#dailydchallenge

Ever notice how when you go and sit at the beach, or find yourself surrounded by trees that you just find yourself taking deeper breaths, feeling more relaxed and at peace? Research has shown that taking nature walks outside can enhance mental health, as well as significantly lower levels of depression and feelings of stress ___ Research gathered from the New Zealand Health Survey found that living somewhere with a view of the ocean is associated with improved mental health __ Studies also found that those who walked for 90 minutes in a natural environment setting reported lower levels of rumination and reduced neural activity in the part of the brain that is related to mental illness ___ Don’t forget to take off your shoes and practice earthing ,which is based on the theory that the Earth carries negative charges, which are rich in electrons, which act as a source of antioxidants and free-radical destroying electrons __ Grounding can promote feelings of well-being, enhance overall health, reduce pain, improve immune responses and positively affect various circulating chemical factors related to inflammation. Grounding also appears to improve sleep, reduce stress and reduce blood viscosity __ Take advantage of the health promoting benefits of playing in the sun with the #dailydchallenge ,as Vitamin D, which our bodies can make when exposed to sunlight, up-regulates your body’s ability to deal with infections, as it produces over 200 various peptides that deal with immune support and is also responsible for producing cytokines, which are small proteins that deal with the immune response __ #briannapproved #grounding #earthing #functionalmedicine #holistichealth #dailyD #vitaminD #sunshine #circadianrhythm #vitaminsea (at Barrio Costero) https://www.instagram.com/p/CB8cOTnjRi2/?igshid=1t28456n71514

Did you know research published in Psychology Today has shown chronic pain might not only be caused by physical injury but also by stress and emotional issues!? ——- We need to take our emotional health as seriously as we take our physical health….we value the body more than we value the mind, which often times should be reversed ___ When we feel sick we go to the doctor, but when we feel emotionally imbalanced we often suppress it or find unhealthy coping mechanism to put in the back burner, which many times backfires at a later time in your life ——— Practicing emotional hygiene, meaning that we place importance on taking care of our emotions, our minds, our thoughts, our positive and negative self-talk, our relationship with our bodies and food, our participation in unhealthy relationships (friendships, romantic, co-workers etc) our past psychological stressors and emotional traumas, should be AS important if not more important than placing importance on our physical health ——— Research has found that having balance with your mind and body is important for not only your mental health, but also for your cardiovascular, hormonal and immune system health ——- Studies have found that people who habitually engage in negative emotions and thinking experience greater feelings of stress and physical pain (due to increases in cortisol and prolactin, which deal with pain) and are also at an increased risk of developing heart disease and stroke _____ You can regain emotional balance by engaging your prefrontal cortex and amygdala, two areas of the brain that deal with emotions, decision making and logical thinking by increasing your intake of quality omega fatty acids (#tacotuesday and #fishtacos), as well as getting quality, restorative sleep, engaging in physical activity that you actually enjoy (motion is the lotion, you don’t have to spend hours at the gym), playing outside and #grounding, practicing gratitude and managing your daily stress, which includes removing pro-inflammatory people, energy and thoughts (including your own) from your life —— #briannaapproved #dailyDchallenge #vitaminD #recoveringsuperspaz #brainhealth #balance #stress #cortisol #holistichealth (at F45 Training Shrewsbury) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_4oOBjAL8E/?igshid=vkqz36cxfn7i

Did you know research published in Psychology Today has shown chronic pain might not only be caused by physical injury but also by stress and emotional issues!? ——- We need to take our emotional health as seriously as we take our physical health….we value the body more than we value the mind, which often times should be reversed ___ When we feel sick we go to the doctor, but when we feel emotionally imbalanced we often suppress it or find unhealthy coping mechanism to put in the back burner, which many times backfires at a later time in your life ——— Practicing emotional hygiene, meaning that we place importance on taking care of our emotions, our minds, our thoughts, our positive and negative self-talk, our relationship with our bodies and food, our participation in unhealthy relationships (friendships, romantic, co-workers etc) our past psychological stressors and emotional traumas, should be AS important if not more important than placing importance on our physical health ——— Research has found that having balance with your mind and body is important for not only your mental health, but also for your cardiovascular, hormonal and immune system health ——- Studies have found that people who habitually engage in negative emotions and thinking experience greater feelings of stress and physical pain (due to increases in cortisol and prolactin, which deal with pain) and are also at an increased risk of developing heart disease and stroke _____ You can regain emotional balance by engaging your prefrontal cortex and amygdala, two areas of the brain that deal with emotions, decision making and logical thinking by increasing your intake of quality omega fatty acids (#tacotuesday and #fishtacos), as well as getting quality, restorative sleep, engaging in physical activity that you actually enjoy (motion is the lotion, you don’t have to spend hours at the gym), playing outside and #grounding, practicing gratitude and managing your daily stress, which includes removing pro-inflammatory people, energy and thoughts (including your own) from your life —— #briannaapproved #dailyDchallenge #vitaminD #recoveringsuperspaz #brainhealth #balance #stress #cortisol #holistichealth (at Asbury Park Boardwalk) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9jQmECA5Tp/?igshid=1oeafm6mcjewg

