and then they get up
and they shake themselves,
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and what they've done is reset
their fight/flight mechanism
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which is a very
interesting phenomena because
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that means they are now ready
to fight or flight again. Yes.
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And they found that if
the person doesn't do that
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or, I'm sorry, if the
animal doesn't do that,
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what will happen is that animal
will be ready to be picked off,
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it can no
longer fight or flight.
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So that means the next
predator that comes along,
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it will be easy prey. I see.
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Now they've noticed this
that's an alarm response;
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they've noticed this
with humans but the problem is
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what we do is we
don't discharge that moment,
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not like the animal did.
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So we don't do things that
help us to release that trauma,
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and then we can't
effectively fight or flight,
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and they call it
"the freeze mode." Oh.
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So actually go into freeze
where that adrenalin response
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is and that moment in
time is frozen in the brain,
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in the body and every
cell of the body. Oh okay.
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Now when we maintain
that, we go into stage 2
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which is resistance and
that means we're resisting
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the stressor and
we're stacking it.
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And it's like work
environment is a good example
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where we can't get out of
it and we've got to put up with
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the irritable boss or
the bully or whatever.
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And that means we're constantly
in that mode from when we
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go home, come back to
work and that is high stress.
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And that means the
body is running on adrenalin
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and cortisol, and as we
know and you would know, that
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that causes a lot of
inflammation in the brain,
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toxicity and it would be at
this point that this person,
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you were talking
about, would have started
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to have cholesterol problems
because stress on that level
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changes the way the body
and the physiology is working.
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Now the third stage is
if we continue with that,
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what happens is we're
going to burnout in exhaustion.
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And the adrenals can become
so exhausted, they can no longer
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do their function,
the person will die.
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So there are people I
see who, the doctor is giving
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cortisol to because the
stress has been so prolonged
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and so dynamic that
they are in that stage.
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Yeah, the adrenals
can no longer function.
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And so when the adrenals
actually stop functioning,
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you die - you cannot survive
without adrenal function.
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Wow. Yeah, so it's a bit of an
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eye-opener for all those people
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out there who
are really stressed.
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And my eyes just
opened very wide.
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I didn't realize that it was
basically a vital organ then,
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I never knew that.
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It is, we don't realize it
and there are people out there
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who have actually
succumbed to that or are being
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treated for
adrenal failure. Yes.
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But the good news is the body
can do a lot of repair work,
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but you've got to get
out of that stress zone
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for the body to correct itself
because we have what's called
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a "homeostasis environment,"
and that means the body has
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been created to balance itself.
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So we have mechanisms
that will help change that...
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For example, if we're cold,
the liver will produce heat
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by shaking the body
to pick up again. Yes.
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So we have all these
mechanisms, for blood
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sugar - insulin to correct
the blood sugar level, you see.
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So the body is an
amazing thing. It is.
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It absolutely is! And the brain.
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John, I think you had
another story we'd like to hear.
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Would you share
that with us now?
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Yeah, and I'd like to
get into the second story,
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but before we do that, we
might just mention the mechanism
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here, I'm glad we've mentioned
the cortisol and as the cortisol
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goes up, it makes your
blood sugar go up. Okay.
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And when your
blood sugar goes up,
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your insulin
wants to push it down,
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so the insulin levels go up.
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But it's insulin that is
making your cholesterol go high.
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So for this
particular individual,
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who is experiencing
lots of stress ongoing at the
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second or maybe third stage
that you were mentioning there,
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she's going to have her high
cholesterol until she can...
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Well how is she going to
shake herself and snort and get
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the stress off - I'm
sort of interested in this.
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Well the problem is with stress,
it doesn't matter whether
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it's real or imagined and
one of the things you said,
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it wasn't until she sat down
and started writing - that the
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stress factor kicked in again.
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Now she's been sitting with
that grief or that tearfulness
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or that stress of whatever
happened with her husband
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that is like the time
bomb waiting to go off.
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And if it's imagined
stress, it does as much damage
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and it triggers the same
response as real stress. Oh.
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So it doesn't matter whether
we imagine it or it's actually
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happening and this is
where trauma comes in to it.
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She would have been carrying
the trauma because when we
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keep going over an
event that was real
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and stressful, we keep
reigniting the stressors
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and that means we're
constantly doing that process.
