@heyjoe415 No, no medical training. But in my military specialty, I was called on to provide base-wide lectures in stress management, retirement planning, and other forms of 'human resources' issues. Naturally I had to learn my topics well enough to be able to speak extemporaneously about them and to answer pointed and specific questions.

There is eustress and stress. Eustress is what 'doesn't kill us and makes us stronger.' An example , also known as the 'hormesis effect', is exposure to mild amounts of radiation. We are told that radiation is bad and that a single ionizing photon can cause DNA damage. That's true. But when we measure longevity and overall health in populations, those exposed to low radiation actually do better! We could call it a form of 'eustress'. But the kind of stress that raises cortisol and adrenalin, the kind that makes us ruminate at night and be unable to fall asleep or to fall back asleep, eats away at us and can bring heart disease, dementia, hypertension, etc.

You are right about inflammation and sugar. Good for picking up on that!

@heyjoe415 I believe you are fortunate to have discovered acupuncture, as I also had major health improvements when I first discovered it decades ago and have utilized it ever since, although don’t need it that much. I say, use what works! (And I find taking half a scoop of Calm brand Magnesium Citrate once a day does wonders for constipation (and mixed with water, makes the water tasty, so I hydrate more regularly). I am sure there are other brands that work but this one just tastes so great!

@heyjoe415 I have a separate reply to you, but I just saw this video posted by Dr. Norwitz whom I follow. His style if pretty breezy, but his message and his science are pretty solid: