Does a healthy mind live in a healthy body? or Does it take a healthy mind to create a healthy body?

The answer is very clear in my mind and here is why…

In this fit and fat conscious society we are all striving for better physical health, we want to be fitter and more mobile for longer, disease free and look good!

I know many people who appear physically fit they take regular exercises and eat all the ‘right’ foods but still they have huge issues that they carry around and consequently they are angry, uncomfortable even in their own company and have resulting health ramifications like high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, believe it or not constipation is one they talk about often…the list could go on. Here is one of many pieces taken from a scientific journal, full version can be found http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/features/how-anger-hurts-your-heart

Scientists don’t know for sure, but anger might produce direct physiological effects on the heart and arteries. Emotions such as anger and hostility quickly activate the “fight or flight response,” in which stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, speed up your heart rate and breathing and give you a burst of energy. Blood pressure also rises as your blood vessels constrict.

While this stress response mobilizes you for emergencies, it might cause harm if activated repeatedly. “You get high cortisol and high adrenaline levels and that is the cardiotoxic effect of anger expression,” says Jerry Kiffer, MA, a heart-brain researcher at the Cleveland Clinic’s Psychological Testing Center. “It causes wear and tear on the heart and cardiovascular system.” Frequent anger may speed up the process of atherosclerosis, in which fatty plaques build up in arteries, Kiffer says. The heart pumps harder, blood vessels constrict, blood pressure surges, and there are higher levels of glucose in the blood and more fat globules in the blood vessels. All this, scientists believe, can cause damage to artery walls.

And anger might not be the only culprit. In Kubzansky’s own research, she found that high levels of anxiety and depression may contribute to heart disease risk, too. “They tend to co-occur,” she says. “People who are angry a lot tend to have other chronic negative emotions as well.”

So with this information to hand, if your mind is cluttered with emotional distress even if you take all the other measures you are still preventing yourself from living in a healthy body. You could be spending thousands of hours on exercise and tonnes on money on the best foods for your body but you would be cancelling out the health benefits with your thoughts.

A great man once said “You are the sum total of your thoughts” by Albert Einstein

The question for me would be ‘is it fun, does it feel good inside?’ if the answer is ‘no’ then why do it? Well if you need tools I can help you there so contact me.

Getting happier could be the best and most fun diet you ever did!