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Alright, and we keep
going through it and there's an
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interesting comment -
Mark Twain had some wonderful
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sayings and he said,
"I've been through some terrible
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things in my life and some
of them actually happened!"
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Laughter... That's what
we do. We do, don't we? Yes!
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We're
constantly reliving things.
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Relive or worry about
things that might happen.
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That emotion that maybe
they will and often they don't.
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So we can do it for
future events that we fear
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and are stressful, as well
as go over old events. Yes.
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That means we're
not here in the present.
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I heard a saying once that
said, "Worry is the interest
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paid on trouble before
it's due." That's right!
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That's what we do! And we do!
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We have all these
problems with physiology.
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And so that brings us to our
second story here and I worked
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with a lady for a while
in my teaching across the
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United States where she
would do a cooking school,
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and she had high cholesterol.
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Now this lady was
living what she taught.
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She made the
food, it was good food,
00:11:05.93\00:11:08.06
food that would not be
likely to raise cholesterol,
00:11:08.10\00:11:11.67
but her
cholesterol was quite high.
00:11:11.70\00:11:14.47
And then as we got to know
her, we discovered something
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in her life that
was very traumatic, she
00:11:17.24\00:11:19.97
had a son - the son had gotten
involved with the wrong group.
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He had gone south in
another country and in another
00:11:24.58\00:11:28.15
gotten involved in drugs.
00:11:28.18\00:11:30.15
The drug ring had figured
out that maybe he was leaking
00:11:30.19\00:11:33.89
information - they
thought he was "a nark,"
00:11:33.92\00:11:37.29
a person telling on them.
00:11:37.33\00:11:39.89
And so they killed him!
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They literally threw him
off a multistory building.
00:11:42.46\00:11:46.00
Well yeah, how
traumatic and she found out
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about this and, of course, you
can't get any kind of justice
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in some of these other countries
and it just wore on her.
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The lack of justice, the
no rhyme or reason to this,
00:11:57.28\00:12:01.88
and they'd done it to her son.
00:12:01.92\00:12:03.25
In fact, the villains
were actually from America,
00:12:03.28\00:12:06.02
came back and she
saw them and they sort of
00:12:06.05\00:12:08.12
taunted her that
they had done this.
00:12:08.16\00:12:10.79
And so she was very
angry at these murderers.
00:12:10.83\00:12:15.06
And this anger welled up
in her and she kept riding it
00:12:15.10\00:12:18.97
and this was the
source of her stress.
00:12:19.00\00:12:21.80
But then, a couple of
years later, she got in to
00:12:21.84\00:12:24.51
understanding of the value
of forgiveness; went to some
00:12:24.54\00:12:28.81
seminars on what forgiveness
is, how to forgive others,
00:12:28.84\00:12:33.92
and how to be forgiven and
once she had gone through this,
00:12:33.95\00:12:37.39
and she actually went
through the process of forgiving
00:12:37.42\00:12:39.95
the villains regardless of
whether they deserved it or not,
00:12:39.99\00:12:42.99
then her cholesterol
came back down to normal!
00:12:43.02\00:12:47.20
Well she was working
on that stage 1, stage 2,
00:12:47.23\00:12:49.70
going into stage 3, so she
stopped resisting the stressors
00:12:49.73\00:12:54.10
and getting stressed about
it and did an action that helped
00:12:54.14\00:12:57.84
her to heal, and she
went off that alarm response
00:12:57.87\00:13:02.14
which is where we're
meant to be until we need it.
00:13:02.18\00:13:04.21
That's really interesting, Jeni.
00:13:04.25\00:13:06.01
John, have you got
some thoughts on that?
00:13:06.05\00:13:08.48
So what I'm seeing here is
that she had a high cholesterol
00:13:08.52\00:13:13.02
through that whole
sequence of events where stress
00:13:13.05\00:13:17.03
raises cortisol; cortisol
raises your blood sugar;
00:13:17.06\00:13:19.86
blood sugar raises your
insulin and then insulin
00:13:19.89\00:13:22.30
drives up the cholesterol
and then when she came to
00:13:22.33\00:13:27.17
forgiveness, the cortisol
went down; therefore the blood
00:13:27.20\00:13:31.04
sugars came down;
therefore the insulin went down,
00:13:31.07\00:13:34.28
and therefore her
cholesterol came down.
