A smelly horse and your bone health.

I know, it’s a weird way to start an email.

But I promise, what I’m about to share with you isn’t weird, it’s quite interesting, and if you want to keep your bones strong and healthy this info could certainly help.
Clinical studies show the following practices are some of the best, natural methods for keeping your bones healthy throughout the rest of your life.

Now, before I show you exactly what they are…

I need to talk to you about your bone health and stress.

The Role of Stress In Bone Health

First off, stress is something every single person is going to deal with in their life.

That’s a given.

Stress isn’t always a bad thing to experience either.

When you experience stress, the way your body attempts to deal with it is by releasing an excess of the body’s fight-or-flight hormones: adrenaline and cortisol.

These two hormones are biologically adapted to cause your body to empty glucose and fat into your bloodstream in order to give you extra energy so you can make an escape from the stressor bothering you.

The problem is, when you’re under constant stress, your cortisol and adrenaline levels remain elevated.

And studies show chronically high cortisol levels may have an effect on bone health.

Studies show if cortisol is too high it affects the function of osteoclasts and osteoblasts, which are cell types that are directly responsible for the formation of bone cells.

And other studies show chronic exposure to glucocorticoids, (a type of cortisol hormone) will limit bone building and cause your body to pull minerals from bones and use those minerals to relieve the damage caused by excessive stress.

Dr. Sara Gottfried writes this about how excess cortisol affects bone health.  “Additionally, high glucocorticoids, from high stress and adrenal dysregulation… muck with your ability to assimilate nutrients from food (such as calcium and may indirectly lower other hormones like estrogen and thyroid.”

The disruption of thyroid hormone and estrogen has the potential to alter bone mineral density (BMD).

High cortisol levels are so closely connected with bone mineral density that a study published in the European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Studies said “physicians should always consider subomtibal thyroid H among the causes of bone fragility, especially in individuals with vertebral fractures and the presence of an only slightly reduced bone mineral density”

If you’d like to do more research on how elevated cortisol levels and chronic stress affect bone health I’d recommend searching the National Institute for Health’s archives. You’ll find pages full of research demonstrating elevated cortisol has a pronounced effect on the strength of your bones.

Here Are Some Simple Ways To Manage Stress and Reduce Cortisol Levels

Now that you understand how chronic stress leads to elevated cortisol levels it’s important you learn how to deal with chronic stress.

The simple truth is you can’t always escape stress.

The good news is there are ways to manage stress and minimize how it negatively affects  your body.

Stress Relief Recommendation #1:

My first recommendation is to analyze your life and see if a stressful situation, or a stressful relationship, is the reason you’re stressed out.

If that’s the case I’d recommend removing yourself from that situation or ending that relationship.

However, if that’s not practical because those stressors are fixed in your life, here’s what I recommend next.

The next few things you can do are practice a variety of mindfulness techniques.

Research shows mindfulness practices such as contemplative meditation, yoga, prayer, and practiced silence are amazing at combating stress.

Another helpful way to reduce stress is to exercise. Exercise has the power to release the same feel good neurotransmitters as junk food.

Best of all, the exercise doesn’t have to be strenuous to reduce stress.

A simple walk through the woods, or a light aerobics class are all you need to take stress down a notch.

Plus, exercise also releases a host of hormones which help to balance insulin levels too.

And one of my favorites, and this is where I get into the smelly horse bit I mentioned at the beginning of the email, is to take adaptogenic herbs.

Adaptogens are herbs that protect your cells from stress at the microscopic level. In essence they shield your cells from the harmful effects of stress so when stress does attack your body, your cells are insulated from the negative effects.

They also help cells that are damaged by stress to heal, so they can function properly again. The “smelly horse”  I’m referring to is an adaptogenic herb that has been credited with some pretty impressive healing potential. It has been shown to:

• Boost and protect the immune system
• Help combat stress and the effects of stress
• Improve learning, memory and reaction time
• Improve mood
• Help reduce brain cell degeneration
• Improve blood sugar
• Improve cholesterol
• Balance hormones
• Increase athletic stamina and endurance
• Support an energized and rejuvenated sense of well-being
• Help minimize the effects of dangerous free radicals known to cause inflammation

And its extraordinary broad-spectrum properties are even showing promise as a support in the treatment of a myriad of other medical conditions.

While there are many adaptogens, and many of them are great at protecting your cells from the harms of stress, the herb I recommend most for cellular support is ashwagandha.

 A Revered Herb Known As Ashwagandha And How It Takes Care Of Stress At The Cellular Level

One of the traditional uses of Ashwagandha has been to improve memory, sharpen focus and concentration, and promote calm, clear thinking.

Fortunately, scientific studies support the traditional use and show  it may help balance brain neurotransmitters and the stress hormone cortisol.

The primary mechanism for that cortisol balancing is ashwagandha seems to boost levels of the body’s master antioxidant in the brain.

This antioxidant is called glutathione.

Glutathione is an essential component for cell development, enzymatic activity, and for clearing toxins from the body… and those qualities help you deal with stress.

Prominent biohacker Dave Asprey from Bulletproof loves ashwagandha. Here’s what he wrote about it.

“Stress and the adrenal glands are inextricably connected. The adrenal glands produce cortisol, a stress hormone that is quicker to release than the more physically noticeable stress hormones like adrenaline. Constant release of cortisol chips away at your health, and it’s best to keep stress and cortisol in check to the extent that you can.

Ashwagandha boosts the adrenals by supporting normal HPA Axis function — meaning, it helps the hypothalamic, pituitary, and adrenal glands communicate effectively.

When the three aren’t working in sync, your stress response can become trigger-happy or your body could respond with intensity that doesn’t match the situation.

It also acts on the adrenals to lower testosterone overproduction which can cause a chronic, low-level stress response if there’s too much testosterone pumping in your system.

It also prevents stress-induced vitamin C depletion in the adrenals, and since the adrenals use up a huge percentage of our total vitamin C, this keeps them functioning as they should.

If the adrenals don’t have the vitamin C they need, they aren’t able to regulate cortisol production, which results in too much or too little. Cortisol dysregulation can start a cycle of stress response, improper cortisol production, stress response… you get the picture.

Chronic stress can cause adrenal insufficiency, which can cause abnormal adrenal gland size and wonky aldosterone (an adrenal hormone) production.”

How to Know If You Should Take Ashwagandha

If you feel like you deal with constant stress… and getting rid of stressors isn’t an option…

And you don’t have time to workout or practice mindfulness.

Then I’d suggest taking Ashwagandha to help keep your bones healthy.

Unfortunately, Ashwagandha is not readily available through diet so numerous supplement options have popped up on the market.

They vary a lot in price and quality and choosing one can be confusing.

I so strongly believe everyone can benefit from this super-herb of cellular balancing support that I offer patients as well as customers an ultra-pure Ashwagandha.

The Best Kind to Get?

You were our priority in this endeavor. I worked with the best researchers and labs because I am committed to provide the purest, highest quality, cost competitive supplement for all of you in our Health As It Ought To Be family.

The result is a powerful ultra-pure Ashwagandha that we are really proud to offer to you.

So, if you’re looking to:

• improve mental functioning and brain health
• promote an energized sense of well-being
• enhance optimal physical performance
• support your body’s fight against the effects of stress

The best Ashwagandha is here.

I hope you’ll try it out and discover for yourself how it can help you.

It’s what’s in my cupboard. Click below to put it in yours.