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Teens, Stress, & Anxiety—Turning a Mess into a Masterpiece

8/19/2019

Their cries are silent but visible.

According to a 2017 National Institute of Mental Health report, an anxiety disorder is present in 38% of female teens and 26.1% of male teens. Experienced infrequently, anxiety is a normal response to stress. The concern arises when feelings of anxiety occur more often than not throughout a six-month period. Psychologists refer to this as chronic stress. The constant presence of anxiety in teens alters the emotional and physical framework in which they previously thrived. Anxiety affects teens emotionally (irritability, outbursts), socially (isolating from peer group), physically (headaches, gastrointestinal problems, excessive fatigue, decreased immune function, obesity), sleep-wise (difficulty falling and staying asleep), academically (difficulty focusing and executing assignments), and can lead to symptoms of a panic attack (rapid heartbeats, sweating, dizziness).

Truth is, today’s teens often deal with more day-to-day stress than teens of any other generation. They struggle to find their place among cyberbulling and social media perfection. It takes one click of a mouse or tap of the finger for a negative comment to post and likewise, it’s easier than ever to manipulate photos and stories to create a false reality that leads others to feel an inferior existence. Digital Stress, as it’s termed, is real. Negative interactions in emails, texts, chat rooms, and social media is foreign to adults who grew up with phones located in the heart of the home and no internet. As Dorothy says, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

What do we do?

From an emotional standpoint, we listen to learn teens’ perspective— never minimizing their thoughts and feelings. From a tangible standpoint, eating healthy foods, exercise, sleep, outdoor time, and avoiding caffeine, soda, and sugar are key. Research also emphasizes the importance of adults managing cell phone and internet usage for youth, long before a child becomes a teen. And speaking of those preteen years, it’s important for adults to model appropriate cell phone and social media use and discuss internet and social media privacy concerns.

From a physical standpoint, deep-breathing exercises and yoga are proven stress management techniques. So, too, is helping teens change their self-talk from negative to positive and encouraging time with positive friends. Perhaps most overlooked, is the importance of teens taking a break from their scheduled lives.
Among the research and educated opinions spouted by agencies and health professionals there is a common thread. All agree on the importance of three things: nutrition, healthy habits, and adult presence.
Coupling healthy nutrition with healthy habits (adequate sleep, limited social media, balanced responsibility load, etc.) along with adults who listen to their teens’ concerns is a recipe for success. Sure, you may deal with a boiling personality or burnt feelings as you help teens navigate their world but one thing is certain, they’ll remember you stepping into their kitchen and doing your best to help them look at their world, as messy as it may be, as a masterpiece waiting to happen.

by Evelyn Lauterbach

Helping Teens Be Kind to Themselves

8/14/2019

Shame is seen as a dark emotion, much like grief and anger. It makes you feel inferior, unworthy, and not good enough. The society we live in is a pressure cooker for breeding shame in our youth.

Brené Brown’s work shows shame is highly correlated with addiction, depression, eating disorders, violence, suicide, bullying, and aggression. It shows itself when we close off from others, and distance ourselves through a sense of not belonging.
Have you ever taken the time to think about the definition of shame?
Perhaps you thought that being ashamed is the feeling when you do something dishonourable, disgraceful, or immoral?
Shame self-talk is the feeling “I am bad” (as opposed to guilt which is “I’ve done something bad”), “I am not good enough” and “who would want me?”.

Here is the revelation that we need to teach our kids: Shame is rooted in our innate desire to be loved. It’s a pretty innocent emotion, and unites us all in the common desire to be liked and accepted. Shame is rooted in the belief that something is wrong with us, making us unlovable or flawed such that we cannot be accepted by others.
The antidote to shame is self compassion. Growing up, we were taught to be kind and compassionate toward others, but nobody ever taught us the crucial skills to be kind and compassionate toward ourselves! This means talking to yourself in the same way you talk to someone you love when they are struggling.

How to help a teen be kind to themselves
Teach them about shame, and it’s root in simply wanting to be loved and accepted. Encourage them to write down how they might speak and act compassionately towards their best friend when they see them having a hard time. Then ask them to write down how they might speak and act towards themselves in the same, compassionate way. Help them discover what triggers them. It could be their appearance, comparing themselves to others on social media, or making a mistake in class. Encourage them to talk about it, as secrecy intensifies shame. It cannot survive being spoken about, and being met with the empathy of someone trusted. Be empathetic and listen. Give them a reality check: would they treat their best friends the same way they are treating themselves?

Most teens add to their struggles by unnecessarily judging themselves when problems and challenges arise. When they learn to treat themselves with the same kindness and compassion they show their friends, youth can build confidence, reduce their stress and anxiety, and face life's challenges with more balance and resilience.
It’s comforting for them to know that when they feel alone, useless, and hopeless, there are some very simple things they can do to support themselves.