00:13:34.31\00:13:36.44
And so the whole system
is affected then by stress!
00:13:36.48\00:13:39.51
And so the most important
thing for her, at least for her
00:13:39.55\00:13:42.12
own survival was forgiveness.
00:13:42.15\00:13:44.69
Well it's her perception
and she changed her perception.
00:13:44.72\00:13:47.19
She changed her perception
from anger and pain to
00:13:47.22\00:13:49.79
forgiving, then it's going
to relieve the stress problem.
00:13:49.82\00:13:53.23
But if she doesn't have all
this anger and fear and pain,
00:13:53.26\00:13:56.16
and so forth, who is
going to get back at these guys?
00:13:56.20\00:13:59.97
Well she must have had
to forgive them and it is
00:14:00.00\00:14:04.44
commonly seen where I've
seen people who were in court
00:14:04.47\00:14:07.48
have actually forgiven
the person who murdered
00:14:07.51\00:14:09.24
their daughter, for example,
and of course, everyone finds
00:14:09.28\00:14:11.98
that hard to comprehend
- how can you do that?
00:14:12.01\00:14:14.38
That's where she had
faith and this comes back to our
00:14:14.42\00:14:17.39
spiritual dynamic because
faith helps a lot of healing
00:14:17.42\00:14:21.52
and it helps to get you
off of those alarm reactions
00:14:21.56\00:14:23.96
and to find a healing pathway.
00:14:23.99\00:14:26.26
And certainly the
benefit was to her as well
00:14:26.29\00:14:28.80
as to these, you
know, these young people,
00:14:28.83\00:14:31.03
it's interesting, isn't it?
00:14:31.07\00:14:33.40
And I appreciated those
pathways that you explained,
00:14:33.44\00:14:36.24
John and it might not
hurt to say it one more time
00:14:36.27\00:14:39.37
the pathway where what's
going on in our mind is actually
00:14:39.41\00:14:42.78
significantly affecting
what's going on in our body.
00:14:42.81\00:14:46.11
And there was that pathway that
started out with the stress.
00:14:46.15\00:14:48.92
Stress and then the stress
raises the cortisol which is
00:14:49.68\00:14:53.15
that stress hormone
that Jeni mentioned.
00:14:53.19\00:14:55.76
And the cortisol makes
your blood sugar go up.
00:14:55.79\00:14:58.79
People who take that as
a drug, called prednisone,
00:14:58.83\00:15:01.80
will find their
blood sugars go up.
00:15:01.83\00:15:03.57
And so the blood sugar
goes up and then the response
00:15:03.60\00:15:06.40
to high blood sugar is
insulin, and then when you get
00:15:06.43\00:15:09.64
the insulin going up,
it raises your cholesterol.
00:15:09.67\00:15:13.48
And so it's a big sequence
of events but the end result is
00:15:13.51\00:15:18.45
you can know if you're having
a high cholesterol all the time,
00:15:18.48\00:15:21.92
and nothing else seems
to be bringing it down,
00:15:21.95\00:15:24.55
you might be suffering from
the effects of emotional stress,
00:15:24.59\00:15:27.99
and these days, you
think of all the stressors.
00:15:28.02\00:15:30.19
I mean everything
from electronic things we
00:15:30.23\00:15:32.66
carry and the communication
age to the rising bills
00:15:32.69\00:15:38.40
and your rent and then the
new laws they put into effect
00:15:38.43\00:15:42.30
to help control humanity.
00:15:42.34\00:15:45.21
Everything brings stress to a
00:15:45.24\00:15:47.04
higher level in
this day and age.
00:15:47.08\00:15:48.41
Yes, that's interesting and
it's interesting how, you know,
00:15:48.44\00:15:53.08
you brought out the
spiritual part that there's the
00:15:53.11\00:15:55.48
consensus that people
who have a good connection,
00:15:55.52\00:15:59.55
a good spiritual
connection, had better mental
00:15:59.59\00:16:03.56
and physical health.
00:16:03.59\00:16:04.96
And this has been borne
out in what we've just said,
00:16:04.99\00:16:07.83
so there's a spiritual dimension
in there that's very, very
00:16:07.86\00:16:10.77
beneficial to us.
