Emotional health support
Our emotional health is very concerning, with more mental health being diagnosed each day, it is becoming very alarming in society.
This is a huge issue that needs our attention and it really does start with cognitive issues. As soon as our minds are affected the state of our mental health is very concerning, leading to anxiety, mood swings and depression.
This is comes about from the amount of stress we are under from early ages right through to very mature ages, with pressure from others and ongoing situations.
Learning more about the connection with Hormones, we may be able to reduce stress, and improve our cognitive abilities that will help the stress levels, thinking clearer helps with a stronger mind will give better clarity.
Your hormones that will affect your cognitive issues:
Cortisol and Chronic Stress
Increased cortisol may enhance the ability to consolidate short-term memory, but it has the opposite effect on accessing, contextualizing, storing, and retrieving long-term memories.
When high levels of cortisol contribute to anxiety and depression, synapses are lost in the prefrontal cortex, the area that houses short-term memory, thus allowing for communication throughout the brain.
Synapses process, store, and recall information, but prolonged stress combined with age can make them shrink and disappear – what’s called a “weathering of the brain.”
As a result, your brain has to work harder to create and sustain memories, and even harder to retrieve them.
With the current lifestyles we lead our cortisol rises more often and stays higher longer, which in turn weakens the memories and creative mind, causing anxiety and depression.
Thyroid Issues
Both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism can affect the ability to concentrate and to form and retain memories. This is often referred to as “brain fog.”
With our diets lacking in minerals needed and with toxins increasing in our bodies; all affect our thyroid to function properly. Not only does this affect weight gain, (that leads to depression for some), it slows down the metabolism, playing havoc on the liver, gallbladder and GI tract.
When any of our organs and hormones are not being flushed properly, the side effects are brain fog, which is understandable why our memory and creative brain can not work effectively.
Estrogen and Progesterone
Normal hormone function allows estrogen to help regulate cortisol levels, which in turn support healthy neurotransmitter functioning: this means estrogen helps you effectively make decisions while supporting short-term memory. (Many estrogen receptors are found in the hippocampus, and the prefrontal cortex contains many estrogen receptors, where episodic and working memory take place.)
Likewise, progesterone protects the brain by allowing increased blood flow to support mental function. It also helps keep free radical damage at bay.
When these hormone levels drop with age, memory loss and cognitive impairment naturally result; less estrogen means less ability to regulate cortisol.
This causes problems with short-term recall and verbal tasks.
Eating a diet with soy based products, sugars and vegetable oils, plus the toxins around us throw out our normal levels of estrogen and progesterone, speeding up the concerns of decision making and eliminating our memories. (Like where we left our car keys).
Emotional Triggers for Cognitive Issues
The simplest way to explain how emotions affect your memory appears in what can be called “clouding”.
When significant emotional events occur close to or simultaneously with other events and/or information, the emotions cloud the details, causing an altered state of remembrance.
Your current mood also affects your ability to remember details, so a pleasant mood will more often tone the memory as pleasant as well.
The stronger the emotions, the more likely you are to remember specific details about an event. Obviously, this means that mental disorders such as depression or anxiety will also cloud your memories.
When intensely stressful or fearful experiences take place, our bodies respond by releasing cortisol to help us handle the situation.
In the same instance, however, oxytocin is also released, thereby intensifying the memory. The two hormones work together in the formation of deep-seated, emotionally traumatic long-term memories that may help us to avoid a similar situation in the future.
Whenever the memory is triggered, however, cortisol levels also spike, causing the body to almost “relive” the moment and experience the same stressful emotions. This is the basis for anxiety, panic attacks, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Ways to help improve our memory:
Don’t feel it is all lost, we can improve our memory by eating a diet with whole foods, eliminate the vegetable oils first and foremost, sugars and remove the toxins in and around the home.
A list of supplements is listed below to help introduce into your diet.
Meditation has been proven to help our brains and nurture the creative minds.
