Stress. Stress. Stress…otherwise known as pressure, panic, anxiety, strain, worry and tension–is an emotion that a large segment of the population feels every single day. We are not talking about emergency stress. Stress during potential crisis can be a classic physical reaction to events that cause a person to believe they are threatened or off-balance. The stress response to physical danger is the body’s way of protecting itself from harm. In certain circumstances, stress can save a life—providing super human strength to defend yourself, lifting an unbelievably heavy object that has fallen on a child, or forcing a slamming of the brakes to avoid a collision.
Every day stress is a very different emotion. When working appropriately, stress helps you remain focused, vigorous and attentive. The response to every day stress allows you to meet and surpass challenging opportunities. This type of stress allows you to give 100% during a professional presentation, to tune out distractions and noise when attempting the game-winning extra point or free throw, and drives you to finish that term paper late at night instead of surfing social media.
However, at some point in time, stress can cross from positive to negative. Without us realizing it, stress can begin to physically destroy our body and our good health, not to mention our productivity, relationships and quality of life. We have to only pick up a newspaper, tune in the radio or TV news, or visit a news website to understand that we all potentially face many different major stresses today.
Common Causes of Everyday Stress
- Finances – Rising energy costs, mortgages, student loans, tuition balances, medical bills, unexpected expenses and so much more can cause us financial stress.
- State of our Economy – it’s up, it’s down, it’s completely unpredictable. Stocks, bonds, currency, terror threats, unrest at home and abroad…sometimes it’s hard to read the news!
- Job Loss – Is anybody’s job truly safe today? After the financial crisis of 2008 and the collapse of the housing and banking markets, it became painfully apparent that no industry is 100% safe from catastrophic job losses.
- Divorce and Marital Problems – should this happen to you, it will cost money and more emotional stress than you can imagine.
- Busy Lifestyles – So many of us are pulled in different directions which means that we are exhausted at the end of each day. Taking care of children and elderly parents at the same time, managing dual careers, keeping the home humming along, trying to get the kids to eat good food and not constant fast food, fitting in time for exercise and leisure, maintaining some semblance of a social life–the commitments of our adult lives and the need to keep everyone happy can feel overwhelming.
- Medical Problems – Health insurance is invaluable, but today’s policies frequently have large gaps in coverage. Individuals can find themselves responsible for paying large portions of their family’s medical bills when the unexpected occurs.
Did you know that it has been scientifically proven that stress is a cause of degenerative disease? It’s a proven fact (source). Anything that triggers stress increases cortisol, we have increased cardiovascular reactions, glucose levels rise, our immune response weakens and our body’s demand for protein increases six times its normal level.
During negative stress, blood is pulled from our organs in a rush to our cardiovascular system. This creates a “fight or flight” response. As the blood is pulled, it begins to shut down our stomach, colon and liver. Because stress shuts down your stomach, your body starts to live on itself. During periods of excess stress, many of us resort to eating to cope. This is actually one of the worst things we can do, because we are putting food into our stomach when it is not in a digestive state. In addition, an excessive demand for protein from stress causes the body to pull the protein from our muscles. In longer term stress, this can also cause consequential stress on the liver and kidneys.
The Need for Quality Protein
Ah, protein. It’s vital to our physical and emotional well being. Protein is essential for life. We need the new cells that are built every day with the protein we consume. Did you know that different sources of food take different amounts of time to be digested? Pork takes up to 8 hours, beef takes 6 hours, chicken takes 4 hours, fish takes 2 hours, and soybean takes 1 hour to “digest” in our stomachs.
The Solution: Shaklee Soy Protein
Shaklee offers several Soy Protein products that can help you to live a healthier lifestyle and more effectively manage stress.
Dr. Forrest C. Shaklee discovered the value of soy protein in the early 1900s. He found that one cannot cook soy, or you will “denature” this food by changing its original composition. He understood there is an “anti-thyroid” factor to the soybean, and he learned to isolate “anti-thyroid” enzymes from the raw soybean amino acids so his product would not negatively affect the thyroid.
The result of this process is called “soy protein isolate” and remains in use in Shaklee products today. Dr. Shaklee created Instant Protein in the early 1900s–the first soy protein isolate–and to this day, no other company can duplicate the quality of Shaklee’s soy protein isolate products.
Shaklee’s soy protein products offer magnificent qualities that build life in the human body. Shaklee Instant Protein, Energizing Soy Protein, Shaklee 180 Smoothies and Vitalizing Protein all contain Shaklee’s soy protein isolate. Shaklee’s Soy Protein products will:
- Maintain muscle effectively throughout your life
- Keep your energy level positive
- Help manage the intensity of stress.
Not to mention, they taste good with a variety of flavors offered.
How Do You Incorporate Shaklee Protein Into Your Routine?
Shaklee Protein Shake vs. Cereal for Breakfast
I choose to make a Shaklee Protein Shake for my breakfast every morning, along with Shaklee Vita Lea Multivitamin/Multimineral supplement. I want to start out each day with the foundational nutrients that are the building blocks of healthy new cells. By doing this, I am guaranteeing my body will maintain lean muscle mass, while each new cell being built can start off on the right track of being a quality cell to sustain the healthy life I want to lead. I have been doing this program for over 30 years and love feeling great every day!
Baking with Shaklee Soy Protein
Did you know that you can also bake with Shaklee’s protein powders? You can use it as a partial replacement for flours and other carbs in things like muffins, pancakes, cake batters, cookies and more.
Curbing Afternoon Hunger / Pre-Dinner Snack
The work hours between lunch and dinner pose energy problems for many people, and Shaklee’s protein powder helps kick things into high gear when you need the energy to finish your work day. It’s also a great way to curb your hunger if you’re going to a late dinner.
Summary
The stress protein response in our body is something that everyone needs to be aware of. As we grind our way through increasing everyday stress, our bodies continue to be depleted of protein. When this happens, we become increasingly susceptible to disease. No one wants that. Are you ready to make the change for a healthier body? Contact me about joining Shaklee and discussing the products that are right for your health needs.
