Caroling, spending time with family, shopping, sledding, building snowmen. The holiday season should be a time of enjoyment. Yet, as Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah approach, we get stressed. Traffic is jammed, the malls are crowded, lines are longer and our bank accounts are dwindling. If that’s not enough – our expectations of what the holidays should be have the biggest tendency to make us miserable. According to Web MD, our memories get us into trouble. Dr. Ronald Nathan, a clinical professor at Albany Medical College in New York, says when we think about the holidays, sometimes we tend to dwell on the past and what went wrong. Or we romanticize it and make it impossible to recreate. Nathan counsels people to avoid driving themselves crazy by trying to find “the perfect gift” or plan “the perfect party.” Instead, he says what we should be doing is lowering our expectations, and underestimating - rather than overestimating – our available time. So, why is this important? Because the debate about whether stress hurts our health is pretty much over. Medical experts all agree that it does.
You see, every cell in our body contains a tiny “clock” called a telomere. Your body also produces an enzyme called telomerase, which protects the cell and its lifespan. Well, under STRESS, our body pumps out the hormone cortisol, and cortisol suppresses that protective enzyme, shortening the life span of our cells and making us vulnerable to a slew of ailments. When your holiday to-do list starts getting longer than Santa’s beard – eliminate anything that’s not absolutely necessary. Doing so will reduce your risk of heart disease, anxiety, depression, arthritis flare-ups, back pain, muscle spasms, the common cold and flu and much, much more. A healthier YOU is the best present you can give yourself and your loves ones this year.
MICHELLE
Web MD, Albany Medical College - NY
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