Did you know 85% of chemicals that are used don’t require safety testing!? In fact, in 1976 the Toxic Substance Control Act grandfathered in 62,000 chemicals, which were never tested by the EPA ______ To date, 84,000 chemicals are used in our food, with toxic chemical exposure being tied to $340 billion in US health costs _______ Nutrition is much more than what we chose to eat, it is understanding our hormone interaction, micronutrient deficiencies, biochemical individuality, blood type, lifestyle factors and genetic influences and how they all play a role in the development, progression or expression of health, disease, wellness and longevity ——— Reducing oxidative damage, minimizing exposure to environmental toxins, managing our stress response and optimizing gut, liver and lymphatic health are areas of nutrition that should be discussed and assessed when taking a functional, preventative and personalized approach towards thriving (not just surviving) health _____ Increasing Vitamin D levels (as 40-70% of the population is deficient in this pro-regulatory hormone), as well as Magnesium (80% of Americans are deficient) B12 (methyl form is important as 1 in 4 Americans have suboptimal levels, low stomach acid and decreased production of intrinsic factor are imperative to absorb B12) Omega 3s (which inhibits the secretion of inflammatory factors such as COX2 and NF-KB) as well as liver supporting herbs such as burdock, ginger root, goldenseal and milk thistle can provide the missing link between what is necessary for optimal health and what is missing from our food supply ——— Understanding the role of nutriton (food quality, lifestyle factors, stress, sleep and hormone health) in preventing age and lifestyle related diseases, such as cancer, obesity and even Alzheimer's, is imperative when you are working towards identifying and reducing early biomarkers (such as inflammation) for disease development —— #briannaapproved #inflammation #holistichealth #functionalmedicine #dailydchallenge #bvitamins #fishtacos #preventativehealth #TCM #foodismedicine #plantcompounds (at Talula's) https://www.instagram.com/p/B34QYRlgOaI/?igshid=1a00aikb5mj4b

Inflammation Root Causes 101 ___ 1. Food (even “healthy” foods that might not be healthy for you) 2. Infections/bacteria/pathogens 3. Nutritional imbalances and nutrient deficiencies 4. Dysbiotic microbiota 5. STRESS (all of its forms), lifestyle factors, slack of sleep, 6. Hormone Imbalances 7. Xenobiotic and enviormental toxins (xeno comes from the Greek word foreign) ___ Inflammation isn’t all bad, it is your body’s non-specific response (and natural defense) against damaged cells, foreign invaders, pathogens, viruses, bacteria, toxins and various stressors we encounter on a daily basis ____ The body can get confused sometimes and mistakes inflammation for infection, which then tells your body to start the healing and anti-inflammatory cascade system throughout the body…this isn’t always a good thing though. This would be similar to thinking before you speak…you know you just blurt out whatever is on your mind and then you take a few minutes to think about and realized maybe you overreacted, however, the damage is done and the words can’t be taken back ____ There are 2 different types of inflammation, acute and chronic; acute inflammation starts quickly and can go away in a few days while chronic inflammation can last for months or years ____ How do we mitigate our body’s inflammatory response?! First we want to identify what some of our main triggers are (ie what is causing our body to release inflammatory cytokines in the first place) ___ Focus on reducing these triggers and reducing our stress and toxic load overall…don’t stress about stress! ____ Make quality lifestyle changes such as optimizing sleep hygiene, giving the body rest (listening to your body when it needs it), cutting back on pro-inflammatory foods (individual to each person) and pro- inflammatory people and drinking purified water ___ Play in the sun, practice grounding, laugh and stop micro-managing every aspect of your health….give your body a break sometimes, get back to the basics, learn to listen to the symptoms and be kind to yourself —— #briannaapproved #holistichealth #dailydchallenge #inflammation #functionalhealth #adrenals #thyroid #recoveringsuperspaz (at Baltimore, Maryland) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2WZvcsg6sP/?igshid=n0lgwhssgzc

