by James Rouse, N.D.
Each morning the alarm sounds—
much like the race marshal’s gun—
signaling yet another round of your
own Life Olympics. You dutifully or desperately
respond by leaping or falling out of bed
and doing your very best to sprint throughout
the rest of the day, chasing your “to do” list in
the hopes of crossing the finish line some
14 to 16 hours later.
Perhaps for you, over-training and overexercising
are non-issues. Maybe you are
hard-pressed to find the time to get any
regular exercise. Nevertheless, you may be
susceptible to “over-living.” Over-living is a
sense of being too tired to keep running and
too scared to stop. The feeling of not being
able to “get it all done,” that is, working
50-plus hours, driving endless commutes and
finding yourself angry with traffic signs and
signals. You are doing all you can to get your
kids to practice, feed your pets, meet those
deadlines and find the time to nurture your
body and spirit. Whether it is training for your
favorite sport or just getting through the next
day, the continued struggle and stress of being a
human “doing” takes its toll.
Chronic over-living erodes your quality of
life. Your peak performance begins to slide
from magnificence into a declining mediocrity.
Perhaps, like most people, you can see
this performance slide and feel the desperate
need to catch up, to fit in more (more workouts,
more commitments and more stuff ),
hoping that doing more and giving more will
improve your outcome. Unfortunately,
adding more only deepens the problem.
Often times this over-living syndrome
keeps you from showing up in your life the
way you truly dream and desire to be. When
you imagine over-living and over-training,
you may picture fatigue, irritability and shorttemperedness.
Over-training can lead to more
serious physiological imbalances and disease
states. Symptoms of over-training or overliving
can range from apathy and depression
to hormonal imbalance, digestive complaints
and decreased immune function. In the scientific
literature over-training has been
described as chronically-decreased work
capacity resulting from an imbalance between
training and rest.
You may wonder: how does this happen?
Well, life happens and it is moving faster than
ever—whether you are a trained elite athlete
or a committed soccer mom or dad. I refer to
people like us as “life athletes.” As a life
athlete, your plate is full with excesses of
obligations and commitments coupled with
too little down time. You train your muscles
through deadlines and appointments, courageously
fight back overwhelm and “show up”
again. In athletics, over-training comes predominantly
from excess duration, intensity
and frequency. For life athletes, the scenario is
the same—pushing too long, too hard and
too often. Training for athletic events is not
unlike training for life and as such needs to
reflect a healthy balance of vigorous
exercise, adequate rest, supportive nutrition
and strategic supplementation.
As a life athlete you can take proactive
measures to protect yourself from being taken
down by over-training. First, train and live in
balance. Commit to taking time out on a regular
basis. Schedule a nap, a massage and a
walk in nature. Eating in balance can afford
your body the ability to respond and recover
during times of need and repair. Focus on
consuming the more “low-drama” whole
foods. Avoid refined and processed foods and
sugar as they can further bring your system
down. As you can imagine, your immune
system is a major player in keeping you in the
“flow” with “peak life training.”
Research shows that a diet rich in plant
sterols and sterolins proves beneficial for
immune system balance and strength.
Consuming foods rich in these powerful
compounds is at once delicious and daunting.
Nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruits in their natural,
uncooked and unprocessed state are sure
immune-balancing bets. However, the reality
of needing to consume virtually over a dozen
daily servings to reach the therapeutic levels
of sterols and sterolins makes its actuality a
rarity. Strategic supplementation of a proprietary
blend of sterols and sterolins can be an
immune insurance policy. Three capsules
daily will yield the recommended and
researched 60-milligram goal amount.
The ill effects of over-training on the
immune system can be attributed to excess
production of cortisol, an increase in proinflammatory
chemicals and a drop in lifegiving
DHEA. Research shows that sterol and
sterolin supplementation can improve each of
these three “markers” as quickly as in several
weeks’ time.
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled
study published in the International Journal
of Sports Medicine, a group of 20 athletes were
recruited two months prior to a marathon
event. The volunteers were given two capsules
containing either plant sterols and sterolins or
a placebo, three times daily on an empty
stomach. Following the marathon, results
showed that the group treated with sterols
and sterolins had a significant reduction in
the inflammatory immune factor IL-6 and
were less immune-suppressed than those who
received placebo. The treatment group also
had a significantly decreased cortisol to DHEAs
ratio (p=0.03). This resulted in a more favorable
health outcome with study participants
reporting fewer colds, better recovery and
improved performance.
To be an effective and fulfilled life athlete,
commit to a vital balance of work and play.
Train with your head and your heart. Feed
your immune system and your soul. Life is
meant to be full—fully functioning and fully
balanced.
References:
- Bouic, P.J.D. et al. “The Effects of B-Sitosterol (BSS) and B-Sitosterol Glucoside (BSSG) Mixture on Selected Immune Parameters of Marathon Runners: Inhibition of Post Marathon Immune Suppression and Inflammation”. International Journal of Sports Medicine (1999). Vol. 20 pp. 258–62.
- Bouic, P.J.D. et al. “Beta sitosterol and beta-sitosterol glucoside stimulate human peripheral blood lymphocyte proliferation: Implications for their use as an immnomodulatory vitamin combination.” International Journal of Immunopharmacology (1996).Vol. 18 pp. 693–700.
- Vanderhaeghe, Lorna R. and Bouic, Patrick J.D., Ph.D. The Immune System Cure. (1999). Kensington Books, New York. pp.197–207.
James Rouse is a naturopathic physician, entrepreneur and coach to executives, athletes, physicians, families and peak performers nationwide. Dr. James is also a parent, businessman and a sponsored Ironman triathlete. In addition, he is the founder and chairman of Envitalment, Inc., a wellness and performance coaching, training and consulting company. Dr. James maintains a private naturopathic medical practice in Denver. He is also the creator and spokesperson on Denver’s KUSA TV “Optimum Wellness.”
|
|
