Think These Help You Relax? Think again!
Wish you had more energy to get through your day? Overdosed with stress and ready to chill out? The common ways in which people relax often have the opposite effect. Find out what these methods of relaxation really do to your body.
SUGAR AND SWEETS
Whether they are white or brown sugar, honey or fruit sugars, found in some drinks and fresh fruit, you can expect them to give you a quick energy boost followed by an energy lag and fatigue. When you eat foods high in sugar, the sugar quickly passes from your digestive system into your blood. In response, your pancreas releases more insulin to help your cells use this energy, but then your blood sugar actually drops down rapidly thereafter. As your blood sugar level drops, your body craves for more sugary foods that can release energy quickly into your bloodstream.
This hi-lo effect on your blood sugar level is the reason why you often feel tired, irritable or nervous after eating sweets or desserts. Even more importantly, candies, cookies, sodas, and other sweets are often low in nutrients. When you load up on sweets, you are missing out on minerals, vitamins, and fiber you could get from vegetables, proteins, grains and other healthy foods.
CAFFEINE
There’s a reason why we want that cup of coffee in the morning or again during the day. Caffeine gives us that instant energy boost we often seek. The problem is that caffeine found in coffee, tea, appetite suppressants, and cold medicine acts as a stimulant to your central nervous system and drains your energy over time by using up your stored B vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients you need to cope with stress. Caffeine also can cause sleeplessness and stomach upset from excess acid production. If you have trouble sleeping, you may want to avoid drinking caffeine at least six hours before bedtime.
Caffeine is a drug to which your body becomes addicted. Withdrawal symptoms include headaches, nervousness, grouchiness, and a rapid heartbeat. If you decide to break away from the caffeine, stop in gradual steps over several weeks before switching to full decaf. Rest assured, your energy will return to its normal level before you started using caffeine.
CIGARETTES AND TOBACCO
Have you ever looked forward to "lighting up"? That moment when smoking gives you a sense of relaxation and pleasure? Of course! That’s the initial attraction to smoking that keeps us coming back to it-plus our bodies seeking the source of our addiction. The problem is that the nicotine that goes into your bloodstream and tar and resin, into your lungs, actually trigger a stress response in your body. Your heart beat, blood pressure, breathing rate and hormone levels increase. Cigarettes actually put more stress on your body rather than help you to relax.
If you’d like to quit, please see our article on Tips on Quitting Smoking for additional information and referrals. Also, check with your health care provider who may have effective programs to quit smoking.
DRUGS, Both Legal and Not
Cocaine, amphetamines, and other stimulants. Depressed, lonely, or anxious? Or just plain stressed out? These feelings and life’s pressures can overwhelm any one of us. These wonder drugs may seem like the answer, or we may use them to counter the down effects of alcohol or sedatives we use to relax. These drugs give an instant energy boost and feelings of pleasure. Stimulants increase alertness and fight fatigue by speeding up brain activity, heart rate, metabolism, and respiration. Those who use cocaine believe it makes them work faster. Amphetamines or "speed," often made synthetically in illegal labs or found in legal drugs prescribed for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders, make users feel more competent and smart.
By using drugs though, we may be trading one set of problems for another. These drugs often have serious side effects, causing irritability, anxiety, delusions, sleeplessness, convulsions, strokes, heart attacks, and even death with one use. Our original problems remain unsolved, and the withdrawal symptoms of depression and anxiety can be painful-reasons why these drugs are so difficult to quit. With help, you can overcome these feelings, learn better ways to cope and quit for good as many have. Through proper diagnosis, you may discover that you are suffering from depression or a mood disorder. Often people use drugs to self-treat an illness they are unaware of. Your health provider or local mental health clinic may be able to provide you with the appropriate counseling and treatment.
If you decide to quit or someone you care about is using drugs, many treatment programs and support groups can provide you with the treatment, support and help you need. These can be found easily on-line, through your health provider, and local mental health agencies and clinics.
Marijuana or "pot." You probably know the reasons for marijuana’s strong appeal: relaxation and pleasure. Although marijuana has been used recreationally in the U.S. since the early twentieth century, researchers still don’t understand all of the drug’s long-term effects on health, and people are more likely to be misinformed about marijuana than any other drug. However, more studies are concluding marijuana’s harmful effects on health, most of which we probably have suspected all along. And we should pay attention as these facts are based on scientific studies and not hype or scare tactics.
The short-term effects of using the drug include an increased heart beat, impaired memory, poor concentration, loss of coordination, delayed reaction time, and anxiety. Some of these effects may last up to 24 hours after smoking marijuana and certainly pose serious health and safety hazards for driving.
People often wonder whether marijuana is truly addictive and whether it’s possible to use the drug responsibly. Studies have shown that some frequent users experience withdrawal symptoms of irritability, anxiety, mood changes, and insomnia that make it difficult to stop using the drug. Even with moderate use, it’s possible to become so preoccupied with the experience of using marijuana that all we may think about is getting more of the drug. Without even realizing that we’re losing control of our lives, we may continue to seek the drug even though it no longer brings us pleasure. According to a national survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration, over 120,000 people seek help to stop using marijuana each year.
The side effects of long-term use may include paranoia, lung disease, a weakened immune system, harm to fetal growth, increased risks of infertility, and a heart attack. Some studies have demonstrated that three months of daily marijuana use created pre-cancerous cell changes! Is it worth the risk?
If you decide to quit or someone you care about is using marijuana, many treatment programs and support groups can provide the treatment and help you need. These can be found easily on-line, through your health provider, and local mental health agencies and clinics.
ALCOHOL
Have you ever felt so stressed that you think, "I’d love a drink right about now"? Have you ever been in a social situation and early on, get a "drink"? Or perhaps, look forward to that drink at lunch or at the end of work. We often associate booze with fun and relaxation. Moderate drinking of wine may even have some health benefits, as reported recently.
But, because of alcohol’s addictive qualities, what begins as moderation, often becomes an addiction. Reliance and use often grow. Suddenly we find we’re dependent, both physically and psychologically. Without even realizing our lives may begin to change, alcohol becomes the outlet and relief for our problems. Yet, we may be trading one set of problems for bigger ones.
It’s important to realize that alcohol depresses your central nervous system and relaxes your muscles initially but ends up draining your energy. Because alcohol is so addictive, as more gets consumed over time (often, to mask stressors) so does damage to your health and life. The stressors remain, may even grow or change, until they are dealt with effectively.
It’s important to remember that you’re not alone in this problem or in the solutions and recovery. There are many support programs, peer group assistance, and expert advice when you’re ready for them. These can be found easily on-line, through your health provider, and local mental health agencies and clinics, as well as contacting such national support sources as ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS (http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org).
If your alcohol, drug, or substance use is not at dangerous consumption levels or at an abuse stage where professional and personal assistance is needed, our articles on relaxation may be helpful. You may want to read 6 Great Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body and 6 Relaxation Exercises to Reduce Stress.