Dr. Andrew Simon explains why Americans gained an average of 15 pounds during the pandemic: chronic stress disrupts blood sugar, hormones, and neurotransmitters. He recommends 8-9 hours of sleep, eating every 3-4 hours to stabilize insulin, and mindfulness practices, alongside annual checkups that look beyond the scale.
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We've had a lot of changes over the past year and a half, but the pandemic has been prolonged and it might be getting a bit more people worried. So this morning we are joined by Dr. Andrew Simon from the Bastyr center for Natural Health. Dr. Simon, there been a lot of things to make people worry and that might lead to a weight gain. There's a Johns Hopkins study that's out saying the average American gained about 15 pounds during this first part of the pandemic. Could you tell us why that number might be so high?
Well, many of us in this last year have experienced a little bit of stress. And I think that's my main kind of hit home here is stress. You know, I think one of the most important things to realize it's been a really challenging year, and we need to learn not to judge ourselves if we might have gained a little bit of weight or other people for that matter. So me as a physician, I think of this analogy of the freshman 15 when we had this maybe change a lot of things happening at once. Same with the pandemic. We had a lot of habits change really all at once, and we had to really learn how to readapt. And when I think about stress, it comes in many forms. People don't always realize these persistent stress can lead to changes in your blood sugar, neurotransmitter changes, how your body's using your hormones. So even folks with really healthy habits already going into the pandemic, the normal nutrition might have shifted. They might have noticed a shift in their weight. And I really talk to my patients about a lot of those type of factors.
And I know I'm not alone in admitting that there was a part of the pandemic where I didn't get in for a regular appointment. Some of that was because of COVID protocols, things like that. But I have heard from many people, they put off going to the doctor in this past year and a half simply because they were worried about going out too much or going to a health setting. During the COVID 19 pandemic, when you are returning to the doctor, maybe you're having that physical now or in the next few months, that number on the scale might be a little bit jarring to people. How do you have a good conversation with your doctor about that change that you were just talking about?
Well, you know, it's important because, you know, I do advocate for people to get their annual exam, you know, primary care screening, you know, getting your vaccinations, COVID vaccine, for that matter. But you know, when we go into the doctor and we see that number on the scale where a little bit of shock, right, and that itself is a little bit of stress. And so we have to really remind ourselves that we have to not judge ourselves for this last year and a half. And you know, working with a doctor hopefully is doing the same. You know, they're going to recognize that, you know, a few things happened in this last year. And you know, the way I look at it is I like to look at integration, you know, using the combination of mind, body medicine strategies, acupuncture. If someone's in a lot of pain, I'll use different physical medicine modalities to help them get out of pain so they can exercise. And when we learn that there's other health parameters such as body composition, numbers, your lean muscle mass, how hydrated you are, how your bowel movements are, and any other inflammatory markers, I think those things actually really speak home to more actionable steps you can take when working with your physician or naturopathic physician. It's really important that it's more than just percentage of weight reduction. It's really discussing those barriers for pain, stress management and really targeted in a new way, you know, going forward here in a more sustainable way, knowing what's out there in the world.
And Dr. Simon, some of our KING 5 viewers may be in a position where their job wants them to keep working from home or people have the option and they are choosing to work from home. What are some of the ways people can stay healthy or maybe drop a little bit of weight while having that work from home setting continue?
Well, I think sometimes working from home, I know myself, I've had to watch my kid in the last year, you know, while going to school for kindergarten. And so it's finding that routine again and that balance. Balance is the key message going forward here. We really have to identify things like rest. You know, we really do need that eight to nine hours of sleep. Getting into that deeper sleep is really important. It allows that body to calm down, you know, regulate its own hormones, neurotransmitters, like I said before. And you know, I oftentimes teach my patients different mindfulness or mind body medicine techniques. Breathing exercises in combination with safe dietary nutrition and if needed, certain safe supplements that can be used to help just improve that rest quality initially, always moving towards regulating their metabolism long term. Another factor that I really oftentimes refer my patients to is nutrition. Again, nutrition in a very sustainable way. Making sure you're getting plenty of fiber to help clean your body on a regular basis, making sure that your blood sugar is regulated by eating every three, four hours. And those things really help lower cholesterol, balance that blood sugar. So that way you're not really fighting against yourself in terms of some of that previous weight gain and improving your insulin response. All of these things together really when I work with my patients again, we try to find these behavioral changes that can really help promote reduction of stress regulation of your food. And it's these stress signals, maybe like skipping meals, being really hungry at nighttime when you're finishing your day at work. And those things to me are what I talk about my patients as little clues that maybe they're under a little bit of stress.
All right, Dr. Andrew Simon with the Bastyr center for Natural Health, we thank you for all these good tips as people are having their cups of coffee this morning. Thanks so much for joining us.
