Stress: How It's Hurting You and What To Do About It

Winter Break! The holidays! Family, food, and STRESS!  No matter the planning, no matter the downsizing, it all seems to turn into work and stress in some way.  It may be a natural part of the circumstances, but it definitely impacts your body in a big way.

How It's Hurting You

When your brain starts getting distress signals, it immediately releases a flood of hormones from the adrenal glands (think adrenaline and cortisol) and that's the way it was designed.  The problem arises when we live in a state of distress, running from one thing to the next with anxiety and conflict surrounding many interactions.  This prolonged state of stress wipes out things like B & C vitamins, decreasing your storehouse of energy.  Instead of recovering to a balanced and calm state, those hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol, stay elevated and cause all kinds of havoc - things like depression, hypertension and maybe even some cancers.

From this point, the stress just spreads to other systems of the body.  Digestion and intestinal problems are common with frequent anxiety.  Things like memory loss, fertility issues, risk of heart attack and stroke are all related to stress.  Not to mention how we REACT to the stress - things like anger, overeating or poor food choices, inactivity, and often taking it all out on our family!  What a time for a holiday celebration, huh?

What You Can Do About It

The easy answer is to stop the stress all together, but the majority of us know how unreasonable that is. So, since there will be drama, conflict, and hectic schedules, here are a few options to make it easier on your body.

Take a walk.  Exercise, being outside, getting some sunshine and vitamin D are some of the BEST things to do for your body - no matter the day or the stress!  And with all of the eating we're likely to be doing, it can help your waistline too!

Take your vitamins.  Stress, exhaustion, and a less than normal diet is likely in our future next week and that empties the storehouse of vitamins and minerals in our bodies.  Supplementing with things like Citrus Bioflavonoids, Nutri-Calm, B-Complex, Super Omega-3 and GreenZone can go along way in counteracting all of the damage being caused by stress.  There are also many herbal formulas that are extremely helpful for stress, depression, and sleep problems.  Contact us for help with those!

Be sure to check NSP's Specials every week.  B-Complex is on special this week!

AnxiousLess -  This new combination from Nature's Sunshine is a non-drowsy, non-habit forming formula that can help replenish your body's stress-coping reserves.  It targets nervousness, worry and tension, while working to improve your mood and energy levels.  This is a great resource to have in those temporary peaks of stress - like when all the family comes home for the day! For more information, go here.

Do less, Relax more.  It sounds silly, but try to think of unnecessary things to cut out or people you can delegate to.  There's always a few 'bored' or 'busy watching television' family members that could use something to do!

Forget perfection.  No matter how much you plan, it won't go exactly as you hope.  And that's ok.  Do good.  Love those around you.  Laugh much.  And enjoy yourself.

How to Protect Your Immune System this Winter

How to Protect Your Immune System this Winter

When we think of winter weather (which we in Oklahoma just received a healthy dose of) we pretty quickly think of sickness, don't we?  Cold, flu, bronchitis and other germs going around and around.  And, in so many cases,  it just goes with the territory - especially those that work with children, such as teachers and child care workers.  There isn't a one-size-fits-all solution to ensure that you will never get sick.  However, there are a few things that, when addressed together with moderation and balance, have been known to decrease the number of illnesses and lighten the severity when illnesses do occur.  There are definitely some great products that are absolutely necessary to have on hand this time of year, but there is certainly more to it than just popping a few pills.

1) Sleep:  No matter your station in life, this is a busy time and we seem to find more ways to push the limitations of our body.  But without enough sleep, everything in your body has to work harder.  And the harder it is working, the more likely it can be taken over by invaders!  Get enough sleep!

2) Green Diet: Include a lot of green vegetables in your diet.  You know there will be a lot of less-than-health-conscious (although delicious) meals consumed over the next few weeks.  If you have the desire and willpower to abstain - awesome!  For the rest of us who are looking forward to some splurges, drown them with green! An easy way to build up your 'armor' is a great smoothie - any time of the day.  Spinach and Kale (frozen or fresh) make a great base that does not change the flavor of fruit or juice at all!