Benefits of meditation:
1. Reduce stress
2. Controls anxiety
3. Promotes emotional health
4. Enhances self-awareness
5. Lengthens attention span
6. May reduce age-related memory loss
7. Can generate kindness
8. May help fight addictions
9. Improves sleep
10. Helps control pain
11. Can decrease blood pressure
12. You can meditate anywhere
Supplements That Support Cognition:
Curcumin is found in turmeric, a popular Indian spice used in both Eastern medicine and Ayurveda.
Curcumin’s ability to increase blood flow to the brain and body reduces inflammation, which may be why it has shown promise in the treatment and prevention of a number of inflammatory brain-related disorders such as Alzheimer’s and dementia – amazingly showing results in some studies in under an hour’s time.
It also helps to boost memory, balance mood disorders, and lower stress levels.
As a spice, you can use it in your cooking, but it needs to be linked with a healthy fat.
Choose high quality, organic curcumin free of additives and fillers.
Matcha Green Tea has been used for thousands of years in Chinese healing and offers incredible support on many different levels.
More potent than regular green tea, matcha delivers 100 percent of its nutrients and benefits because it’s made from the entire tea leaf.
With ten times more antioxidants than green tea, matcha helps to rid the body of free radicals that attack at a cellular level.
One cup of matcha tea provides L-theanine, an amino acid that boosts mental clarity, as well as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a polyphenol that works synergistically with L-theanine to support and increase brain health.
If drinking this tea isn’t something you enjoy – here is a fantastic recipe: Matcha tea protein balls
Rhodiola Rosea is an adaptogenic herb that can help to fight the body’s stressors and revitalize overall wellness. It helps to increase focus, fight fatigue, and enhance your mood.
Vitamin B12 is an essential vitamin necessary for energy production and many other supportive tasks, such as immune function, blood formation, DNA synthesis, and digestion.
Deficiencies leave you feeling weak and easily fatigued, contributing to symptoms like muscle weakness, lack of focus and concentration, mood issues, and lack of motivation.
Vitamin D, which people commonly are deficient in, can easily be obtained with fifteen to twenty minutes of direct sun exposure each day, as well as through diet and supplementation.
Vitamin D helps brain health by supporting the creation of new neural pathways, and also increases natural levels of dopamine and serotonin, which are essential for keeping your mood balanced and favorable; without them, you may be left depressed and fatigued.
More drastic deficiency in this vitamin can contribute to severe health issues, such as cancer, depression, or hypothyroidism.
Self-Care Rituals for Cognitive Issues
Even though inhaling Rosemary essential oil can drastically improve your memory by at least 75 percent, there is no one easy fix for supporting overall cognitive function. Instead, as with everything else, ensure that your brain gets what it needs with your attention to proper nutrition, sleep, stress management, and a lower toxic load.
Exercise Your Mind Ritual
Inhaling Rosemary or Peppermint before your start a puzzle, or diffusing your favorite brain-boosting blend, can help you to focus and solve the puzzle in record time.
Lastly, consider meditation five to ten minutes a day to strengthen your brain power and reduce stress.
Digestive Issues
It’s now a common relation that our stomach and brain are connected with our first and second brain, so therefore when we have concerns with digestion in the stomach, it affects our mind and brain, with concentration and emotional health.
One deep breath from a bottle of Peppermint oil eases nausea, opens respiratory pathways, and awakens the senses. One drop of Peppermint massaged into the abdomen relaxes tense digestive muscles and releases the knots in the stomach contributing to loose stools or constipation, while simultaneously supplying a beneficial aromatic experience.
Two drops of Peppermint taken internally in a veggie capsule alleviates severe digestive distress and promotes the healthy functioning of the whole system. And that’s just one essential oil.
Wrap up
Since finding the healing properties of essential oils, I integrate these into my day for the situation I need, from concentration to uplifting or emotional support, for calming or sleep routines, through to motivation in the gym and focus for my consultations.
One main supplement I use to help reduce stress is magnesium, so when stress levels reduce, this can help the aid of better memory and concentration.
If you’d like some help with emotions, focus and balance, please contact me for a free consultation.
