Have you ever noticed that when your autoimmune symptoms are worse your mental health goes down the tubes? Maybe you have rheumatoid arthritis, and when you have a flare your anxiety goes through the roof. Or perhaps an ulcerative colitis flare will trigger your depression or OCD. Most of the time autoimmune diseases and mental health diagnosis, such as anxiety, depression and OCD, are treated as separate problems. However, they are often two sides of the same coin.
When you have a flare of an autoimmune disease there are elevated level of inflammation in your body. This often corresponds to neurological inflammation as well. Increased neurological inflammation = increase psychological symptoms. This is why in my practice when someone comes in with both an autoimmune disease and mental health struggles, I treat them as one condition. We treat the underlying inflammation.
There are many ways to do this, and the path we take depends on the individual. A big part of it is identifying your triggers, and figuring out how to minimize them. We also use targeted nutritional supplements that address inflammation directly. The cornerstone of treatment is switching to a lifestyle that is more anti-inflammatory.
There are many facets of an anti-inflammatory lifestyle.Today I’m going to talk about one of the most important- exercise. Exercise has powerful anti-inflammatory benefits, and can help improve your physical and psychological health. The best place to start if you have an autoimmune condition is low intensity burst training (LIBT). This method allows you to reap the benefits of high intensity exercise without putting too much strain on your body. These benefits include: increased growth hormone release, increase pain relief, insulin receptor sensitivity and immune system enhancement.
LIBT involves alternating between periods (5 to 30 seconds in duration) of short, high-intensity movement and lower-intensity “active recovery” periods ( 20 to 90 seconds). Burst training can be adapted to a multitude of physical activities, including those that are low impact and do not put too much stress on your joints. Examples of these are: walking, swimming, dancing, elliptical machine, rowing, shadowboxing, chair exercises, aerobics. It is always important to warm up before you exercise and cool down after. Doing LIBT for just 10 minutes per day can have dramatic impacts on your health.
There is no “one size fits all” formula for LIBT since every person has varying degrees of physical ability and exercise/fitness experience. If you feel fatigued or sore the next day, then you have probably exercised too hard. The goal is to find that sweet spot, and to keep adjusting your training as your body changes (i.e you may need to exercise a big harder as your tolerance improves, and you may need to scale back if you are in a flare).
I hope you have found this article helpful. Look for my next article where I will discuss the gut/brain immune axis, and simple and inexpensive ways to improve your microbiome.
