Anger Gets a Bad Rap, But It Can be an Asset, Experts Say. Here’s What to do With It.

Anger Gets a Bad Rap, But It Can be an Asset, Experts Say. Here’s What to do With It.

Claremont Colonic Newsletter
White hot, violent, cruel, wrathful — the words we associate with anger don’t sound so pretty.
“Anger is a particular type of an emotional state that can receive a lot of judgment from ourselves and from other people,” said Dr. Brett Ford, associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto.

It might be an unpleasant emotion to experience, and it might be culturally discouraged, but we need anger, she added.

Sydney road’s evening traffic, Brunswick, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

“The actual experience of anger being deemed as bad is actually, I think, one of the biggest impediments to our emotional processing,” said Jaime Mahler, a therapist and trauma specialist based in New York. “You’re taking a very useful emotion, and you’re squashing it and you’re repressing it, and you’re saying it doesn’t matter.”

Evidence has suggested that minority groups and women face particular cultural pressure to tamp down on their anger, Ford said.

Emotions tend to have social expectations, or scripts, she said. “And anger is one that tends to have quite powerful and a prohibitive scripts and norms,” Ford added.

While many people may feel the need to resist or hide their anger, these mental health experts are urging the opposite. Anger, they say, is an important tool we should better learn to wield in a kind, healthy and productive way.

And as unpleasant as it may be to feel, the consequences of denying it could be worse, said Deborah Ashway, a licensed clinical mental health counselor based in New Bern, North Carolina.

“If you grew up learning that you’re not allowed … to express anger, after a while, it turns in on itself,” Ashway said. “And that turns into guilt.”

Anger can inform and protect you

Anger isn’t all doom and gloom.

“Our emotions are our highest guidance that we have, you know, that is available to us,” Ashway said. “Anger comes up as a warning. Like, ‘something’s going on here.’”

That flush of anger can alert us to a violation of our values, a feeling of danger, or a sense of neglect, she added.

And add to that, “anger is a protective emotion,” said Mahler, author of “Toxic Relationship Recovery: Your Guide to Identifying Toxic Partners, Leaving Unhealthy Dynamics, and Healing Emotional Wounds after a Breakup.”

When expressed in a constructive way, anger can drive people to stand up for their needs and opinions to be sure they are taken care of, Ashway said.

“It helps us set boundaries. It helps self-preservation. It helps us be assertive and advocate for ourselves. It helps in conflict resolution, if it’s managed appropriately,” she added.

That drive can also push us to take action about the things we are angry about, whether that is having a difficult conversation with a friend or taking political action, Ford said.

“If something is kind of getting in our way and we need to overcome some sort of obstacle, anger can help provide us with motivation to do that,” she said.

When it’s no longer just anger

But what about the malice and violence? That is often tied to rage — not anger, Ashway said.

And yes, they are very different.

“Violence is bad. Punching walls is bad. Throwing garbage cans is bad,” added Mahler. But in those cases, “we’re talking about the outcome of unprocessed anger, not anger in and of itself.”

Rage, she said, is old, unprocessed anger.

“Rage is a lot different because it’s not serving a healthy purpose anymore. It’s more destructive,” Ashway said.

If you are angry, you can take a step back, get the information, and make a choice based on your emotions. But enraged people are no longer in control of their emotions anymore, Ashway said.

“You can’t really get to that level of emotional expression unless your anger has not been processed for a very long time,” Mahler said. “Anger processed can lead to healing but anger unprocessed can lead to violence.”

How to process your anger (without fixating)

There is evidence that chronic, intense anger can lead to poor physical and mental health, Ford said. That means that ruminating or letting anger fester can be counterproductive.

“(Emotions) actually aren’t meant to be very long lived. They’re meant to kind of help us manage a particular moment in our environment,” she said.

Which is why it is even more important to stay with the feeling and process it fully, Ford said.

But that’s not always possible in the moment of rage, Mahler said. She compared it to someone having a panic attack rather than anxiety.

“You can’t really rationalize someone out of panic, you just have to calm their body down,” she Mahler said. “Same with rage. You just have to calm their body down and get them to a better state of consciousness.”

