Base FMM

Consults are open from next week, each Tuesday from 1-6pm!

Online consults are available other times ✨

Enquire via the form on my website.

For those who don’t already know them, this is ! I’ve had a few people question me asking why I’d work in a gym space which made me realise that maybe not everyone knows what PCG are about!

PGC are a community minded, body inclusive gym who welcome all bodies shapes and sizes, beliefs, location etc.

They try to make wellness as accessible as possible and seriously work their butts off to make that possible. They do tiered payments, community dinners, their own power lifting competitions and so much more.

When I saw this space open up to work alongside them and the other amazing allied health team they’ve got (go and check them out!!!) I couldn’t let this opportunity go. There isn’t a more perfect place I would want to work.

With health and nutrition being so far out of reach of so many communities, I’m excited to start working somewhere that’s closing that gap.

Appointments open from next Tuesday, let’s chat!

To end the week talking of stress, why don’t you try out this brilliant salad!

A customer at work suggested I made this and I’m so glad I did. It’s a Hellenic Repubilics grain salad and it’s packed with amazing grains, nuts, herbs, oils and fruits!

For a gluten free version swap the cracked wheat for quinoa or buckwheat! I’ve added some h**p oil for some omega-3s and some tahini on top instead of yoghurt!

Try it out this weekend 🥗

Now that we know more about how stress effects health, what food and practices can we use to reduce stress? 🧠

Food-wise, there are lots of things we can do to help regulate our nervous system:

- Protein in each meal: protein is used for the making of neurotransmitters like serotonin, GABA and dopamine that we need for a good mood
- Wholegrains: needed for sustained energy so we don’t get low in blood sugar
- Green tea: which stops the binding of glutamate which is an excitatory neurotransmitter (anxiety producing)
- Magnesium, zinc and B vitamin rich foods, to help with relaxation: nuts, seeds, legumes, wholegrains, nori, green leafy vegetables
- Omega-3 rich foods to lower inflammation: including walnuts, flaxseed, h**p seeds, and chia seeds

As for practices you can do to improve your stress response, there are many things we can do:

- Deep breathing, studies have shown that breathing slowly (about 6 breaths per minute) has been shown to calm the nervous system
- Meditation: using apps like Insight timer or Headspace are good place to start
- Yoga
- Exercise
- Cold water or an ice pack on the forehead
- Chanting or OM

Now we know some ways to help regulate our nervous systems we can begin to make them a practice and heal our bodies.

Do you do any of these things already? Or are you keen to start? Tell me about it!

Like was discussed in the last post, prolonged bouts of stress can effect the body and lead to disease.

Stress can damage brain tissue leading to poor moods, memory issues, and changes in cognition. Stress also has a big impact on the immune system whereby it increases circulating immune cells, and in chronic stress, this can turn in to a state of inflammation. Chronic inflammation can then lead to diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, autoimmune disease, and mental health issues.

There is an interesting link between depression and inflammation, where normally the brain would signal the synthesis of serotonin and melatonin from the protein tryptophan to go into the brain and create happy feelings and regular sleeping patterns, but where the body is stressed and then in a state of inflammation, the tryptophan gets ‘stolen’ and then made into another product called 3-hydroxykynuernine. This product is an inflammatory compound, and can promote depression and insomnia 😴

Another interesting link, is the link between stress and gut health. In the gut, there is a lining that keeps toxins, bacteria, and larger products (like food particles) out of the rest of the system as it absorbs what it needs and removes the waste products. When there is chronic stress however, this lining becomes inflamed and ‘leaky’, making toxins, bacteria and other products available to the rest of the body. This causes issues because it causes an immune reaction and further inflammation. Also, chronic stress can alter the gut bacteria and favours the growth of ‘bad’ bacteria instead of ‘good’. This can lead to things like food intolerances, bloating, gas, and nausea 🦠

Follow on tomorrow as we talk about what practices and food we can use to help manage stress. But for now… go and take a walk.