Leveraging Massage for Nervous System Regulation

Massage and the Nervous System  

When you think about massage therapy, often you think about how your sore muscles will be provided with relief from the repetitive tasks that you take on in a day, whether it’s sitting at a desk, standing on your feet, or helping to manage other physical conditions. And as these benefits will leave you feeling pretty good post-massage, we often don’t think about the physiological reason for why we have a euphoric, ultra relaxed feeling for hours or days post massage. This euphoric state is due to massage impacting your nervous system positively by increasing your feel-good hormones and downregulating your stress hormones. Studies show that even after two weeks post-massage, cortisol and norepinephrine levels are significantly decreased (Lee, et. al, 2011). 

The Value of Touch

Touch is an important aspect of human’s ability to thrive. It encourages positive social interactions and has been shown to help buffer stress and has calming effects (Eckstein, et. al, 2020). Post pandemic, work-from-home, mindful distance, and social media have created a world where we are experiencing fewer face-to-face interactions, and less opportunities for touch and connection. Less human connection and increased exposure to a world filled with chaos and uncertainty leads to increased stress.

Impact of Chronic Stress

Cortisol and norepinephrine are important hormones that are a part of your sympathetic nervous system (your fight-or flight response or your body’s alert system). It helps you wake in the morning, and it also helps you respond to danger. But when you have elevated levels over time (chronic stress), these hormones impact the gut-brain axis and are reported to cause systemic inflammation and gut dysbiosis and increases in proinflammatory cytokines, causing further dysregulation to the immune system (Perelli, et. al, 2024) which may leave you managing other conditions like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, mental health disorders, and auto-immune conditions (Mariotti, 2015). Elevated stress hormones, over time, can cause symptoms of depression and other mood disorders, with additional correlation between major depression disorders and a 60% increased risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes. (Perelli, et. al, 2024)

 The Feel-Good Hormones

 Serotonin, oxytocin, endorphins, and dopamine are “feel good” hormones with serotonin being responsible for mood, sleep, digestion, and memory and your ability to learn. Oxytocin is the “love” hormone and aids in promoting trust, empathy and bonding, which can be increased through the means of physical touch, such as massage (Raypole, 2022). Endorphins help to alleviate pain, improve mood, and manage stress by regulating the release of cortisol. Lastly, dopamine is your “Reward center” and is released during pleasurable experiences like achieving goals, sex, eating, and touch.

 How Does Massage Help Good/ Stress Hormones?

 No, massage therapy alone cannot fix any of these chronic stress conditions, but it can aid in alleviating symptoms of many conditions, including anxiety, depression, and inflammatory responses by helping to decrease stress hormones and increasing happy hormones like serotonin, endorphins, dopamine, and oxytocin. In a study published by the International Journal of Neuroscience, recipients of massage realized an average of a 31% decrease in cortisol, and 28% increase in serotonin and a 31% increase in dopamine (Field, et. al, 2009)

 If your body is stuck in sympathetic (fight or flight), massage can help you relax enough to shift back to a more natural and desired parasympathetic state of being (Meier, et. al, 2020). Ideally, the more frequently we can shift back into a relaxed state of being, the more we can balance our fight-or-flight response and better manage our stress.

 Other Ways to Manage Stress

 Massage is a great way to intentionally give yourself a dedicated hour (or more) to bring awareness back into your body, regulate your breathing, and become more centered while bringing attention to your muscle aches and pains, but there are many other ways to help regulate your stress response.

1.     Meditation

2.     Sunshine exposure

3.     Exercise

4.     Socializing with Friends

5.     Sleep

6.     Listen to and Dance to Music

7.     Eating nutrient-dense food

Dopamine, 2025. Retrieved from: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22581-dopamine

Eckstein, M., Mamaev, I., Ditzen, B., & Sailer, U. (2020). Calming Effects of Touch in Human, Animal, and Robotic Interaction-Scientific State-of-the-Art and Technical Advances. Frontiers in psychiatry, 11, 555058. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.555058

Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., Diego, M., Schanberg, S., & Kuhn, C. (2005). Cortisol decreases and serotonin and dopamine increase following massage therapy. The International journal of neuroscience, 115(10), 1397–1413. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207450590956459

Lee YH, Park BN, Kim SH. The effects of heat and massage application on autonomic nervous system. Yonsei Med J. 2011 Nov;52(6):982-9. doi: 10.3349/ymj.2011.52.6.982. PMID: 22028164; PMCID: PMC3220246.

Mariotti A. (2015). The effects of chronic stress on health: new insights into the molecular mechanisms of brain-body communication. Future science OA, 1(3), FSO23. https://doi.org/10.4155/fso.15.21

Maria Meier, Eva Unternaehrer, Stephanie J. Dimitroff, Annika B. E. Benz, Ulrike U. Bentele, Sabine M. Schorpp, Maya Wenzel, Jens C. Pruessner. Standardized massage interventions as protocols for the induction of psychophysiological relaxation in the laboratory: a block randomized, controlled trial. Scientific Reports, 2020; 10 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-71173-w

Perrelli, M., Goparaju, P., Postolache, T. T., del Bosque-Plata, L., & Gragnoli, C. (2024). Stress and the CRH System, Norepinephrine, Depression, and Type 2 Diabetes. Biomedicines, 12(6), 1187. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines12061187

Raypole, C. (2022). How to Hack your Hormones for a Better Mood. Healthline. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/happy-hormone#:~:text=Serotonin%3A%20This%20hormone%20and%20neurotransmitter,and%20strong%20parent%2Dchild%20bonding.