From there, you can start to process the emotion.

Start by letting it in and sitting with it, Ashway said.

Instead of letting it pressurize until it bursts, recognize your feeling without judgment and observe, Mahler said. Even if that means setting a 5-minute timer for the period you will allow yourself to feel angry.

“Then the next stage is to try to understand why anger showed up in that particular situation,” Mahler said.

“What might be impeding on your energy or thoughts? What are you protecting yourself from? What do you need that isn’t being met?” are questions Ashway wants people to ask when observing their anger.

“And then once you’re aware of it, you’re in control of it. It’s no longer going to control you now,” she said, adding that is the place from which you can decide how to move forward.


Contributor: Madeline Holcombe, CNN Heath

7 Signs You Have Pounds of Waste in Your Colon

7 Signs You Have Pounds of Waste in Your Colon

Claremont Colonic Newsletter
Under healthy conditions, the human body is highly efficient in removing waste and toxins from the digestive tract. Indigestible or mildly poisonous compounds in the food we eat, unwanted or unused vitamins and minerals and excess salts and water all make their way through your colon and out into the toilet bowl, flushed away along without a care.
That’s when everything is working as it should.

Certain factors, however, can quickly turn your colon — the final segment in your digestive system — into a toxic wasteland. Factors like chronic stress, poor diet or an imbalanced gut microbiome can all contribute to the build-up of waste in your colon. And that spells bad news for your health in general.

When the colon becomes inundated with excess waste and toxins, it allows harmful compounds to make their way through the gut wall and into your bloodstream. From here, they can wreak havoc on your immune system and contribute to the development of numerous health conditions. If your body is showing signs of a colon overload, you definitely want to get the problem addressed, stat. Here’s what to look out for.

1. You’re tired

We’re not talking about the fatigue that comes from a big night out on the town or a hard day at work — it’s the constant, inexplicable fatigue that never goes away that is raising the colon alarm here. If you’re getting a reasonable amount of sleep each night (anywhere between seven and nine hours, depending on what works best for your body) and not pushing yourself too hard each day, but still find that you’re constantly tired, it could be that your colon is under too much pressure (literally!).

If your body has kicked into overdrive trying to rid itself of all those toxins hanging out in your colon, it’s likely that you’ll feel chronically fatigued. This kind of stress puts pressure on your adrenals as well, further contributing to the problem.

2. You’re stinky

Ever wonder why you always have bad breath, regardless of how often you brush or how many times you visit the dreaded dentist? It could be due to an overload of waste buildup in your colon. Often, when the body is dealing with an excess of toxins, your breath is the first thing to start smelling a bit off. Similarly, when we’re eating poorly or stressed out, our sweat and body odor takes a turn for the worse.

So, if you’re a bit stinkier than you should be, consider looking to your colon for answers.

3. You’ve got allergies

Colonic hydrotherapists maintain that, over time, fecal matter begins to build up along the wall of the colon. Eventually, the colonic lining is no longer able to fully prevent some of this fecal matter from entering into the bloodstream, which in turn introduces antigens into the body which can activate an autoimmune response.

The result is often an allergic reaction, like sneezing, watery eyes, runny nose and asthmatic symptoms. While many people would consider these to be seasonal allergies, it could be that they are in fact due to excessive waste buildup in the colon.

4. You’re putting on weight

If you exercise regularly, eat well and get a decent amount of sleep every night, you should expect to maintain a reasonably healthy weight, right? But if you’re doing all these things and still putting on (or keeping on) weight, it could be due to those pounds of waste hanging out in your colon.

This may be due to two factors. Firstly, there’s the simple “what goes in must come out” sort of scenario — if what you’re putting in isn’t being processed efficiently and then heading out the back door again (but rather is residing in your colon instead), you’re bound to be putting on a little weight. Secondly, more fecal buildup in your colon means more potential for toxin exposure, which increases inflammation and causes your body to retain fat as a survival measure.

