by Stephen Khang, KR Natural Pet Products

Stress is a relatively new concept that people are talking about and still very few people really understand that concept. It is defined in the dictionary as a “pressure, force, strain; a state of physical or mental tension including it, or affecting something.” Although this does not help in understanding the concept very much, it is important to understand the concept so that people can avoid it as much as they can and try to minimize the harmful effect of stress. The body is constantly subjected to stress and the harmful effects that the stress produces. Stress occurs in many forms. The four major forms which concern us are:

• chemical stress
• emotional stress
• physical trauma
• infection related stress

Each of these stresses can come from many sources. Most of these have appeared as a primary threat in our environment. For example, one of the most common stress is chemical stress and it can come from pesticides, insecticides, polluted air and water, heavy metals such as mercury or lead, asbestos, and artificial food additives. There are many reasons why people need to be concerned about stress and its effects on health . They can include stress and related immunity and premature degeneration.

There are many health problems related to diminished immune systems including allergies and susceptibility to different diseases such as fungus and yeast infections. With premature degeneration the stress will cause an acceleration in the aging and the break-down of tissues. Henceforth, understanding and compensating for the stress will help the immune system and enhance the ability to achieve health and stay well.

In understanding stress and the harmful effect on the body, we can see that many of the sources of stress come directly from the many modern technologies as well as by subjecting our body to unnatural lifestyles. Nevertheless, many of the physical results of different forms of stress are the same. These unnecessary, and avoidable, results are cellular damage caused by highly unstable molecules called free radicals.

Because of the highly unstable nature of the “free radicals”, they can be extremely toxic and are a primary result of stress that undermines the immune system and threaten health. Ironically, the body’s immune system produces these highly toxic free radicals in minute amounts because they are essential for the immune system to remove a virus or bacteria. It is only when high concentration of free radicals are present, or when the level of free radicals overwhelm the body’s ability to remove them, does a threat to health occur. Maintaining the balance between free radical activity and antioxidant enzyme supply is one of the important functions of the body.

It is in the cell where free radicals are created and do the most damage. In the case of the immune system, this random circulation of the free radicals (molecules with an unpaired electron which is seeking to bind with any and everything) causes communication break down between the immune system cells and the body, thus weakening or wiping out some of their signals. Simply put excess amounts of the free radicals create chemical reactions at the wrong place at the wrong time causing havoc with the cellular environment. In doing so, the excess amounts of the free radicals cause the breakdown of the immune systems (i.e. allergic reaction or autoimmune reaction). You may ask then, why would there be excess amounts of these free radicals created. It would be easier to consider the fact that the factors related to the release of excess amount of free radicals are mostly originated from modern advancements in our society such as chemical preservatives in the food or the polluted air and water. Then it is simple to see why so many individuals can not overcome the threats posed by germs, viruses or abnormal cell growth (like cancer). Again, stress (of all types) and the resultant free radicals are a primary cause in weakening of the immune system and accelerated the degenerative process.

As we have discussed earlier, the different forms of stress exert a common free radical insult on many of the vital cellular processes. Thus, when the body has lost the ability to produce enough enzymes to neutralize the excess amounts of these free radicals it would be beneficial to supplement the diet with antioxidant formulas such as OxyPro Antioxident to help in neutralizing them. In some studies, researchers have found that ingesting SOD(Superoxide Dismutase) has resulted in over 80% of the arthritic conditions having improved in joint mobility.

IMPORTANT!  The recommendations in this article are general suggestions for treating your pet naturally.  It is important to look at each pet individually and determine what works best for YOUR pet. 

I would highly consider a phone consultation.  A consultation will include a personalized diet and holistic program suggestions, all custom-tailored to your pet’s personal needs. This is particularly imperative in pets with complicated health issues, or if you’ve done outside reading and have conflicting information.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Purely Pets today!