Tuesday, May 17, 2011
L-theanine To The Rescue!
Adult Children Of Alcoholics often have stress and may have a hard time dealing with it. Here is a natural supplement that can help. L-theanine is an amino acid found in green tea and other natural substances. According to Dr. John Gray, Ph.D, "Japanese monks consumed special, L-theanine rich tea in order to enhance their experience of meditation."
L-theanine is known to help calm anxiety or nervousness and even to improve the quality of sleep. It is referred to by some as the "Nirvana Factor" for it's ability to promote feelings of serenity and peace. You won't have to drink gallons of green tea to get the effect. This magic amino is available in concentrated pill form at many health food stores and vitamin shops.
It can be taken any time, preferably on an empty stomach and is great for calming down around bed time. The recommended dose is 200- 400 mg two or three times a day. Dr. Gray recommends taking it for insomnia as well as general use. L-theanine has few, if any, negative side effects.
Check out the Orange County ACA website at: Orange County Adult Children
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
How ACAs Can Improve Their Health, Reduce Stress And Slow Aging
In 1997, The ACE Study (Adverse Childhood Experiences) revealed that unresolved childhood trauma can lead to higher incidence of chronic diseases including depression, heart disease, pulmonary disease, substance abuse, suicide attempts, impairment of health and social well being and even early death.
New research corroborates that the trauma adult children of alcoholics experienced can have a big impact on their health and ultimately, their actual lifespan. There is a biological component that regulates aging. It can be significantly affected by stress, PTSD and trauma. The good news is there is a simple way to reverse the negative impact and live a healthier, longer life.
Telomeres are tiny but important bits of DNA at the very end of each chromosome in your body. Telomeres keep your chromosomes intact and as they shorten with age and stress, your cells lose their ability to divide and replicate and eventually die. This is part of the natural aging process.
Studies have been done relating to psychological stress and telomere shortening, including one that examined people with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Not only was there a relationship between PTSD and shorter telomere length, but even more remarkable was the correlation between exposure to childhood trauma (prior to the age of 14) and telomere shortening.
In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2004, researchers found that female caregivers who reported very high levels of perceived stress had shorter telomeres in their lymphocytes (key cells of your immune system)—equivalent to one decade of additional aging—compared to women reporting low stress levels!
Another study, led by Eli Puterman, PhD, also found that non-exercising women with histories of childhood abuse had shorter telomeres than women who did not experience such abuse.
Studies indicate that those who experienced childhood trauma are predisposed to premature telomere shortening!
Interestingly enough, abuse victims who exercised vigorously at least three times a week showed NO such link! It appears that regular exercise effectively negated the detrimental effects of childhood abuse trauma on their telomeres! Among people who did not exercise, each unit increase in the Perceived Stress Scale was related to a 15-fold increase in the odds of having short telomeres.
The type of exercise is key to reversing the effects of telomere shortening. "Peak 8" exercises are a perfect example of high-intensity exercises. The key to performing them properly is to raise your heart rate up to your anaerobic threshold. You keep pushing at maximum effort for 20 to 30 seconds, and then recover for 90 seconds.
The cycle is then repeated for a total of eight repetitions. The video below demonstrates Peak 8 on a exercise machine but Peak 8 exercises can be performed with any type of exercise- with or without equipment. You can easily perform Peak 8 by walking or running outdoors.
Instead of doing an hour-long cardio workout, you'll be done in 20 minutes or so. The actual "sprinting" time totals just 4 minutes!
The other exciting benefit of Peak 8-style exercises is its ability to naturally increase your body's production of human growth hormone (HGH), which also plays a significant role in the aging process.
Here's to living a long, healthy life!
Check out the Orange County ACA website at: Orange County Adult Children
New research corroborates that the trauma adult children of alcoholics experienced can have a big impact on their health and ultimately, their actual lifespan. There is a biological component that regulates aging. It can be significantly affected by stress, PTSD and trauma. The good news is there is a simple way to reverse the negative impact and live a healthier, longer life.
Telomeres are tiny but important bits of DNA at the very end of each chromosome in your body. Telomeres keep your chromosomes intact and as they shorten with age and stress, your cells lose their ability to divide and replicate and eventually die. This is part of the natural aging process.
