In our most recent webinar, BePure's Lead Researcher Lisa Grey talked to us about how to get from burnout to balance. This discussion covered everything from sleep, to food, to nutritional support.
We had so many wonderful questions from our audience that we wanted to get the most common ones down in one place for everyone to enjoy and refer back to.
If you have any questions that aren't answered here, please get in touch with our team at info@bepure.co.nz.
How to know if you're experiencing stress, burnout, or anxiety
What's the difference between burnout/depression/anxiety?
There is a strong relationship between increased stress and increased depression and anxiety. Burnout will usually occurs after prolonged stress, and therefore for some people, can be a contributing factor to depression and anxiety. Burnout is an exhaustion that occurs due to prolonged stressors, depression are feelings of sadness/depressed mood and often shares the characteristic of loss of interest in activities with burnout. Anxiety is excessive fear and worry about the future.
Why do you think burnout is on the rise?
In the modern world there are many increased pressures, while we have so much more than ever before in history, the demand for our attention and need to perform or meet expectations can lead to overwhelm and burnout.
Long term, what will chronic stress do to you?
Long term stress causes many adaptive changes to our body's physiology where our body priorities survival in the moment, rather than using these resources for longer term survival and thriving. One example of this can be seen in the body prioritising cortisol production for survival over other hormone production (progesteroner/testosterone) for reproduction.
Stress and Food
Does intermittent fasting result in stress/increased cortisol?
There are many types of intermittent fasting. For some, intermittent fasting can involve not eating for at least a 24hour period. This definitely can be stressful for the body. We prefer time-restricted eating which means we may only consume calories for a 12-16 hour window. While this might be a small stress on the body, research shows that it helps regulate many processes in our body which can be healthful. Often small stressors can be beneficial, moderate exercise would be an example of this.
What happens if I have alcohol as part of my social evenings? How long will my body take to discard the alcohol?
Our Body's metabolise alcohol quite quickly, about 1 unit of alcohol an hour. However, the longer term effects of alcohol include: increased calorie intake, modifications to our microbiome and increased load on our livers, which can all impact our metabolic health longterm.
Ready For Bed and Ready To Rise
Does it matter if my sleep is broken up to 2 hr stints but I still get 7 hrs total a night - Is that enough?
It is difficult to know exactly what is enough, I would recommend you continue to support your sleep with various practices to maximise the health benefits of quality sleep
How can we know what the quality of our sleep is?
While it is difficult to know exactly without sleeping in a sleep lab, there are a number of apps and devices that can assist measuring the quality of the sleep we get, Oura Ring is one such device.
Is decaf coffee OK or do I need to give up my morning coffee?
If you enjoy the routine and taste of coffee then decaf is a very good choice. The ideal kind of decaf coffee is that which has been decaffeinated via the swiss water process!
How long does it generally take to feel better after cutting out coffee?
Depending on how much coffee you usually consume, it can take anywhere from 1 to 7 days to start feeling better from eliminating coffee, often people feel worse for a number of days, including; headaches, fatigue and mood changes.
Does green tea have the same effect as caffeine on sleep?
Green Tea does also contain caffeine, although a much lower amount than coffee, however for some people it can still be too much caffeine if a lot of green tea is consumed and therefore impact sleep.
Have you any suggestions for getting unbroken sleep?
We have a whole article on this here!
Nutritional Support for Stress
Do adaptagens help bring down cortisone levels?
The adaptogens help your body modulate the responses to stress via the hypothalamus-pituatary-adrenal axis, allowing your body to have a more appropiate response to stress. Where as under chronic stress, the response is often inappropiate (too high).
If I already take magnesium at night can I take InnerCalm too?
Absolutley, magnesium is wonderful for relaxing the body and mind and taking together with InnerCalm will provide extra support.
I started using InnerStrength about a week ago. First couple of days felt more energised. then the effect dropped. Also experienced headaches in the first days. I take two in the morning with breakfast. Should I try anything differently?
It sounds like you might have increased detoxification from InnerStrength and that's why you had a headache for the first couple of days. While increased energy is a sign it's giving you something you need, I wouldn't expect that to continue long term, as our body adapts to the new increased energy. The increased energy might change to being more balanced and in control.
Is it true that kava can be toxic to the liver?
There is some evidence that with high dosage and prolonged use there can be damage to the liver, this does not apply to the dosage and recommended used of InnerCalm.
Are there any contraindictions with medicine and InnerCalm or InnerStrength?
Tamoxifen: There are no known contraindications with this and InnerCalm, however we recommend that you discuss this option with your pharmacist.
Omeprezole: There are no known contraindications with Omeprezole
Sertraline: While there are no known contraindications of the ingredients of InnerStrength and InnerCalm with sertraline, caution is advised with Kava, you would want to monitor your depression while taking Kava.
If you missed our webinar, you can watch a recording here whenever suits.