00:16:10.80\00:16:15.34
It puts us back in that stage
1 off the alarm, so because
00:16:15.37\00:16:19.34
the ultimate is to have
the balance and when we're at
00:16:19.37\00:16:21.58
peace with ourselves,
we have that balance. Yes.
00:16:21.61\00:16:24.25
The moment we get back
into the alarm reaction,
00:16:24.28\00:16:28.22
we actually drive up the
adrenalin and the cortisol
00:16:28.25\00:16:31.29
which we've heard from the
physiology but it also causes
00:16:31.32\00:16:33.86
a lot of inflammation in
the brain and it does a lot of
00:16:33.89\00:16:36.86
other types of damage as
well, not just with cholesterol.
00:16:36.89\00:16:40.03
But the alarm
reaction is to protect us,
00:16:40.06\00:16:43.03
not to live in it. That's right!
00:16:43.06\00:16:45.00
So if we get off that
alarm reaction, this is where
00:16:45.03\00:16:47.70
this lady hadn't
done it for years,
00:16:47.74\00:16:49.80
she carried this for
years but in resolving it,
00:16:49.84\00:16:52.84
she's got a
permanent solution to her whole
00:16:52.87\00:16:55.44
physiology and body and it's
like a self-healing mechanism
00:16:55.48\00:16:58.78
to correct itself.
00:16:58.81\00:17:00.55
So we've got a mind-body
connection and we've got
00:17:00.58\00:17:02.98
a spiritual-body
connection and that all of those
00:17:03.02\00:17:06.22
elements of our being the
mental, physical, spiritual,
00:17:06.25\00:17:09.52
social, they're all
blended in there and they all
00:17:09.56\00:17:12.93
affect each other.
00:17:12.96\00:17:14.30
Well like I find one of
the important things to do
00:17:14.33\00:17:17.37
to bring your stress
levels down is to correct
00:17:17.40\00:17:20.07
the heart rate. Oh yes!
00:17:20.10\00:17:21.70
When your heart
does overtime, your brain
00:17:21.74\00:17:24.31
continues to perceive
it as "you're under attack,
00:17:24.34\00:17:26.78
you're under stress,"
and keeps pumping adrenalin
00:17:26.81\00:17:29.34
which is against
what the heart needs
00:17:29.38\00:17:31.51
and the heart
then just gets worse.
00:17:31.55\00:17:33.65
So when you do breathing
where you focus the breathing
00:17:33.68\00:17:37.62
around the heart area where
00:17:37.65\00:17:39.59
the lungs are behind
the heart, it actually
00:17:39.62\00:17:41.72
calms and evens the
heartbeat and that gets the
00:17:41.76\00:17:44.46
system to get off
the alarm response. Yes.
00:17:44.49\00:17:46.76
It actually
helps it to calm down.
00:17:46.80\00:17:48.20
So tell us, just
explain that breathing
00:17:48.23\00:17:50.40
that you're talking about.
00:17:50.43\00:17:51.77
They found that even if
just putting your hand over
00:17:51.80\00:17:54.10
your heart will
calm it and that's off
00:17:54.14\00:17:55.60
from scientific studies.
00:17:55.64\00:17:57.57
So our body has good mechanisms.
00:17:57.61\00:18:00.91
You're going to
show us what to do.
00:18:00.94\00:18:02.38
Yeah, just put
your hand like this.
00:18:02.41\00:18:04.05
It actually feels lovely.
00:18:04.08\00:18:05.41
You can feel it. It's
a lovely feeling! Yeah.
00:18:05.45\00:18:08.58
And then when you
breathe into the hand space
00:18:08.62\00:18:10.82
where the heart is and
you focus the breath there,
00:18:10.85\00:18:13.49
and then you slowly
breathe out and just slow the
00:18:13.52\00:18:15.79
heart rate down and
even it out - the heart rate,
00:18:15.82\00:18:18.69
the beat between evens out.
00:18:18.73\00:18:21.36
So you've got the beat,
you've got an even space,
00:18:21.40\00:18:23.26
even space - and that tells
the brain that all is well.
00:18:23.30\00:18:26.67
Laughter...
Patriotic American there
00:18:26.70\00:18:28.97
with your hand on your heart!
00:18:29.00\00:18:31.54
But it's a beautiful feeling,
as soon as you touch that there,
00:18:31.57\00:18:34.81
it has some kind of a very
00:18:34.84\00:18:36.34
noticeable effect
and that breathing.