5. You can’t sleep

Perhaps it isn’t that you’re fatigued for no particular reason, but that you simply can’t sleep in the first place! While there are plenty of reasons why you might be having difficulty getting (or staying) asleep, one of them is due to a colonic overload.

That’s because when you’re in a state of toxic stress, the body’s normal circadian rhythm and sleep cycles are disrupted. Unfortunately, this can become a vicious cycle, as sleep has been shown to aid in the removal of toxic metabolites from the body. So, less sleep means more circulating which in turn means less sleep. Fun times.

6. You can’t concentrate

If your colon is acting up due to a waste overload, chances are you won’t be extracting the vitamins and nutrients you need from the foods you eat. That’s because the colon plays an important role in salt, fluid and nutrient absorption, meaning if your colon is impaired you may be suffering from a nutrient deficiency. In such a state, your brain won’t be functioning at 100 percent, making it more difficult to concentrate and perform advanced cognitive tasks.

7. You’ve got acne

It’s usually pretty uncommon for adults to suffer from intense bouts of acne, but the same isn’t true for those folks who have got a little too much waste hiding out in their colon. As discussed earlier, when your colon is in a less than ideal state, it has the potential to release toxins into the bloodstream, which can then elicit an autoimmune reaction whereby the immune system mistakenly attacks benign cells within the body. Some of these cells can be associated with hormone-regulating organs, thereby throwing off your hormonal balance.

And if there’s one thing hormonally-unbalanced teenagers are known for, it’s acne! Hormonal fluctuations have been shown to stimulate the sebaceous glands to produce more sebum, an oily substance that collects in the outer layer of the skin and manifests as acne. So if you’ve got an acne breakout (and you’re not a teenager!), it could be colonic trouble in paradise.


Contributor: Liivi Hess – AlternativeDaily.com

Seasonal Affective Disorder Can Affect You in the Summer Too

Seasonal Affective Disorder Can Affect You in the Summer Too

Claremont Colonic Center
  • Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is often correlated with winter months, but it can also occur in the summertime.
  • Symptoms of summer SAD may differ from symptoms of winter SAD.
  • Treatments and lifestyle strategies can help people cope with symptoms of summer SAD.
While summertime is often thought of as cheerful and bright with the ability to uplift people’s moods, the effects of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) can still occur during the sunniest months.

SAD is a mood disorder in which depression occurs at the same time every year. The condition is most connected to times of year like winter when there is less sunlight. The term is used by the general public to describe the clinical term Major Depression with a Seasonal Pattern (MDSP), said Deborah Serani, PsyD, author of Living with Depression and professor at Adelphi University in New York.

“Sometimes summer seasonal affective disorder is called reverse SAD, because most individuals experience SAD in the winter months,” Serani told Healthline. “It’s long known that seasonal patterns are frequently responsible for mental health issues, and more research is being done to understand the brain’s involvement in seasonal weather change.”

For instance, a 2023 studyTrusted Source found that sunlight and the body clock or circadian rhythm can be disrupted during seasonal shifts, which interfere with neurochemistry like serotonin that worsens depression symptoms.

Serani said that sunlight is also required for the production of melatonin, and having too little melatonin (summer SAD) or too much melatonin (winter SAD) can cause mood changes, sleeping problems, irritability, sadness, and other SAD symptoms.

Additionally, Steve Miccio, CEO of the mental health organization People USA, noted that research shows too much sunlight, excessive heat and humidity, and personal views of body image can contribute to depression.

An investigation published in an article in JAMA PsychiatryTrusted Source found that emergency department (ED) visits were eight percent higher on hot days compared to cooler days during the summer and that there was an association between elevated ambient temperature and ED visits for any mental health condition and for specific mental health diagnoses. The authors noted that they saw increases in rates for visits regarding stress, anxiety, schizophrenia, substance use disorder, mood disorders, self-harm, and more.

“There are bits of research that look into the effect of extreme heat and how it may escalate symptoms of depression, however the heat may only be a contributing factor. It’s evident that extreme heat can escalate agitation as well; however, there are too many human factors that need to be researched to show definitive proof that extreme heat is the main contributing factor when people are experiencing SAD,” Miccio told Healthline.

