LET S GET HEALTHY! Embracing God s Principles Towards a Healthy Lifestyle Taught by Becky Sanislo

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1 LET S GET HEALTHY! Embracing God s Principles Towards a Healthy Lifestyle Taught by Becky Sanislo God s Physical Design Every detail of our lives has been hand crafted by God body, soul and spirit. God created our human bodies to be vessels that would carry our soul and spirit through this lifetime. The Bible says that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit a physical place in this world where God lives! This makes our physical body sacred and precious it is a gift that we are given to live life. If we are physically sick, it won t change our inward heart, but it will limit our ability to be used by God and to be in relationships with others. Physical Image Before recovery, we often had unhealthy relationships with our physical bodies. We may have used our physical appearance to assert worth to who we are, whether it was good or bad. In learning how to be healthy, we do not focus on appearance, but how to care for our bodies properly. (This is not a weight loss class!!!) Our body carries who we are, it does not define who we are. We care for our body because we recognize the value of this life we ve been given and want to maximize its function and honor God with it. Addressing Our Physical Needs We have been given guidelines and instructions in the Word of God for our physical health. We need to go back to our Maker to understand how our physical bodies are meant to be fed and nurtured so that they can be used effectively for God. Like all other aspects of recovery, we will discover that living healthy in this culture is very difficult. We are surrounded with an entire system of food and products that CONTRADICT God s truth and have potential to hurt us. We need to believe that God has all the answers to care for our physical life, and then be willing to surrender this area of our life. THIS IS NOT A BEHAVIORAL CHANGE, IT S A SPIRITUAL CHANGE! 1

2 We do not all need to approach good health in the same manner exactly, we can use guidelines and principles, but we must allow God to direct our individual needs. EMOTIONS AND HEALTH The Physical Effects of Negative Emotions The emotional problems we brought into recovery had a negative affect and initiated an entire set of physical problems and chemical response. Most of us wanted to be free from the pain of our addictive and relationship problems, not realizing that our physical lives were deeply affected. In fact toxic emotions don t just hurt our heart and our relationships, they cause us to age faster and to be more prone to disease and illness. Therefore, we need to link our emotional, spiritual and physical life together to become healthy in all areas! Understanding Neuropeptides Just as there is a direct connection between our spirit life and emotional issues, there is also a connection between our emotions and our physical body. The basic communication link between what we think in the brain and what we experience in the cells of the body is called neuropeptides. (Jordan Rubin) The brain produces the neuropeptides which are chains of amino acids and conducts them along the nervous cells throughout the body. Dr. Pert has called them "bits of brain floating through the body." (Jordan Rubin) Norepinephrine The brain "talks" to the immune cells all over the body, and in turn, the immune system cells communicate back to the brain, using these messengers called neuropeptides. If your brain interprets physical perceptions as anger, fear, or depression, every immune cell of your body knows that interpretation very quickly! (Jordan Rubin) Not only do the brain and the cells of the body communicate, but the cells of the body also have a degree of memory, and the memory is not in the brain, but in the cells of the body. (Jordan Rubin) Stress reactions at the cellular level are pervasive and far reaching. Fear, for example, triggers more than fourteen hundred known physical and chemical stress reactions and activates more than thirty different hormones and transmitters. An entire system of physical responses involves primarily the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine. (Jordan Rubin) Adrenaline and Cortisol 2

3 When a stressful event occurs, the brain perceives the stress and responds by triggering the release of specific hormones from the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal gland. The stress response also triggers the adrenal glands to release epinephrine, which is also called adrenaline. (Jordan Rubin) Adrenaline is a stress hormone that produces a high as powerful as that of any drug. Adrenaline is a powerful hormone that has far reaching physical effects. It focuses the brain, sharpens eyesight, and contracts muscles in preparation for fight or flight. It also causes blood pressure and heart rate to increase, even as blood vessels constrict. When adrenaline begins to flow through the body, digestion shuts down as blood is shunted away from the digestive tract and sent to the muscles. (Jordan Rubin) Effects of Long term Stress Long term emotional stress causes a steady flow of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol into the bloodstream, with a very damaging effect on the body. Prolonged, elevated levels of adrenaline may increase heart rate and blood pressure to the point that a rapid heartbeat and high blood pressure become the norm. Elevated levels of adrenaline over time can also cause an elevation in triglycerides, which are fats in the blood, and elevation of blood sugar. Elevated levels of adrenaline over time can also cause blood to clot faster (which contributes to plaquing), the thyroid to become overly stimulated, and the body to produce more cholesterol. All of these are potentially deadly over time. Adrenaline and Cortisol Chronically elevated levels of cortisol have been shown to: Impair immune function and a faulty immune response has been linked to a wide range of diseases. Reduce glucose utilization a major factor in both diabetes and weight control. Increase bone loss which has implications for osteoporosis. Reduce muscle mass and inhibit skin growth and regeneration both of which are directly related to strength, weight control, and the general aging process. Increase fat accumulation. Impair memory and learning and destroy brain cells. Jordan Rubin Emotions and Disease Through the years, the scientific studies linking the emotions and disease have produced an impressive body of research, all of which points to the conclusion that what we feel as emotions results in how we feel physically. 3

