How Changes in the Weather May Affect Your Health
Do your joints feel better in the summer weather? Do you have a hard time exercising when it is hot out? Are you more motivated and happy in the summer? Does your nose run as soon as the first blossom has bloomed? Do you notice that you can’t eat the same way as you do in the winter as you do in the summer?
If you have ever felt some of these things, you may be a person whose health status is affected by the weather!
We commonly hear from patients at Caring Medical who say that the weather makes their medical problem feel worse or better. You might think that this is no big deal, however, this can really help us determine what the underlying problem is.
The weather has long been suspected of affecting people's health. Cold damp days can mean aching bones and joints for arthritis sufferers and a long hot spell can result in lost workdays for migraine sufferers. Although these effects are common knowledge, they tend to be dismissed as coincidence or folklore. But there is mounting evidence that certain health problems are aggravated or even brought on by the weather.
Assessing the relationship between weather and health can be difficult. This is partly because the weather changes everyday which brings different weather factors into play. But researchers using weather information in their studies on human health have made some interesting connections and have confirmed what many people have long suspected: weather affects health.
The studies show that migraines are more prevalent in locations where warmer air is moving in. Chronic pain sufferers are most affected by changes in temperature, humidity, precipitation and sudden changes in the weather. Arthritis acts up with strong atmospheric cooling and is influenced by dampness.
Researchers have also found other important connections. The rate of heart attacks increases with changes in air masses. Depression is more prevalent in the warm sector of a weather system. Blood pressure is affected by outside temperature and the rate at which blood clots also changes depending on the weather. In fact, the entire human body appears to be weather sensitive in one way or another.
Interestingly enough, the German weather service currently incorporates these findings in their weather forecasts. It has developed a weather-health index, which predicts the degree of risk of particular ailments across the country. The program began in 1985 and by 1994 they were producing weather-based health forecasts which are aired alongside the weather forecasts. Physicians in Germany have indicated that the bio-weather forecasts are very useful during consultations with their patients.
You might be wondering where we are going with this discussion, but hold your horses. It is true that there is nothing that you can do about the weather. If you live in an area where you are constantly exposed to different seasonal changes, you may feel like you are a “slave to the weather.” This does not have to be the case. But you do need to find out a couple things about yourself.
At Caring Medical, we have found that a large part of the “weather problem” is related to the acidity of your blood. You may have never heard a discussion on this before. What we are talking about is your blood pH. Your blood pH is acidic if your pH is low, and alkaline if it is high. The typical diet for these acidity levels is depicted below:
Acid Blood - pH less than 7.4 - Higher protein, lower carb diet
Neutral Blood - pH at 7.4 - Mixed diet of protein and carbs
Alkaline Blood - pH greater than 7.4 - Higher carbohydrate, lower protein diet
Take this little quiz:
1. What makes you feel better – eating a steak or drinking a cup of coffee or a glass of orange juice?
2. What type of breakfast makes you feel the best? Eggs/bacon or cereal or toast with coffee?
3. Do you crave sweet foods? But don’t feel good after eating them?
4. Does coffee give you a buzz, then a crash? Or could you drink it right before bed?
Most acidic people feel better with protein and fat, and don’t do well with coffee. Most alkaline people can drink coffee any time of day and not be affected by it, where acidic people usually are kept awake by it. It peps them up, but then they crash.
Changes in your blood pH affect how your body responds to different “assaults,” such as colds, flu, and allergies. If a person struggles with seasonal allergies, with the itchy, runny nose, watery eyes, for instance, he may tell you that he feels even worse in humid weather. His problem might be related to certain molds that are more prevalent in the summer because the weather is conducive to mold growth. Mold problems in a home are very common and can be very severe. Some people have had to move out of their homes because of it. Some of the things you can do for mold: dehumidifiers or ozone ultraviolet light air purifiers.
If it was Sept/August and someone was having a lot of allergic type symptoms, this is hay fever/ragweed season. Since you don’t have control over what you breathe, except inside your house, you may need to use hepa filters inside that trap particles of these plants. The point here is that if you are not eating according to your pH, in other words, say for example, you are an acidic person and you drink a pot of coffee per day. You will make yourself more acidic. When you are more acidic, you feel worse. Your allergies may get out of control because the environment that you created within your body is conducive to problems, not health.
Allergic symptoms are typically the straw that broke the camel’s back. If you eat according to your pH type, your symptoms can be much less. If you are a person with food allergies, avoiding the allergenic foods may reduce your ragweed symptoms. When you do not eat properly for your type, your system may be reaching "overload" status and it cannot handle the assault. You need to try to keep your body chemistry balanced in order to prevent this.
Arthritis sufferers tend to feel better in the summer and worse in the winter. Others say that their fatigue is worse in the winter and better in the summer. Why does this happen?
KEY POINT: Cold weather makes your blood more acidic, so little changes of the blood pH can exaggerate any condition that you might normally have. In other words, it will bring it out or make it worse. We don’t know the exact mechanism. For example, if you have a propensity to headaches, you may notice that you don’t get as many headaches during the summer. You are probably a person with acidic blood. The cold weather is making you more acidic, so you feel worse, your headaches are more frequent. This is why many people travel to FL or AZ in the winter. They feel better because the blood pH is more balanced.
Foods that increase the pH (alkalinize)
Protein, such as meat, chicken, fish
Natural fats from nuts/seeds
Oils such as cod liver, flax, olive oil
Acidic people can liberalize their diets a little more in the summer – IE have a few more carbohydrates such as fruit, bread, rice etc. and still feel good.
KEY POINT: Warm weather makes your blood more alkaline. Patients with alkaline blood will feel worse in the summer and better in the winter.
Foods that decrease the pH (acidify)
Coffee
Fruit
Carbs
Alkaline people have more difficulty exercising in the heat – so they have to consume more acidifying foods before their activity, because exercising in the heat will produce an alkalinizing effect. What we recommend is EmergenC Vitamin C powder. We just rip open a packet of this and pour it into our water bottle and whalla! You have an acidic, tasty, healthy, and pH neutralizing sports drink. These are available at www.benuts.com in several different flavors.
Neutral Foods
Vegetables tend to be more neutral, so everyone should be eating these!
KEY POINT: Weather affects on your endocrine system. Generally in the winter there is more "stress" to the body. Certain endocrine problems are, therefore worse in the winter. If your thyroid usually runs borderline low, the cold weather will make you feel worse because your body has to work harder at maintaining your thyroid function. The same applies to the Adrenal gland or the “stress gland.” If you are typically a person who is “stressed out” or suffering from exhaustion or fatigue, you will typically feel better in the summer versus the winter. Again, the cold weather will put more of a stress on your system, in conjunction with the fact that most people with thyroid issues tend to have acidic blood.
Summary:
1. Acid level of your blood changes with the weather
2. Hot weather makes you more alkaline. Therefore acidic people feel better in warm weather.
3. Cold weather makes you more alkaline. Therefore, alkaline people feel better in the cold weather.
4. Diets need to be adjusted for the weather according to your pH level.
5. Medical conditions may be worsened by the weather. Make sure to eat according to your type so as not to experience this.
If you are interested in figuring out you acidity level, give us a call! We would love to help you!
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