Additionally, Serani noted that climate changeTrusted Source has been shown to be a significant risk factor for the onset of a variety of mental health issues like depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and more.

Symptoms of summer seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

While general symptoms of depression include irritability, sadness, mood changes, concentration difficulties, sleeping too much or too little, physical aches and pains, appetite changes, anxiety or restlessness, one study which looked at the differences between winter and summer SAD found that the symptoms differ.

While both types of SAD brought on sad moods and a reduction in feelings of pleasure, each had opposing symptoms. For instance:

With winter depression, people experienced increased appetite, carbohydrate craving, weight gain, and hypersomnia. They may also socially withdraw, according to the National Institute of Mental HealthTrusted Source (NIMH).

With summer depression, people were more likely to experience decreased appetite and insomnia. They may also experience restlessness, agitation, anxiety, and episodes of violent behavior, according to the NIMH.

More research is needed to fully understand the differences and to understand summer SAD more thoroughly.

“It’s important to know that in order to make the criteria for SAD diagnosis, depressive symptoms must occur before the season begins and then move into full remission when the season ends. And they must re-occur for two consecutive years when the season starts again,” explained Serani.

While Mental Health America reports that in a given year, about 5 percent of the U.S. population experiences seasonal depression, with the typical age of onset occurring between 20 and 30 years of age, there is not much data specifically for summer SAD.

Ways to combat summer SAD symptoms

Treatment for SAD includes the following. A qualified mental health professional can help you determine which is best for you.

  • Limiting exposure to natural daylight (no more than 13 hours per day)
  • Staying cool with air conditioning, especially at night
  • Psychotherapy
  • Antidepressant medications


In addition to treatment, the following may help you manage symptoms of SAD.

Accept that summer SAD is a condition

Acknowledging that SAD can occur in the summertime, can eliminate the stigma around getting help.

“It will pass if you take action that can help lift you up,” said Miccio.

Stay cool

For summer SAD, Serani said most individuals report needing to soften the intensity of the summer from its heat, humidity, and overabundance of sunlight.

“Consider finding a quiet room and drawing the shades. Use a fan or if you have AC, crank it up to cool your body,” she said.

Be mindful of your sleep

While sleep is important, keep to a schedule so you don’t find yourself sleeping too much or too little.

“If you can take a nap to catch up on lost Zs, make sure they don’t interfere with your night time rest,” Serani said.

Move a little and eat a healthy diet

While getting motivated to exercise can be a difficult task when experiencing SAD, Miccio suggested making it routine to get outside once a day for a walk to help relieve symptoms. Going early in the morning or later at night when the sun isn’t as strong can help offset the heat.

“[Plus], even with a reduced appetite, try to eat healthier foods such as fruits and vegetables,” he said.

Mind your triggers

Maintaining well-being with any mental health disorder requires being mindful of your triggers.

“Understand how the seasonal patterns press on your daily functioning,” said Serani.

Tracking your feelings, emotions, and moods and what triggers them throughout the day is a good place to start.

Understand medication options

If you find it difficult to navigate changes in light and temperature, Serani said studies show that adding medication before the season begins and ending it shortly after can offer the needed neurochemistry for balance and to get through the season.

Try holistic approaches

Under the direction of a mental health professional, Serani said that managing mild SAD or seasonal patterns of depression can be done with:

  • Aromatherapy Eating lean protein and complex carbs
  • Using binaural beat or theta music for sleep
  • Sound therapy to offset irritability
  • Other types of complementary therapies


Talk with a mental health professional

While talking with a trusted friend or family member can be healing, if you find yourself having difficulty coping with the seasonal changes, contact a mental health therapist that specializes in mood disorders.


Contributor: Cathy Cassata – Healthline.com

Elle Sez Series: Health and Wellness – Adrenal Cocktails: What Are They and Do They Work?

Claremont Colonic Center


Elle Sez Series: Health and Wellness - Adrenal Cocktails: What Are They and Do They Work?

Hoping to combat stress and fatigue? These trendy ’mocktails’ aren’t your best choice.

Job stress? Poor sleep habits? No time to cook fresh foods? We live in a fast-paced world, with plenty of challenges to maintaining good health.

So, when we find ourselves routinely grappling with conditions like fatigue, sleepless nights, trouble concentrating and all-around burnout, it’s tempting to seek out a speedy fix.

Enter the adrenal cocktail, a trendy, good-tasting, nonalcoholic drink that promises to help your body fight stress and maintain peak performance.

The question is: Do adrenal cocktails deliver all they promise?

We spoke with endocrinologist Pratibha Rao, MD, MPH, about the possible role these drinks might play in adrenal health.

What is an adrenal cocktail?

A magic elixir? A shortcut to good health? A fast way to fight off fatigue and the effects of stress? Those claims — and plenty more — have been made about the trendy adrenal cocktail, a nonalcoholic beverage that typically contains orange juice, coconut water and a big pinch of sea salt. Other ingredients in an adrenal cocktail could include coconut milk and cream of tartar, as well as spices like ginger.

Are there benefits to adrenal cocktails?

Let’s look at the claims.

At their most basic, the claims for adrenal cocktails are that they fight adrenal fatigue and support adrenal gland health.

According to the cocktail’s promoters, the combination of vitamin C (from orange juice), sodium (from the sea salt) and potassium (from the coconut water, and the cream of tartar if you use it) replenishes the body’s hardworking adrenal glands.

Your adrenal glands are small, triangular organs that sit atop your kidneys and make vital hormones like aldosterone, cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline. Medical research confirms that those adrenal hormones are essential for duties like regulating heart rate, ensuring electrolyte balance and maintaining blood pressure, among other responsibilities.

They also play a role in how your body reacts to stress. According to the National Institutes of Health, during times of stress, your adrenal glands rapidly respond by increasing secretions of specific hormones, which affect metabolism. This helps boost your energy level, increase your blood pressure and signal your immune system to relax.

Given all their important work, who wouldn’t want to keep those adrenal glands wide awake and functioning at their best?

But is adrenal fatigue a thing?

Probably not. Much like your heart or lungs, your adrenal glands have a huge functional capacity and don’t get tired out.

As far as the term goes, Dr. Rao says she’s familiar with adrenal fatigue. “But in the medical profession, our practice is based on evidence,” she says, “and there is no evidence that adrenal fatigue exists.”

Nor is there evidence that these cocktails nourish or support the adrenal glands, beyond what a healthy diet provides.

On the other hand, there is a rare medical condition known as adrenal insufficiency. In adrenal insufficiency, your adrenal glands don’t function properly and can’t secrete the vital hormones your body needs. This is a potentially life-threatening condition. Symptoms can include vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, low blood pressure, low blood sugar, lack of appetite and extreme exhaustion. If you experience these types of symptoms, a prompt visit to a healthcare provider is in order.

Are adrenal cocktails safe?

If you’re in good health, don’t have diabetes or kidney disease, or any condition that calls for fluid restriction, there’s nothing in an adrenal cocktail that’s harmful, says Dr. Rao. In fact, the combination of water, glucose and sodium is well known to the medical community as “oral rehydration solution,” where it serves as a way to treat dehydration due to diarrhea or vomiting.

“So, while there’s no evidence that adrenal cocktails can improve adrenal function, I don’t think they do any harm,” she says.

Who should avoid adrenal cocktails?

  • If you’re on dialysis or have been diagnosed with kidney failure or chronic kidney disease, talk with your healthcare provider before trying an adrenal cocktail. The drink’s high potassium level could lead to potential harm, Dr. Rao cautions.
  • If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, the sugar content in an adrenal cocktail could cause problems in blood-sugar regulation, especially as the drink lacks sugar-regulating nutrients like fiber and protein.
  • If you’re watching your weight, consider the calories in an adrenal cocktail. Eight ounces of orange juice contain 110 calories and 8 ounces of coconut water has about 60 calories. Plain water? Zero calories.


Do I need an adrenal cocktail?