University of Konstanz. "Ten minutes of massage or rest will help your body fight stress." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 September 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200918104305.htm>.

Katszen Wellness is Moving February 1st

February 1st, 2021 we will be moving to a new studio in the same location. We will still be at 3137 Hennepin, but are moving upstairs to Suite #207.

What’s changing?

• Additional hours including weekends and evenings

• New, online services including Zoom stretch sessions, Zoom Guided Massage Lesson, and Zoom Plant-Based Cooking Instruction, and Zoom Health Coaching

Can I Lose Weight With Fat?

What is the Ketogenic Diet?

A ketogenic diet consists of a diet that is composed of primarily of fat and protein, with very little carbohydrates. There are varying levels of ketogenic dieting with a typical diet consisting of daily carbohydrate intake around 5%, protein intake around 20%, and the remaining 75% intake consisting of fat.

Glucose vs. Fat as Energy

Your body primarily is fueled by glucose and inhibiting carbohydrates means that your body cannot rely on glucose as an effective energy source.

So, your body will rely on dietary ketosis instead of glucose metabolism as a resource for fuel. Ketone production increases and glucose production slows.

When the body is lacking carbohydrates, the mobilization of fatty acids from adipose tissue speeds up and the liver converts acetyl CoA into ketone bodies acetoacetate and 3-hydroxybutyrate. Since the liver lacks the mitochondrial enzymes to utilize the ketone bodies, they transfer to the extra hepatic tissues like the brain,1 thus replacing the need for glucose (carbs) as energy and allowing for ketone bodies to burn fat as energy instead.

Inducing starvation or a diet in low carbohydrates encourages ketone production. When an otherwise healthy individual consumes a diet consisting of mostly fat and protein and limited carbohydrates, they will tend to lose more body fat quickly and maintain lean body mass.1

Short Term Effects of Ketogenic Diet and Weight Loss

According to a meta-analysis of controlled random studies by Nordmann, Nordmann, Briel, et.al, the short-term effect of a ketogenic diet in an otherwise healthy individual supports the idea that the individual will lose more body fat and increase their lean body mass in a six-month period, however, when this length was extended to one year, there was no longer a noticeable effect,2 meaning that weight loss with this diet was not sustainable.

Long Term Effects Questionable

In another study published by the American Physiological Society published in 2014, mice that sustain a ketogenic diet long-term (over one year) have a higher likelihood of dyslipidemia and increased inflammation as well as glucose intolerance and insulin dependency, 3 further suggesting that a long-term ketogenic diet is not healthy and should be further evaluated with your physician.  

Resistance Training and Building Muscle Mass

As suggested in the control trial conducted by Vargas, S., Romance R., Pedro J., et. al, there is an increased impact on weight loss when resistance training is incorporated into a ketogenic diet however would not be suggested for an individual looking to build more muscle mass.4

Summary

Several studies support1,2,3,4 a short term benefit for a faster weight loss prediction with the ketogenic diet, however, there is zero evidence that supports this method long-term and many suggestions that long term use of ketogenic diet could be detrimental to an individual’s overall health with potential negative impacts on LDL-C, glucose dependence, and insulin resistance, regardless of potential favorable outcome to HDL-C and triglyceride levels2

Other Considerations

A ketogenic diet has been proven to be very beneficial to specific groups of people with underlying conditions including epilepsy and diabetes. As with any change to your diet or lifestyle, be sure to speak with your health care practitioner regarding your all of your options and what is best for you, individually.

1.     Manninen, A. Metabolic Effects of the Very-Low-Carbohydrate Diets: Misunderstood “Villians” if Human Metabolism. J. Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2004. Doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-1-2-7

2.     Nordmann AJ, Nordmann A, Briel M, et al. Effects of Low-Carbohydrate vs Low-Fat Diets on Weight Loss and Cardiovascular Risk Factors- a Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Arch Intern Med.2006;166(3):285–293. doi:10.1001/archinte.166.3.285 

3.     Vargas, S., Romance, R., Pedro, J. et. al. Efficacy of ketogenic diet on body composition during resistance training in trained men: a randomized controlled trial. J Inc. Soc Sports Nutrition. 2018. Doi: 10.1186/s12970-018-0236-9

4.     Dashti, H., Thazhumpal, M., Husseinm ,T, et. al, Long-term effects of a ketogenic diet in obese patients .Exp Clin Cariodol. 2004. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2716748/ . Accessed October 6, 2018.

5.     Ellenbroek, J., Djick, L, Tons, H., et. al. Long-term ketogenic diet causes glucose intolerance and reduced β- and α-cell mass but no weight loss in mice. American Physiological Society. 01 March 2014. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.00453.2013