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Newsletter 28 – February 10, 2019 |
| Dear Patients, |
| Click here before reading this newsletter! |
| Ah...winter time; the days are short, it's cold, the skies are more often than not gray. Lack of sun and cold can get us down. It's always been amazing to me how a warm sunny day can usually improve my mood from the moment the sun hits me in the head. Unbeknownst to most of us, the suns rays (red wavelengths) actually penetrate into our body. Check out this quote from this video: |
| "Sunlight is the most abundant energy source on this planet. So far, so good. However, only plants are really able to use sunlight directly, or so we thought. After eating plants, animals, too, may be able to derive energy directly from sunlight as well. What?! First of all, light can’t get through our skin, right? Wrong, as was demonstrated by century-old science—and any kid who’s ever shined a flashlight through their fingers; the red wavelengths do get through. In fact, if you step outside on a sunny day, there’s enough light going through to your brain, you could read a book in there. OK, so our internal organs are bathed in sunlight, and absorbed chlorophyll in the body does actually appear to produce cellular energy, but unless we eat so many greens we turn green ourselves, the energy produced is probably negligible." |
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So, in addition to helping us create
energy, perhaps now you know why a sunny day makes us feel
better: it lights up our brain!
Back to my theme for this newsletter: stress. Most
of us face it daily which adds to our inflammation burden.
Last month, after enjoying a Broadway musical in New York
City with my family, it made me think once again that it's
so important to our health to address stress, anxiety,
despair, hopelessness, isolation, and depression. We saw Dear
Evan Hansen, the story of a high school senior who grew
up in a dysfunctional environment with a loving Mom that was
not clued into Evan ’s social isolation, anxiety, and
depression. The story evolves that Evan was suicidal until a
series of events changed his life. Evan felt alone and
isolated. A very clever and unique plot interacts with
social media and spotlights how so many of us can feel alone
and hopeless. Life in 2019 is complicated! Click
here for my favorite musical clip from the show, that
describes how Evan feels from the outside looking in.
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| Stress is inflammatory! Further, inflammation is the common denominator for illness. Health equates to keeping the 4 pillars of our immune system strong: nutrition, appropriate exercise, restorative sleep and controlling stress. Focusing on building and rebuilding these pillars keeps our immune platform strong. We all are still going to age, but hopefully gracefully, with minimal decay, as the years go by. Nutrition is the central pillar for holding up our immune system, leading a life full of stress tips the platform and weakens us. |
| Remedies for stress and anxiety: |
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| Food matters! Mark your calendars and please attend! |
| Want to learn more about plant-based healthy eating? As medical director of the Columbia Association, I am helping to lead an initiative to enhance the community's understanding of nutrition. Come to the free kick-off event of our Healthy Eating Series, "Learn What Works for You" on Monday, March 25 at the James Rouse Theater. Free and open to the public but space is limited, register now. |
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Rip Esselstyn,
a firefighter, author of several books and a nationally
known speaker, has helped thousands extinguish their
unhealthy eating habits. He will talk to us about how
he changed his life. I hope you can join us!
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As always, wishing you well.
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HAO
Harry A. Oken, M.D.
Office:
410-910-7500 Fax: 410-910-2310
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