All people are subjected to stress, but what is it and how can you take steps to minimise its impact on your health?
Often referred to as the ‘fight or flight’ state, this physiological reaction occurs when a person perceives a threat, and the body primes itself for survival. Stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol are activated, blood pressure rises, focus intensifies, and bodily systems are prioritised, directing energy away from the digestive system in favour of the immune, cardiovascular and muscular-skeletal systems – running away and fighting an infection at this point trumps breaking down food.
Once the threat has passed, the body returns to a state of homeostasis (balance) and all is well. Or is it? Unfortunately, the modern world we live in is perpetually stressful; 24-hour news on a loop, information overload, social media influences, ever-increasing workloads, inappropriate eating habits, the rising cost of living and greater personal expectations can result in a person’s inability to adapt and change to growing pressure. This is known as allostatic overload and is found at the root of many health problems. In short, the chronic overuse of your body’s stress response may ultimately result in its under-function and this can influence the development of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, anxiety, depression, diabetes, and weight problems (due to the impact on the master of metabolism – The Thyroid Gland), other hormonal imbalances, fatigue, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, sleep disturbance, lowered immunity, and skin disorders.
The other side to the Stress Coin – Resilience!
Did you ever notice how one person literally thrives in a situation that another person crumbles under? People have varying capacities to endure stress, not because they necessarily have less stress, they are just more adaptive to it. Your ability to adapt to chronic stress and avoid allostatic overload is determined by some factors which are out of your control such as your genetics, early life events, your personality and even your sex. Others like your financial situation, family life, health problems or environmental situation can also affect your resilience.
How can you build your resilience to stress?
The mind affects the body and vice versa so building resilience to stress requires an integrated approach, supporting both your mental and physical health.
- Take regular exercise, appropriate to your ability, in green natural environments if possible.
- Practice deep breathing exercises. This helps to reset the nervous system, lowering blood pressure and cortisol (stress hormone) levels:
- Slowly breath in for 5 seconds
- Hold for 5 seconds
- Breath out for 5 seconds
- Hold for 5 seconds
- Repeat for 5-10 minutes
- Connect with friends and family – social support is essential for maintaining physical and psychological health.
- Eat a wholefood, natural and varied diet including oily fish (salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, herring) 2-3 times per week to support your intake of Omega-3 essential fatty acids.
- Eat a wide variety of foods which supply you with magnesium, B vitamins and vitamin C such as green leafy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower), berries, nuts, seeds, avocados, legumes, whole grains, lean meat, eggs and dark chocolate. These nutrients are required for stress hormone production and are used up more rapidly in times of stress.
- Get out in the sunshine to support your vitamin D levels, always using sensible precautions.
Supplement your intake of nutrients when necessary. Most recommended daily allowances (RDA’s) are based on the minimum amount of a nutrient required to prevent deficiency or disease, not the optimal amount needed to promote physical and mental vitality. That’s why here at Alyve we create formulas specifically designed to you and your needs, based on your selected goals.
If the steps taken don’t give you the relief you need, we always recommend that you seek further help by contacting your GP.
**References ** https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/presence-mind/202010/what-does-allostatic-load-mean-your-health https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1197275/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5455070/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27995346/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27995346/