00:18:36.38\00:18:38.98
Well simple things work well
and that's the best de-stressor.
00:18:39.01\00:18:42.42
And when I'm driving down
the road and my alarm goes on
00:18:42.45\00:18:45.09
because someone nearly
hits me, that's what I do. Okay.
00:18:45.12\00:18:47.59
I start doing that breathing,
I might even rub my chest area,
00:18:47.62\00:18:51.33
put my hand over that area.
00:18:51.36\00:18:52.69
Okay, you have a
hand on the wheel. Yes!
00:18:52.73\00:18:54.16
If not, I stay on an alarm
reaction and then I'm ready
00:18:54.20\00:18:57.27
to overreact to
things (Yes) because I've got
00:18:57.30\00:18:59.97
too much adrenalin
and cortisol. Yes, yes.
00:19:00.00\00:19:02.34
And, talk about
overreacting, years back now,
00:19:02.37\00:19:09.08
we read in the paper
that (and this had happened a
00:19:09.11\00:19:11.28
few doors from us), but
we read in the paper where
00:19:11.31\00:19:13.95
someone killed his friend in
the lounge room and it was all
00:19:13.98\00:19:17.69
over which TV
channel to watch. Okay.
00:19:17.72\00:19:20.42
And I'm trying to imagine
him in prison over the years,
00:19:20.46\00:19:23.66
thinking, "Was that worth it?"
00:19:23.69\00:19:27.86
Was it really worth
it? You know, he just
00:19:27.90\00:19:29.80
overreacted and ended up
00:19:29.83\00:19:31.33
and he got into a
brawl and he killed him.
00:19:31.37\00:19:33.03
Well that person would
have probably been running
00:19:33.07\00:19:36.34
on adrenalin most of the time,
I mean, they were in probably
00:19:36.37\00:19:39.94
the resistant stage and
something triggered them
00:19:39.97\00:19:42.31
and that's with
adrenalin-cortisol anger
00:19:42.34\00:19:45.38
aggression and you
react out, very dangerous.
00:19:45.41\00:19:48.62
You see it on the roads,
road-rage and things like
00:19:48.98\00:19:52.85
that too where people
really do overreact to things.
00:19:52.89\00:19:57.86
And I suspect for
your case with this lady,
00:19:57.89\00:20:01.86
she had been reacting to
that stressor and who knows
00:20:01.90\00:20:05.40
what else was stressful in
her life that would have added
00:20:05.43\00:20:08.14
into when you met her and
the stress was the problem
00:20:08.17\00:20:11.97
not so much the diet
and health side of it,
00:20:12.01\00:20:14.88
so it's really working
with both angles because people
00:20:14.91\00:20:18.61
who aren't stressed do digest
a lot better, but if they're
00:20:18.65\00:20:21.98
having all the
wrong foods, eventually
00:20:22.02\00:20:23.75
that can catch up with them.
00:20:23.79\00:20:25.65
Yes, this is true and what's
really fascinating is some
00:20:25.69\00:20:28.82
of the drugs that
have been used to help with
00:20:28.86\00:20:31.26
high blood pressure and
high cholesterol actually
00:20:31.29\00:20:34.36
have a dramatic effect
on the brain to suppress it
00:20:34.40\00:20:37.00
in a way that the brain
will no longer be responding
00:20:37.03\00:20:40.00
to stressors.
00:20:40.04\00:20:42.64
They are literally
dumbing down the patient,
00:20:42.67\00:20:44.51
but the idea is - is that
they help the blood pressure
00:20:44.54\00:20:47.64
or help the cholesterol
through a neural mechanism
00:20:47.68\00:20:50.61
rather than actually affecting
the physiology surrounding
00:20:50.65\00:20:53.25
the blood
pressure or cholesterol.
00:20:53.28\00:20:56.48
That's not good to hear!
00:20:56.52\00:20:59.22
Or it is good to hear,
it's not good that it happens.
00:20:59.25\00:21:02.56
It's good that we understand
more because then you can
00:21:02.59\00:21:05.09
recognize it and do
something about it when you
00:21:05.13\00:21:07.33
feel those
physiological responses.
00:21:07.36\00:21:09.40
Yes, how much better to
use your technique, Jeni,
00:21:09.43\00:21:12.37
and to just... you know.