3) MOVE: It's easy to think you don't have time or it won't make much of a difference anyway, but that kind of thinking is just wrong.  Even just 10-15 minutes of dancing in the living room that gets your heart pounding and a little sweat brewing can better prepare you for all the invaders attacking you throughout the day.  Your lymphatic system's only pump is your exercise and a lazy lymph system is a breeding ground for virus and bacterias.

4) Silver Shield: If there is one thing you should bother to take when you are likely to be exposed to the invaders (germs), it is NSP's Silver Shield.  Silver Shield 'has been proven to effectively combat health issues caused by anthrax, yeast, food poisoning, fungal or bacterial infections of the skin, respiratory infections, pink eye and more.' It is non-toxic with no risk of heavy metal contamination, guaranteed pure and takes care of viral and bacterial issues without harming the good bacteria of the gut.

For more information check out these links:

Colloidal Silver Benefits from Silver Shield

Why You Can Trust Silver Shield from Nature's Sunshine

And now through Sunday, December 15th Silver Shield Liquid and Gel are both $2 off!  If you buy in greater quantities, you receive even more savings.  So, it's a great time to stock up!  And for a limited time - throughout the month of December:

Above all else, be good to your body in all areas.  When we neglect, overuse and ignore the needs of our body, illness will undoubtedly follow.

Why We Choose Nature's Sunshine Products

Back when we started learning about the value of herbal remedies and alternative health practices (about 30 years ago), it certainly was not the norm in this country.  Since then we as a society have learned a lot of things, but some things never change - like the bandwagon.  Ideas, fads and the such-like ebb and flow and the people looking to make fast cash are always sitting on the edge of them.

Such is the case with many herbal supplement companies.  It's becoming widely known that the vegetation of our world provides numerous health benefits in all forms.  And that is great.  It's great to have gentle options in today's healthcare.  But not all supplements are created equal, unfortunately.  Last month Huffington Post published this article about herbal supplements being contaminated and not having exactly what the label indicates.  In some instances, "the main ingredient was substituted with a different product."  So, all of this commotion about the FDA and supplements not being regulated?  Yes, there is some value in regulations.  In theory, anyway.

So, to summarize, herbal remedies are valuable and at the moment wildly popular.  However, the market isn't regulated (which has its pros and cons) and sometimes you really have no idea what you're getting from one bottle to the next.  Because of all this, we feel so strongly about what you buy and who you buy it from.

Why Nature's Sunshine?



There are two main reasons that we use, promote and sell Nature's Sunshine's products almost exclusively.

1) Education.  As a buyer and a seller, they provide and promote extensive research and education on all of their products, their uses and whole body functions.  It's not just a bottle of pills or one-size-fits-all solution that they are providing when you buy their products.

2) Quality.  This is key above all else.  In today's advertising-saturated culture, we throw that word around a lot. When NSP says they make quality products, they are saying several things.  Their harvested raw herbs undergo more tests than any other company. It is common for them to reject entire shipments of raw items if they don't meet their standards when tested at their own facility.  They manufacture all of their products themselves.  NSF International, a non-profit, non-governmental organization and world leader in standards development and product certification, presented Nature's Sunshine with the NSF Good Manufacturing Certification.  We have visited their plant and seen what they do.

For the 30 years we've been associated with this company, we have consistently witnessed their commitment to quality products and integrity in all steps of their relationship with distributors.  Do you ever wonder about how a product is made or where they get certain ingredients from? Call them and ask.  We have never had a question or a problem they haven't been willing and able to address honestly.

Speaking of questions or concerns, do you have any?
Stay in touch with us by:
Phone - (405) 634-HERB (4372)
Email - theherbgardennsp@gmail.com
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Twitter - @SinginHerbLady