[New Study] Sleep, Stress, & Anxiety

👋 Raise your hand if you want more resilience to stress!

Less anxiety?

Yes please 🤚

New research shows that one way to achieve these things is simply by getting BETTER SLEEP.

The study looked at data from 1600 healthy adults during 2020 (an anxious time for lots of people!). Most of the participants were women.

They found that both positive coping strategies and higher quality sleep made people more resilient to stress and anxiety—independently, meaning each of these things work on their own.

Need some tips & motivation for better sleep?

✅ Keep the room cool

✅ Turn off screens in the evening

✅ Commit to a calming routine

✅ Cut off caffeine in the afternoon

✅ Get exercise during the day!

We have lots of tools in our functional medicine toolbox to help with stress, anxiety, & sleep.

Like if you found this helpful ❤️

Reference

Sullivan EC, James E, Henderson LM, McCall C, Cairney SA. The influence of emotion regulation strategies and sleep quality on depression and anxiety [published online ahead of print, 2023 Jun 21]. Cortex. 2023;166:286-305. [link]

40% of Female Teens Deficient in This Nutrient

💃 If you’re a nonpregnant woman or teen, listen up.

A study just published in JAMA found 40% of US females between the ages of 12 and 21 were deficient in iron 🩸

Why should you care?

Because screening for iron deficiency is not routine for this age group!

Guidelines in the US recommend screening for iron-deficient anemia every 5-10 years, but this recent study found that only 6% of the participants actually had anemia, compared with the 40% with iron deficiency.

⚠️ That means iron deficiency can exist WITHOUT anemia and can easily be missed by routine screenings.

What can we do?

The best way to test for iron deficiency is with a blood test for ferritin 🩸It’s a simple thing, but your provider needs to be proactive to order it and know how to interpret it.

In functional medicine, we aim for optimal levels on blood tests, which are not always the same as what’s considered “normal.” If ferritin levels are low, this can usually be corrected through dietary changes and supplementation.

Do you know what the most common symptom of iron deficiency is? Drop your guess in the comments and I’ll let you know.

↗️ Share to your stories to spread the word!

Reference

Weyand AC, Chaitoff A, Freed GL, Sholzberg M, Choi SW, McGann PT. Prevalence of Iron Deficiency and Iron-Deficiency Anemia in US Females Aged 12-21 Years, 2003-2020. JAMA. 2023;329(24):2191–2193. [link]

4 Easy Ways to Eat More Fruits & Veg

Raise your hand if you feel the activities are ramping up since getting back to school and work this fall?

It’s easy to use “busy” as an excuse to eat on the run or to make less healthy choices, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Here are some tips to make sure you (and your loved ones) can be munching on fruits & veggies no matter your schedule.

1️⃣ Wash & Chop in Advance

Take a small block of time on Sunday (or each evening) to wash and chop veggies like peppers, carrots, and celery to store in the fridge. This makes it just as easy to grab those as it is to grab a snack from the pantry!

2️⃣ Set Fruit Front & Center

Place fruits that stay out on the counter, like apples, oranges, and bananas, in a bowl that stays front and center. That way when you or any of the kids pass through, they’ll be easy to grab.

3️⃣ Carry a Cooler Bag

Keep a small lunch box or cooler bag at the ready so you can throw in some chopped fruits and veggies to carry along on your errands, carpools, or park dates. This works when out and about by yourself or with kids.

4️⃣ Pack Lunch

Eating out for lunch often means fewer fruits and veggies. Packing your lunch is one of the surest ways to eat more produce through the middle part of your day. Plus, you’ll save time and money.

So much of habit formation has less to do with what’s going on in your brain and more to do with the environmental cues around you.

The reason these ideas ☝️work is because they leverage the power of your environment to make it just as easy to eat fruits and vegetables as it is to eat packaged or processed food.

Are you in?

Comment with your favorite fruit or veggie emoji! 🍓🥦🍉🥕

Text Neck? Try This!

📲 3 ways to combat text neck!!

Now that we’re all back to work and school after summer vacations, many of us are looking at our screens even more.

If your head is forward or shoulders slouched, it could be “text neck” and could create even worse problems (like headaches or back pain) over time.

Try these things:

1️⃣Bring Phone to Eye-Level

If you’re sitting at a desk while looking at your phone, prop it up on a stand. If you’re sitting on a couch or chair, prop your elbows on your stomach area so that your phone is in front of your face. Walking while looking at your phone? Your arms may just need to get tired.

2️⃣ Take Stretch Breaks

Take breaks to do some neck rolls, shoulder stretches, or just stare off into the distance. These breaks will not only benefit your posture but also help relax your vision and refresh your brain.

3️⃣ Open an App!

Ironically, the solution could be the same as the problem: an app! There are several apps that will guide you through exercises to improve posture, and most can be done in just 5 minutes a day.

Share this post with someone you think could benefit!

#textneck #postureproblems #posturetips #healthyhabits #elementsnatmed

🧘‍♀️Get Benefits from Yoga in Just Minutes

Quickly reset your nervous system with these yoga poses 🧘

Did you know you can benefit from yoga—even without committing long hours to the practice?

Our nervous systems are extremely resilient and responsive. Even taking just a few moments out of your day can help you focus your mind, relax your body, and better handle stress.

Try these!

1️⃣ Downward Facing Dog

Start on your hands and knees, with your wrists directly below your shoulders. Push up and back so that your legs and arms are straight and you are in an inverted “V.” Press your heels down toward the floor.

Benefits: Downward Facing Dog stretches the hamstrings and calves, releases tension in the back, and brings blood flow to the brain.

2️⃣ Cat-Cow

Start on your hands and knees in a table-top position. Inhale and tilt your pelvis back and head up for cow pose. Exhale, round your back, and tuck your tailbone and neck for cat. Repeat.

Benefits: Cat-Cow improves circulation to your back (to counteract sitting) and links the breath with movement to relieve stress.

3️⃣ Child’s Pose

From your hands and knees, sit back on your ankles while spreading your knees out wide. Allow your hands to extend out in front of your head. Let your belly rest between your thighs and your forehead touch the floor.

Benefits: Child’s Pose gently stretches the back and shoulders while calming the mind.

Whether or not you go to yoga classes or have a practice of your own, these exercises are available to you anytime anywhere.

Will you add them into your daily routine?