00:21:12.40\00:21:13.87
How quickly does the body
respond to that breathing?
00:21:13.90\00:21:18.37
Probably 2 or 3 breaths
in and out - well you felt it
00:21:18.41\00:21:22.61
when you put your hand
over that area of your heart.
00:21:22.64\00:21:25.01
But it does not take
long and I find what happens
00:21:25.05\00:21:28.25
because the brain
is neuroplastic wire,
00:21:28.28\00:21:30.75
it likes that response.
00:21:30.79\00:21:32.55
So your brain wants to
keep doing it and I find
00:21:32.59\00:21:35.76
now that it goes to
autopilot, that when I get
00:21:35.79\00:21:38.19
a bit stressed or I'm reacting,
I start doing the breathing,
00:21:38.23\00:21:41.16
not because I've
thought of it because my brain
00:21:41.20\00:21:43.63
has learned that that works
and it wants me to be relaxed.
00:21:43.67\00:21:48.17
So we don't have to
consciously do it all the time.
00:21:48.20\00:21:50.94
Once we get a mechanism that
works, the brain will rapidly
00:21:50.97\00:21:54.24
learn it and want to do it.
00:21:54.28\00:21:55.61
We re-do the habit,
we're changing the habit. Yes.
00:21:55.64\00:21:58.85
So one of the things we
would like to do in this program
00:21:59.61\00:22:02.25
is show how it
goes both ways. Yes.
00:22:02.28\00:22:04.85
And it's interesting
that in your physiology,
00:22:04.89\00:22:07.79
if you are on diet that
is inflaming your system,
00:22:07.82\00:22:11.59
such as our oxidized
oils that we have talked about
00:22:11.63\00:22:14.76
or fried foods, or foods that
are created through rotting,
00:22:14.80\00:22:18.10
fermenting and ageing
and inflammation is going up
00:22:18.13\00:22:20.74
in your body - it's
a physiological stress.
00:22:20.77\00:22:24.41
And this can make
your cholesterol go up.
00:22:24.44\00:22:26.54
It can also make your
stress go up where you are more
00:22:26.57\00:22:29.91
on tippy-edge ready to react
to things that are happening
00:22:29.94\00:22:33.01
in your environment
in ways that you wouldn't
00:22:33.05\00:22:34.68
otherwise react to
them had you been on a
00:22:34.72\00:22:36.99
calming diet, a more
nutritious diet, a diet
00:22:37.02\00:22:39.95
to help you so you have
lower inflammation. Yes.
00:22:39.99\00:22:42.39
Yes, so I see what you
mean, it goes both ways.
00:22:42.89\00:22:46.09
The things we eat can
raise the stress - the stress
00:22:46.13\00:22:48.16
raises the cholesterol.
00:22:48.23\00:22:49.56
And stress causes brain
inflammation and when the
00:22:49.60\00:22:51.57
brain is inflamed,
it's going to react.
00:22:51.60\00:22:53.23
So we're a whole
person aren't we? We are.
00:22:53.27\00:22:55.30
A total package. And
all of these things...
00:22:55.34\00:22:56.67
the mental, physical,
spiritual, social - they all
00:22:56.71\00:22:59.37
work together and if one
is working against the other,
00:22:59.41\00:23:03.11
it sets off this
chain reaction, so all of
00:23:03.14\00:23:05.68
these things are
very important. They are.
00:23:05.71\00:23:07.68
And I often work from body
to brain, not brain to body
00:23:09.45\00:23:13.15
which is most psychologists
will work with the brain,
00:23:13.19\00:23:15.56
but my work
starts with the body.
00:23:15.59\00:23:17.16
I think that's
fantastic because you
00:23:17.19\00:23:18.73
can do it both
ways, can't you? Yes!
00:23:18.76\00:23:20.20
Calm the
physiology calm the brain.
00:23:20.23\00:23:23.03
You bring inflammation down.
00:23:23.06\00:23:25.63
So that's what we do. Yes.
00:23:25.67\00:23:28.17
That's good that you
have two strings to your
00:23:28.20\00:23:32.34
bow so to speak,
with you know with using
00:23:32.37\00:23:35.41
the physical part and the
foods and so on and then you're
00:23:35.44\00:23:38.91
able to work from the
stress part and the mentor part
00:23:38.95\00:23:42.35
and how they both
work with each other.