Studies have been done relating to psychological stress and telomere shortening, including one that examined people with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Not only was there a relationship between PTSD and shorter telomere length, but even more remarkable was the correlation between exposure to childhood trauma (prior to the age of 14) and telomere shortening.
In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2004, researchers found that female caregivers who reported very high levels of perceived stress had shorter telomeres in their lymphocytes (key cells of your immune system)—equivalent to one decade of additional aging—compared to women reporting low stress levels!
Another study, led by Eli Puterman, PhD, also found that non-exercising women with histories of childhood abuse had shorter telomeres than women who did not experience such abuse.
Studies indicate that those who experienced childhood trauma are predisposed to premature telomere shortening!
Interestingly enough, abuse victims who exercised vigorously at least three times a week showed NO such link! It appears that regular exercise effectively negated the detrimental effects of childhood abuse trauma on their telomeres! Among people who did not exercise, each unit increase in the Perceived Stress Scale was related to a 15-fold increase in the odds of having short telomeres.
The type of exercise is key to reversing the effects of telomere shortening. "Peak 8" exercises are a perfect example of high-intensity exercises. The key to performing them properly is to raise your heart rate up to your anaerobic threshold. You keep pushing at maximum effort for 20 to 30 seconds, and then recover for 90 seconds.
The cycle is then repeated for a total of eight repetitions. The video below demonstrates Peak 8 on a exercise machine but Peak 8 exercises can be performed with any type of exercise- with or without equipment. You can easily perform Peak 8 by walking or running outdoors.
Instead of doing an hour-long cardio workout, you'll be done in 20 minutes or so. The actual "sprinting" time totals just 4 minutes!
The other exciting benefit of Peak 8-style exercises is its ability to naturally increase your body's production of human growth hormone (HGH), which also plays a significant role in the aging process.
Here's to living a long, healthy life!
Check out the Orange County ACA website at: Orange County Adult Children
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Bradshaw On Healing Your Inner Child
Many adult children of alcoholics/ dysfunctional families learned to deny and block painful feelings as a means of survival. But those feelings don't just go away. They continue to affect us as adults and influence our behavior, health, success and ability to be happy. Symptoms may include depression, anger, addictions and pain.
"America's leading growth expert", John Bradshaw, explains how childhood abuse and neglect can have a lasting affect. He also performs interactive healing exercises for tapping into and expressing core feelings as a road to emotional freedom.
Thought his was recorded a while ago it is still powerful and insightful!
Childhood Wounds Seminar
Check out the Orange County ACA website at: Orange County Adult Children
"America's leading growth expert", John Bradshaw, explains how childhood abuse and neglect can have a lasting affect. He also performs interactive healing exercises for tapping into and expressing core feelings as a road to emotional freedom.
Thought his was recorded a while ago it is still powerful and insightful!
Childhood Wounds Seminar
Check out the Orange County ACA website at: Orange County Adult Children
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Music For Stress Relief
Relaxing can sometimes be a challenge for ACAs. Adult children of alcoholics have a higher incidence of anxiety, eating disorders, over-achieving and other forms of compulsive behavior. They may be more susceptible to chronic diseases including depression and heart disease.
Listening to music has been found to increase serotonin levels and reduce heart rates. According to the American Society of Hypertension, listening to half an hour of music each day may significantly lower your blood pressure.
For a limited time, Amazon.com is offering a FREE download of "Music for Massage, Meditation & Yoga". Click the link below for your free MP3 download of this soothing music collection. You can sample and download individual tracks or get the entire thing at once. Includes over an hour of chilled out music featuring Tibetan bowls, flutes and sitars.
This music is great for stress relief, relaxation and finding calm in our sometimes hectic lives. Compatible with all MP3 players.
Click here to sample and download: Music for Massage, Meditation & Yoga
Check out the Orange County ACA website at: Orange County Adult Children
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Need To Relax?
Busy? Stressed? Frantically trying to catch up?
Adult children of alcoholics tend to take on too much responsibility, overwork and put lots of pressure on themselves. Pressure like that can seriously affect your blood pressure, hormone levels, mood and mental health.
You may need to relax. See if you can pass this simple test:
Click here: Relaxation Test
Can you make it to the two minute mark? Good luck!
Check out the Orange County ACA website at: Orange County Adult Children
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