Handle negativity with the right diet

The mind and body interact with each other to a larger extent than normally imagined. Why else would you get physically drained after a mentally exhausting day? Or why would the heart race and palms sweat when you are nervous? This just points out to the profound connection between mind and body. Prolonged stress can cause high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, constipation, diarrhoea, ulcers, insomnia, chronic fatigue and a host of other conditions.

Stress is omnipresent. It’s the way you handle a stressful situation that makes all the difference to your health.

How to change your response to a negative situation:

It’s easier to bring about a change in yourself than in the situation. If in a stressful situation, you react with anger, just controlling that anger will help you see the situation in a different light. Meditation and pranayama have a positive effect on our health, and are known to correct a range of problems from heart diseases to depression. Think positive. When you do so, the chain reaction that follows may have less harmful consequences. Just as you dispose your body wastes and toxins by bathing, sweating, passing stools, etc., you must dispose your negative emotions by making a conscious effort to block all negativity and think positive. A nutritional cleansing programme will help, as being physically toxic interferes with clarity of thought, intuition and positive thinking. Below are a few tips to help detoxify: Drink green juices and herbal teas such as wheatgrass juice, mint and coriander juice, chamomile tea, peppermint tea and basil tea. They are excellent liver cleansers, help in calming agitated nerves and have a soothing effect on the body Eating a fibre-rich diet helps in detoxification Supplements of vitamin A,C, E and selenium help the body to offset the negative effect of stress Ginseng equips the body to deal with both physical and mental stress better Regular exercise makes the body more resilient to the exhausting effect of stress. It helps raise serotonin levels, which in turn help the body to overcome negative emotions better. Anjali Mukerjee,

nutritionist

STRESS IS OMNIPRESENT. IT IS THE WAY YOU HANDLE A STRESSFUL SITUATION THAT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE TO YOUR HEALTH