00:23:42.38\00:23:44.82
There's a lot of research
in this area now and people
00:23:44.85\00:23:49.16
can access this just
online or in books that will
00:23:49.39\00:23:52.66
educate them and
help them to understand it
00:23:52.69\00:23:54.83
because if you understand
the brain and the body and the
00:23:54.86\00:23:56.63
connection, you
work a lot smarter.
00:23:56.67\00:23:58.70
They found in science that when
the brain knows how it works,
00:23:58.73\00:24:01.24
it works smarter. Sure.
00:24:01.27\00:24:02.64
So that's an important point.
00:24:02.67\00:24:04.61
Now we've talked about some of
the foods that raise cholesterol
00:24:04.64\00:24:08.51
as well because that's probably
the focus, it's the cholesterol,
00:24:08.54\00:24:11.88
we've looked at how stress can.
00:24:11.91\00:24:13.58
So what foods would
actually be low in cholesterol
00:24:13.62\00:24:17.45
or can help to
lower cholesterol?
00:24:17.49\00:24:19.55
We need to be very
clear on this because this is
00:24:19.59\00:24:22.62
what we're building up to.
00:24:22.66\00:24:24.33
What would be foods that
help our cholesterol to be low?
00:24:24.36\00:24:27.76
You have to realize why
your cholesterol goes high,
00:24:27.80\00:24:30.87
and there are three uses
of cholesterol in your body;
00:24:30.90\00:24:33.37
one is for cell walls,
one is also for hormones,
00:24:33.40\00:24:39.64
and the third one
as a digestive agent.
00:24:39.67\00:24:43.11
In your body, the #1 way
that cholesterol is used is
00:24:43.14\00:24:46.35
as a digestive agent and
here's the way it works...
00:24:46.38\00:24:50.02
When you eat food, it has
fat in it but your blood is
00:24:50.05\00:24:53.15
made out of water - you can't
mix fat and water very easily
00:24:53.19\00:24:57.29
and so you need an emulsifier,
a soap if you please. Yeah okay.
00:24:57.33\00:25:01.26
Cholesterol is that soap
that helps mix water and oil,
00:25:01.30\00:25:07.80
and so anything you eat
that will require more soap,
00:25:07.84\00:25:11.71
i.e., fats, is going
to raise your cholesterol.
00:25:11.74\00:25:15.61
If you think about the
hardest fat to wash off a plate
00:25:15.64\00:25:19.15
at dishwashing time...
We think of that sometime,
00:25:19.18\00:25:22.98
you know, is that
what I've put in my body
00:25:23.02\00:25:24.52
when I used to do things.
00:25:24.55\00:25:26.22
Then you've just discovered
the thing that will raise
00:25:26.25\00:25:28.32
your cholesterol the highest.
00:25:28.36\00:25:29.69
For example, if I had a
pat of butter on a plate,
00:25:29.72\00:25:32.26
and instead of taking a knife
and flipping it off into the
00:25:32.29\00:25:35.23
garbage, I decided I'm
going to melt that butter with
00:25:35.26\00:25:37.90
soap and water, it would
take a lot of soap and water
00:25:37.93\00:25:41.80
to melt that butter.
00:25:41.84\00:25:43.17
And so any food that's got
fat in it - be it cholesterol
00:25:43.20\00:25:46.54
food or animal shortening
or vegetable shortening,
00:25:46.57\00:25:50.28
it's going to take a certain
amount of soap to emulsify.
00:25:50.31\00:25:54.72
That said, when you eat
foods that have oils in them
00:25:55.15\00:25:59.52
that have been extracted, in
other words they went through
00:25:59.55\00:26:02.39
a phase where they were in
a bottle, then you're going
00:26:02.42\00:26:05.76
to have much higher cholesterol.
00:26:05.79\00:26:07.13
On the other hand, if
you're eating foods that have
00:26:07.16\00:26:09.36
their oils still
packaged as God packed them
00:26:09.40\00:26:12.30
with the fiber, then it's
going to have a less effect
00:26:12.33\00:26:16.57
to raise your cholesterol.