4 Here are a few highlights: In a ten year study, individuals who could not manage their emotional stress had a 40 percent higher death rate than non stressed individuals. A Harvard Medical School study of 1,623 heart attack survivors concluded that anger brought on by emotional conflicts doubled the risk of subsequent heart attacks compared to those who remained calm. The Harvard School of Public Health conducted a twenty year study that involved more than seventeen hundred older men. The study found that the men who worried about social conditions, health, and personal finances had a significantly increased risk of coronary heart disease. A study of 202 professional women found that tension between career and personal commitment to spouse, children, and friends was a factor associated with heart disease in women. An international study of 2,829 people between the ages of fifty five and eighty five found that individuals who reported the highest levels of personal "mastery" feelings of control over life events had a nearly 60 percent lower risk of death compared with those who felt relatively helpless in the face of life's challenges. A heart disease study at the Mayo Clinic found that psychological stress was the strongest predictor of future cardiac events, including cardiac death, cardiac arrest, and heart attack. Jordin Rubin THE PURPOSE OF FOOD The Purpose of Food God gave us food as a resource to provide the necessary nourishment to fuel us and give us the energy we need. Food is created by Him. Much of what we see in the stores doesn t constitute actual food. Food is meant to be enjoyed, but it has a very important purposes God outlined foods that are healthy, and those that are considered not healthy in His Word While God gives room for grace and doesn t obligate us to the law, He does expose the benefit of walking under His principles. Everything is permissible but not all things are beneficial (1 Corinthians 10:23) NIV Grace and Food We don t need to approach our diet and nutrition legalistically (by following a to do list), rather, we want to understand the way God is guiding us. By learning the purpose of food and healthy benefits, we can make good decisions. Learning to submit ourselves in this area is another way we become whole. We don t have to change, but we will lose out on God s best for us if we don t take care of our physical body. Honoring our body is another way to honor God. 4

5 We can t do this in our strength, therefore, just like all the relationship needs in our life, we need Gods grace to assist us. The Power of Food Eve was lured by food when she was tempted in the garden It was good for food and pleasing to the eye. Genesis 3:6 This denotes the level of the power of appetite In our own lives, our appetites, including food, can motivate us to make poor choices. Learning to understand how we place this area of our lives under the authority of God s Spirit is the central goal. Using Food for Comfort When we don t learn how to use food properly, we can wrongly use it as a comfort measure. This means food can lose its foundational purpose of nourishing us, and can instead become a form of medication, just like a substance addition Anything we use to cope with pain or provide comfort has the potential to become addiction. God s desire is to effectively deal with our emotions and spiritual needs, enabling us to gain the proper coping skills through Him. God will ask that we learn to use food to nourish our bodies, not comfort our emotions. Food is FUEL, with some levels of enjoyment! Identifying Addiction Food addiction can take on different roots and characteristics, but it is a manifestation of deeper pain like anything else. The process of recovery through the codependence workshops or other 12 step groups helps us to understand what is driving us negatively. Remember, God never requires that we legalistically follow a diet plan at a behavioral level rather, He wants to change us from the inside out. When it comes to food addiction, He wants to remove the drive that causes us to medicate and then asks us to re learn how to use food properly. Because food affects all aspects of our lives, it can be a more difficult addiction from others. We can t stop eating, we need to learn to see our bodies and our nutritional needs from God s point of view. Eating disorders may require additional help, please see a counselor and/or physician if you are dealing with this issue it requires a physical, emotional and spiritual solution more intensively) Foods and Chemical Responses All aspects of the foods we consume initiate bodily processes that affect our health. When we consume vitamins, for instance, our body absorbs good nutrients to make us growth healthy and strong. 5

6 When we consume food that is negative, we can initiate unhealthy bodily processes. Understanding the chemical side of food is important when dealing with addiction. That s because while there are spiritual and emotional driving it, there is also an entire set of bodily responses occurring. Therefore, we may need to change eating habits to avoid trigger food. We will be discussing these processes in detail (as well as foods that initiated triggers) but for now we want to understand the importance of what we are doing, and why we need to make lifestyle changes. Why Get Healthy? We are NOT learning how to diet but to develop a lifestyle We are NOT learning how to lose weight but to gain healthy choices We are NOT being asked to spend our days with checklists to determine acceptable foods (only to feel tormented or deprived ) but to learn to surrender our physical health to God s provisions. We are being asked to take our physical lives up to the Lord, and to ask Him to restore us for His purposes, and to treat our bodies with the respect and love by which our MAKER designed them! Practical and Spiritual There are always spiritual sides and practical sides to change. This health workshop will deal with many of the practical aspects of the physical needs of our bodies. That s because we deal with the emotional and spiritual roots through the Codependent workbook (or other forms of recovery). If you have not gone through a healing process, it is imperative that you deal with that side of your life. Physical changes cannot alter spiritual and emotional roots! While we will cover practical information, remember it will need to connect spiritually. If it does not, learning to live healthy will become another to do list we are trying to follow. Learning to eat and live healthy will require we submit this area of our lives to the Holy Spirit and to rely on His grace to help us make healthy lifestyle habits. A LOOK AT WHAT S TO COME Week 2: Introduction to Healthy Eating Part1 Week 3: Introduction to Healthy Eating Part 2 & Healthy Hygiene Week 4: Disease Prevention and Healthy Aging AND practical tools you can begin to use right now! 6