Zen Lemon Aid for Anxiety

8/7/2019

Anxiety is the most common mental illness in Canada. At least 1 in 4 Canadians will suffer from an anxiety disorder once in their lifetime! And these numbers only reflect those who report their symptoms. Many suffer in silence with subclinical symptoms for years. If you start asking amongst your friends, you’ll start to realize anxiety has become an epidemic in our society.

Anxiety has a wide range of symptoms. It can leave you feeling irritable, it interferes with sleep leaving you fatigued, and it affects your ability to concentrate. Anxiety also tends to cause you to avoid social situations, therefore you miss out on the friendships and social contact that can be so soothing and healing. Anxiety propagates intrusive and negative thoughts in your mind, building a vicious, self-feeding cycle that can be hard to break.

A simple way to take the edge off anxiety is Truehope Inositol. Double-blind trials have shown it to be effective for anxiety, panic, and moodiness so we always keep it close. Our Zen Lemon Aid is the perfect and delicious way to take it. Here’s the simple recipe:

Ingredients:

2 tbsp Truehope Inositol
½ cup filtered water
2 tbsp lemon juice

3 steps to zen:

Put all ingredients into a shaker
Shake vigorously
Take a deep breath in, then out. Now enjoy sipping your Zen Lemon Aid.

(Makes 4 servings)

Zen Lemon Aid is not just effective for adults, but also proven to be safe and effective for teens and kids too!

It’s an ideal supplement to take that dulls anxiety, making other holistic and lifestyle strategies more feasible to implement… because anyone with anxiety knows that trying to do things like meditate when you’re anxious is challenging!

Essential Nutrients to Support Your Thyroid

7/31/2019

Nutrient deficiencies have a significant impact on your thyroid, and can be easily resolved! Unfortunately, there are many people who are taking thyroid medication when the real answer for them is better nutrition! Today we’re going to review the six most important nutrients that support thyroid function, and in doing so support your metabolism, your bones, brain and mental health!

Iodine
Iodine is an essential component of the thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). You cannot produce thyroid hormones without it. You can find iodine in Truehope Nascent Iodine Advanced, sea vegetables like dulse, kelp and nori, plus fish, shellfish, diary, eggs and iodized salt.

Selenium
Selenium is involved in thyroid hormone synthesis, and in the conversion of the inactive form of thyroid hormone T4 into the active form T3 that your tissues use. It’s also connected to lower thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies whose presence show you have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. The most efficient source of selenium is consuming 2-3 brazil nuts per day.

Zinc
Zinc is involved in the production of thyroid hormones, and it works with selenium to increase the conversion of T4 to T3, while also helping improve cellular sensitivity to thyroid hormones. A zinc deficiency can lower thyroid hormone by as much as 30%! Food sources of zinc include oysters and other shellfish, meat, eggs, nuts and dairy.

Iron
Iron helps the enzyme thyroid peroxidase make thyroid hormone. Iron deficiency reduces hormone production. Unfortunately hypothyroidism also reduces stomach acid, making it harder to absorb iron from food. This makes the combination of hypothyroidism and low iron a vicious cycle if a conscious effort isn’t made to consume iron rich foods in combination with effective supplementation. Make sure you monitor your iron levels. If they are low, consume liver, red meat, spinach, beans and lentils, and speak to a nutritionist or naturopath about supplementation and how to support the absorption of minerals.

Vitamin A
Vitamin A helps with improving cellular sensitivity to thyroid hormones. Vitamin A is found in animal based foods like liver, meats, eggs, and beta carotene (which the body converts into vitamin A). Beta carotene can be found in broccoli, spinach, and most dark green, leafy vegetables.

Vitamin D
Vitamin D helps prevent and treat autoimmunity by modulating the immune system, so it’s an important nutrient in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. People with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis are 58% more likely to be deficient in vitamin D than the general population. Latitude, sunscreen, aging, skin pigmentation, and an indoor lifestyle contribute to vitamin D deficiency. Unfortunately, due to our latitude and short summers, Vitamin D supplementation is essential for Canadians.

A note about gluten
If you’re struggling with your thyroid, and especially if you are diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, you must strictly remove gluten from your diet due to the strong connection between Celiac and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

The food you prepare in your kitchen holds a lot of power when it comes to the healthy functioning of your thyroid. Add the foods we’ve mentioned to your grocery list, and start supporting your thyroid! If symptoms persist see your doctor, but not before you read our article “Why You Still Have Hypothyroid Symptoms Despite Normal TSH”.

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Teens, Stress, & Anxiety—Turning a Mess into a Masterpiece

Helping Teens Be Kind to Themselves

Zen Lemon Aid for Anxiety

Essential Nutrients to Support Your Thyroid

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