00:26:16.60\00:26:17.94
So in studies where they
compared cheese, which is a
00:26:17.97\00:26:20.68
hard fat and which
would take a lot of soap,
00:26:20.71\00:26:22.71
to vegetable oil, they
found if you switch from cheese
00:26:22.74\00:26:25.88
to vegetable oil, you
could drop your cholesterol
00:26:25.91\00:26:28.75
by about 20%. Wow.
00:26:28.78\00:26:30.69
But, if you switched from cheese
to eating nuts, like almonds,
00:26:30.72\00:26:34.76
you could drop your cholesterol
by 40% and so twice as good
00:26:34.79\00:26:39.53
an affect by changing
from a hard fat to a fat that
00:26:39.56\00:26:43.57
occurs naturally in nature.
00:26:43.60\00:26:45.13
And so we look at nuts, avocados
and olives and things like
00:26:45.17\00:26:49.74
that as good sources of
fat because they're packaged
00:26:49.77\00:26:52.37
as they should be.
00:26:52.41\00:26:54.04
But bottled oils, for
example, if you go and get a
00:26:54.08\00:26:58.58
bran muffin at your
local convenience store,
00:26:58.61\00:27:01.48
you look at the ingredients
- it's got lots of oil.
00:27:01.52\00:27:04.79
The bran isn't going to
counteract that oil because
00:27:04.82\00:27:07.26
that oil is not packaged
with the bran as it should be
00:27:07.29\00:27:10.89
as it would have been in a nut.
00:27:10.93\00:27:12.26
And you're going to get
high cholesterol from that oil
00:27:12.29\00:27:15.76
being in that product.
00:27:15.80\00:27:17.13
And so any fats in your diet
00:27:17.17\00:27:18.60
are going to
raise your cholesterol.
00:27:18.63\00:27:19.97
And that's what amuses
me with products, you go
00:27:20.00\00:27:22.00
and what they do is
extract everything from the seed
00:27:22.04\00:27:25.01
and then they use the
refined flour, then they add
00:27:25.04\00:27:27.04
back gluten but it was
in there the first time!
00:27:27.08\00:27:32.05
Why do you remove it?
00:27:32.08\00:27:33.88
We've altered so many
foods, so many foods and I don't
00:27:33.92\00:27:39.52
remember the figures but there
used to be an "X" amount of
00:27:39.55\00:27:43.43
foods in the supermarkets
and now there's many, many
00:27:43.46\00:27:47.53
times that many and they're
not new plants or anything
00:27:47.56\00:27:51.40
like that, they're just
things that have been altered,
00:27:51.43\00:27:53.37
and altered and
altered and packaged them
00:27:53.40\00:27:55.77
in just so many ways.
00:27:55.80\00:27:58.77
And so we've done a
disservice actually to the foods
00:27:58.81\00:28:02.68
we actually eat if we could
almost call some of them foods
00:28:02.71\00:28:05.88
and they haven't served
us very well but the stress
00:28:05.91\00:28:09.58
thing that you talked about
today has just been amazing
00:28:09.62\00:28:12.82
because I don't know whether
we really fully appreciate
00:28:12.85\00:28:16.83
what our thoughts
can do to our body. Yes.
00:28:16.86\00:28:20.43
One thought is enough
to tell the whole body.
00:28:20.46\00:28:22.96
Yes, that mind-body connection
is very powerful. Yes.
00:28:23.00\00:28:25.63
Thank you both so much for
what you've had to say today.
00:28:25.67\00:28:28.27
It's been a
really great program.
00:28:28.30\00:28:30.44
Well that's all for today
and you can view our programs
00:28:30.47\00:28:33.81
on demand if you'd like
to see them again by visiting
00:28:33.84\00:28:36.41
our website at:
3abnaustralia.org.au
00:28:36.44\00:28:40.15
Just click on the watch button.
00:28:40.18\00:28:41.88
And you can also
download our fact sheets.
00:28:41.92\00:28:44.75
You might not
remember everything we've said,
00:28:44.79\00:28:46.96
so you can do it that way and
if you have a health concern,
00:28:46.99\00:28:50.23
you'd like to discuss
with Dr. John Clark or Jenifer,
00:28:50.26\00:28:53.13
send an email to:
00:28:53.16\00:28:54.56
healthyliving@3abnaustrailia.org
.au
00:28:54.60\00:28:58.53
We look forward to
having you join us next time
00:28:58.57\00:29:00.74
on "Healthy Living."
00:29:00.77\00:29:03.00