Do You Have A Newstrition Plan?

Billy Pratt, BA, CPT, PAS, GIPS, CFMSP, Pn1

No, that’s not a typo. In recent years I have talked to clients who have complained about feeling depressed and unmotivated after watching the news. This has accelerated in the last eighteen months and almost every fitness professional I’m talking to has noticed the same thing – it has gotten to the point where we are having to talk with some of our clients about this as it seems to be getting worse. After hearing from someone else the other day about how they haven’t left their home to exercise because of the worry they feel from what they’re visually consuming I decided to investigate and see if there is any data on this that we can act on. Yes, there is:

A 1997 study in the British Journal of Psychology purported to show changes in mood following the displaying of “positive-, neutral-, or negatively-valenced” news media¹. More data compiled in 2007 showed a marked increase in cardiovascular ailments following excessive (12+ hour) consumption of coverage about the 9/11 terrorist attacks with some individuals reporting ongoing worry about terrorism being a factor (some of these PTSD-equivalent effects were not even acutely problematic until 2 to 3 years later)². Similar effects were tabulated and published regarding children and their mothers³.

The reverse however has been demonstrated as well; one study published in 2008 showed that while watching the news resulted in increased feelings of restlessness, a corresponding decrease in the same and elevated feelings of joy and relaxation were reported after watching a comedy clip⁴. Surprisingly enough to me I could not find any references to actual hormonal measurements being taken (adrenaline, serotonin, dopamine, etc.) except for the 2008 study by Ragonesi & Antick cited above which involved taking the saliva samples of all 33 subjects to measure cortisol levels. To be fair though n=33 is a quite small sample size so it is difficult to generalize from there.

While common sense dictates we don’t need research to know that what we expose ourselves to affects us, it is reassuring to know that there is some solid science which backs our feelings and personal observations. When we watch something that makes us feel depressed, angry or worried there is a real biochemical effect it has on us. Adrenaline may increase (increased heart rate, sweating, nervousness), dopamine may decrease (feeling down, “frozen”, unmotivated), and a whole host of other neurological changes may take place which alters our mood and performance. What does this sound like to you?

To me this sounds a lot like nutrition. What you put in your mouth makes you feel and act different. We don’t feel the same after eating a greasy pizza and beer versus a grilled chicken salad with tea. We don’t have as good of a workout after consuming a fatty meal than when we pair a carbohydrate with a slow-burning protein. There are innumerable chemical reactions which occur when digesting anything and the effects depend upon what we’re digesting. What we are finding is what we consume with our eyes & ears also has ‘digestive’ effects in the brain very similar to what we put into our stomachs. Have you ever seen an image which made you nauseous or queasy? Wasn’t that feeling similar to the time you ate that food that just didn’t agree with you? Our bodies are always talking to us.

I’m not suggesting anyone stop watching the news. Just treat it like we do our nutrition. Moderate and plan. If you are interested at all in your well-being you should have a nutritional direction. Similarly we seem to have reached a point where we need to start having a ‘newstrition’ direction:

1. Self-assess. If you wear a smart watch or fitness tracker take just one week to pay attention to it when consuming the news. Do you notice any spikes in heart rate when doing so? You don’t even need technology for this either – pay attention to how you feel. Watch or listen to your normal amount of media coverage and then take a minute to do a mental scan. Do you feel anxious? Joyful? Motivated? Unmotivated? Pay attention – these are not “just emotions”. Every feeling has corresponding chemistry in the brain and body. They’re as physical and substantial as the nutrients your body is digesting from your last meal (plus we know these emotions can actually alter digestion & intestinal motility but that’s a topic for another time).
2. Make a plan. Limit your exposure to media coverage. I don’t have a magic number for you to shoot for but as an example if you are used to consuming 2 hours throughout the day (in any medium whether visual or auditory) then drop it to 1 hour. Take that other hour and fill that space with something wholesome and affirming.
3. In conjunction with #1 above pay attention to how you respond to what you’re taking in. Are there certain news programs, sources or topics which negatively impact you more than others? Factor that into your newstrition plan. In nutrition both quantity and quality matter – it is no different here.
4. Emotions aren’t the only things that matter – they tend to drive changes in habits so think about your quantity of news consumption and if you can link that to any changes in your behavior. Have you stopped working out or lessened your physical activity in response to it? Have you been eating or drinking differently? Have other health & wellness plans slowed or stopped? If your personal health & fitness habits have changed for the worse then you definitely need to examine this and act on it.

1 Johnston WM, Davey GC. The psychological impact of negative TV news bulletins: The catastrophizing of personal worries. Br J Psychol. 1997;88 ( Pt 1):85-91.

2 Holman EA, et al. Terrorism, Acute Stress, and Cardiovascular Health: A 3-Year National Study Following the September 11th Attacks. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(1):73-80.

3 Otto MW, et al. Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms following media exposure to tragic events: Impact of 9/11 on children at risk for anxiety disorders. J Anxiety Dis. 2006;21(7):888-902

4 Ragonesi AJ, Antick JR. Physiological responses to violence reported in the news. Percept Mot Skills. 2008 Oct;107(2):383-95.