Adrenal cocktail proponents give many reasons why they’re good for your health. Here are a few, and how they stand up to medical scrutiny:

The claim: Adrenal cocktails support hydration

The evidence:

  • Adrenal cocktails do provide hydration and are probably more healthful (and certainly less expensive) than sports drinks.
  • But: If you’re already drinking plenty of water, says Dr. Rao, adrenal cocktails aren’t necessary.
The claim: Adrenal cocktails provide potassium

The evidence:

  • Adrenal cocktails do contain orange juice, coconut water and, sometimes, cream of tartar. These can be good sources of potassium, which is an essential mineral needed by all tissues in the body.
  • But: Many common foods contain potassium. If you’re already eating a diet that includes things like avocados, leafy greens, oranges or orange juice, bananas, potatoes or yogurt, you probably have your potassium needs covered.


The claim: Adrenal cocktails replenish electrolyte balance

The evidence:

  • Your body does need to maintain a balance of minerals in your blood. Both the potassium and sodium in adrenal cocktails play important roles in maintaining that balance.
  • But: Our bodies need far more potassium than sodium each day. Yet the typical U.S. diet is just the opposite. The extra sodium provided by the cocktail’s sea salt isn’t necessary for good health. Adopting a healthy diet and drinking plenty of water are far more beneficial for maintaining an electrolyte balance, says Dr. Rao.


The claim: Adrenal cocktails fight fatigue

The evidence:

  • Cool, refreshing and with a bit of naturally occurring sugar from the orange juice, an adrenal cocktail can temporarily make you feel more alert.
  • But: “If you stayed well hydrated and ate healthy food, you probably wouldn’t feel so low to begin with,” states Dr. Rao, “nor so rejuvenated after you drank one.”


Alternatives to adrenal cocktails

For people in good health, without diabetes or kidney disease, and who aren’t watching their calories, adrenal cocktails are probably harmless. “You get your simple carbs, some water, the much-needed potassium, some vitamin C and a lot of other nutrients,” Dr. Rao concedes. “So, if a healthy person wants to drink one on occasion, there’s no problem.”

But she emphasizes that lifestyle issues, or perhaps some yet undiagnosed medical condition, are likely to play a much larger role in your symptoms than any type of adrenal problem.

“When you’re eating fast food, are constantly on the go, and are feeling stressed and fatigued, you can find yourself in a bad situation,” she says. “If someone says to you, ‘Hey, here’s this magic potion that’s going to get rid of your stress,’ why would anyone turn it down?”

However, Dr. Rao suggests that we instead look for ways to improve our daily lives.

Her No. 1 tip for busting stress is this: “Take 10 minutes a day for yourself, every day of your life.” During that time, she recommends practicing deep breathing, meditation or even taking a short walk. “Be mindful,” she continues. “Take the pause. Because otherwise, the stress hormones keep rising.”

Other tips for minimizing the effects of stress on your body include:

  • Avoiding processed foods.
  • Moving toward a plant-based diet.
  • Drinking an adequate amount of fluid every day – enough that your pee is the color of light lemonade.
  • Establishing a regular sleep routine.
  • Engaging in regular physical activity.


How can a healthcare provider help?

Don’t forget the importance of your regular annual physical, says Dr. Rao. “Your primary healthcare provider is your gateway to appropriate medical care. During your exam, they will notice if there have been changes in your blood pressure or blood sugar, or if your weight has changed. And if there is something drastic going on with your body, they can treat it.” In addition, if you find yourself bothered by extreme fatigue that limits your lifestyle, and issues like chronic nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, these can be symptoms of adrenal insufficiency. Under those conditions, your primary care provider would probably refer you to an endocrinologist for further testing.

“Most often, adrenal insufficiency comes on very gradually,” Dr. Rao says. “So, if you are having the above symptoms, and you’ve been eating healthy, sleeping well and doing everything right, then you need to be checked out.

“Things like adrenal cocktails might seem helpful in the short term,” she concludes. “But they don’t help in diagnosing or treating the underlying problem. At that point, a trip to your healthcare provider is in order.”


Contributor: ClevelandClinic.org