Did you know depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting about 121 million people!? Low vitamin D levels had been associated with an increased risk of developing depression ———- Recent research has shown high-dose vitamin D and bright light therapy is helpful in decreasing symptoms of depression ——— The mechanism by which Vitamin D influences mood is through vitamin D receptors found in the hypothalamus, which may be important in neuroendocrine functioning ——- Vitamin D deficiency is defined as a level less than 20 ng/mL and vitamin D insufficiency is a level less than 30 ng/mL, so make sure to get your levels checked before heading into the indoor weather months ——- Vitamin D is produced endogenously in the skin from sun exposure; during exposure to sunlight, 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC) in the skin is converted to previtamin D3 ——- Where you live, time of year and time of day can all influence how much Vitamin D your skin actually makes; above and below approximately 33° latitude little if any vitamin D3 is made in the skin during winter (this means it would be a good time of year to increase your Vitamin D supplementation or use UVB safe tanning beds) ——— An increase in the peak angle of the sun during winter and early morning and late afternoon results in a longer path for the solar UVB rays to travel through the ozone layer, which can influence absorption ——— Vitamin D3 production is influenced by skin pigmentation, sunscreen use, time of day, season, latitude, altitude, and air pollution —— #briannaapproved #dailyD #vitaminD #dailyDchallenge #sun #sunshine #hormones #immunehealth #moodsupport #mitochondrialhealth #holistichealth #functionalmedicine #tanningbed #tanning (at Bradley Beach, New Jersey) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2RI1xMgEcE/?igshid=d2dsrtf245by

Did you know research published in Psychology Today has shown chronic pain might not only be caused by physical injury but also by stress and emotional issues!? ——- We need to take our emotional health as seriously as we take our physical health….we value the body more than we value the mind, which often times should be reversed ___ When we feel sick we go to the doctor, but when we feel emotionally imbalanced we often suppress it or find unhealthy coping mechanism to put in the back burner, which many times backfires at a later time in your life ——— Practicing emotional hygiene, meaning that we place importance on taking care of our emotions, our minds, our thoughts, our positive and negative self-talk, our relationship with our bodies and food, our participation in unhealthy relationships (friendships, romantic, co-workers etc) our past psychological stressors and emotional traumas, should be AS important if not more important than placing importance on our physical health ——— Research has found that having balance with your mind and body is important for not only your mental health, but also for your cardiovascular, hormonal and immune system health ——- Studies have found that people who habitually engage in negative emotions and thinking experience greater feelings of stress and physical pain (due to increases in cortisol and prolactin, which deal with pain) and are also at an increased risk of developing heart disease and stroke _____ You can regain emotional balance by engaging your prefrontal cortex and amygdala, two areas of the brain that deal with emotions, decision making and logical thinking by increasing your intake of quality omega fatty acids, as well as getting quality, restorative sleep, engaging in physical activity that you actually enjoy (motion is the lotion, you don’t have to spend hours at the gym), playing outside, practicing gratitude and managing your daily stress, which includes removing pro-inflammatory people, energy and thoughts (including your own) from your life —— #briannaapproved #dailyDchallenge #vitaminD #recoveringsuperspaz #brainhealth #balance #stress #cortisol #holistichealth #fishtacos #grounding #omegas #tacotuesday (at Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1jmT4igE0x/?igshid=d5fjbkuksny0

Ever notice how when you go and sit at the beach, or find yourself surrounded by trees that you just find yourself taking deeper breaths, feeling more relaxed and at peace? Research has shown that taking nature walks outside can enhance mental health, as well as significantly lower levels of depression and feelings of stress ___ Research gathered from the New Zealand Health Survey found that living somewhere with a view of the ocean is associated with improved mental health __ Studies also found that those who walked for 90 minutes in a natural environment setting reported lower levels of rumination and reduced neural activity in the part of the brain that is related to mental illness ___ Don’t forget to take off your shoes and practice earthing ,which is based on the theory that the Earth carries negative charges, which are rich in electrons, which act as a source of antioxidants and free-radical destroying electrons __ Grounding can promote feelings of well-being, enhance overall health, reduce pain, improve immune responses and positively affect various circulating chemical factors related to inflammation. Grounding also appears to improve sleep, reduce stress and reduce blood viscosity __ Take advantage of the health promoting benefits of playing in the sun with the #dailydchallenge ,as Vitamin D, which our bodies can make when exposed to sunlight, up-regulates your body’s ability to deal with infections, as it produces over 200 various peptides that deal with immune support and is also responsible for producing cytokines, which are small proteins that deal with the immune response __ #briannapproved #grounding #earthing #functionalmedicine #holistichealth #vitaminD #dailyD #cortisol #recoveringsuperspaz (at Ravello, Amalfi Coast, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0nn5JaAoID/?igshid=1h218isweq96c