Nervous System Health

You are electric! Everything in your body is connected through nerve cells, electrical impulses, and chemical messengers. You could say that the nervous system “wires” us together. The nervous system consists of conscious and unconscious areas of the Brain, Spinal column and Peripheral Nerves

Conscious/Voluntary

• Perceive through senses
• Move skeletal muscles
• Regulate conscious actions

Unconscious/Involuntary

• Known as “Autonomic”
• Keeps your heart beating
• Digests your food
• Regulates temperature
• Makes sure you breathe
• Takes care of everything you don’t have to think about!

Autonomic Nervous System 

This is divided into the Sympathetic , which gets us charged or “wired up” and the Parasympathetic, which helps us wind down and relax.

The Sympathetic Nervous System
When we’re excited, stressed or scared, the sympathetic nervous system:

• Tenses our muscles
• Makes our heart beat faster
• Moves blood away from digestive organs
• Shuts down elimination

The Parasympathetic Nervous System 
As we relax and unwind, the parasympathetic nervous system:

• Moves blood to the digestive organs
• relaxes muscles
• Aids elimination
• Initiates healing and self repair

Your brain is complex:

• Houses 98% of your body’s neurons
• Makes up only 2% of your body weight
• Consumes 25% of your oxygen
• Consumes as much as 20% of your sugar

You are What You Eat

This phrase particularly applies to the brain. A “junk food” diet short-circuits your mental attitude and your emotional responses creating a “trashy” brain. With todays poor diet, nervous system disorders like stress, depression, anxiety and insomnia are on the rise.

The nervous system is probably the most nutritionally sensitive system in the body. Long before you feel physical conditions, you’ll notice mental and emotional conditions from poor nutrition, such as:

• Fuzzy thinking (brain fog)
• Absent mindedness
• Mental confusion
• Nervousness

These can lead to chronic insomnia, anxiety, depression and memory loss.

Other Facts about the brain:

The Brain and Blood Sugar
Your brain consumes the most glucose of any organ. But, if you get too much sugar, you might experience:

• Agitation
• Irritability
• Nervousness

If you don’t get enough sugar, you may experience:

• Hypoglycemia
• Mental confusion
• Shakiness
• Fatigue

But just because your brain needs sugar, doesn’t mean you should fill it with candy. Simple sugars contribute to brain fog. Complex sugars found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains stabilise blood sugar and nourish the brain. And try to include protein and good fats with your meals.

Age Related Memory Loss

Toxins and the Nervous System

Toxins pose a significant threat to the nervous system. Some of the toxins we’re exposed to frequently include:

• Drugs
• Alcohol
• Chemical solvents
• Pesticides & herbicides
• Excessive caffeine
• Refined sugar
• White flour
• Hydrogenated oils

How Stress and Anxiety Affects the Brain

• Stress response is healthy and normal – too much is hurtful
• Sympathetic nerves are activated (wind-up)
• Parasympathetic are inhibited (relax)
• Blood shifted from digestive organs to muscles

• Most dangers aren’t physical, but feel like a threat to our survival
• Continuous activation of the stress response can lead to “burn out”
• Many people live with emotional and nervous exhaustion