Photo by Veganbaking.net

• Share

PRINT

Q: The coronavirus outbreak has raised my stress level. I am worried that anxiety is making me more susceptible to infection. What can I do now to feel calmer?

A: The stress response is also known as “the fight or flight” reaction. It’s what the body does as it prepares to confront or avoid danger. 

When appropriately invoked, the stress response helps us rise to many challenges, such as fighting infections. But trouble starts when this response is constantly provoked by events and circumstances, such as dealing with the rapid changes in our lives due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Not only does persistent stress increase the risk of hypertension and heart disease, it also is associated with an altered immune response to infections. 

Stress does not make you more likely to get infected with coronavirus or other germs. But stress could mean a greater chance of developing more symptoms.

We can’t avoid all sources of stress in our lives, nor would we want to. But we can develop healthier ways of responding to them. 

One way is to invoke the relaxation response, a state of profound rest that can be elicited in many ways, including through meditation, yoga or progressive muscle relaxation.

Breath focus is a common feature of several techniques that evoke the relaxation response. The first step is learning to breathe deeply. When you breathe deeply, the air coming in through your nose fully fills your lungs, and your lower belly rises.

Breath focus helps you concentrate on slow, deep breathing, and aids you in disengaging from distracting thoughts and sensations. It’s especially helpful if you tend to hold tension in your stomach.

To try focusing on your breath, find a quiet, comfortable place to sit or lie down. First, take a normal breath. Then try a deep breath: Breathe in slowly through your nose, allowing your chest and lower belly to rise as you fill your lungs. Let your abdomen expand fully. Now breathe out slowly through your mouth (or your nose, if that feels more natural). Notice how your body feels and changes as you breathe in and out. 

Once you’ve taken the steps above, you can move on to regular practice of controlled breathing. As you sit comfortably with your eyes closed, blend deep breathing with helpful imagery and perhaps a word or phrase that helps you relax.

It’s important not to try too hard. That may just cause you to tense up. Just be aware of your breathing. The key to eliciting the relaxation response lies in shifting your focus from stressors to deeper, calmer rhythms.

Q: What makes whole grain foods healthier than other carbs? And how can you tell which products are really whole grain?

A: Whole grains reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. But they do even more. People who eat a diet rich in whole grain foods live longer compared to people who consume foods made from refined grains.

All grains grow as kernels. Each kernel has three layers:

—The inner germ contains many of the vitamins, minerals and healthy oils.

—The middle layer is called the endosperm. It is primarily starch and makes up most of the kernel. It provides the energy the kernel needs to start growing.

—The outer coating, known as bran, contains most of the grain’s fiber.

In the 1880s, millers became very adept at separating the layers, especially for wheat. The starchy middle layer was ideal for baking. 

These new refined grains became very popular. White bread crowded grocery store shelves for the next 100 years. Goodbye to the germ and bran, along with their nutritional value.

When you eat a whole grain, you’re getting more than just the fiber from the outer layer. You also get all the vitamins, minerals, good fats, protein, antioxidants and other healthful parts of the grain’s inner layer.

It’s easy enough to decide between brown rice and white rice. But selecting whole-grain breads and cereals often requires a close reading of the food label.

Don’t be fooled by terms such as “wheat flour,” “unbleached wheat flour” and “enriched wheat flour.” They can refer to refined white flour. 

The same goes for “stone-ground,” “multigrain,” “fortified,” “stoned wheat,” “cracked wheat” and “organic.” None of these terms guarantees that the product is whole grain.

To be sure that you are really getting whole grains, look for the word “whole” or “whole-grain” before the grain’s name as the first ingredient.

And it’s not enough that “made with whole grain” appears somewhere on the list of ingredients. That grain may have been refined. 

Again, the key is the word “whole” in the first ingredient listed — for example, “stone-ground whole wheat.”

Howard LeWine, M.D., is an internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. For more information, visit health.harvard.edu.

© 2020 President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.