Stress! Just the word alone can make my heart race and my palms sweat. But, stress isn’t all bad. Stress is our body’s natural, physical response to a stressor and is necessary for survival.
So why do we have stress? Stress helps our body detect harm or danger and act quickly. Our stress response also helps us get out of bed each morning by increasing our cortisol levels.
Modern-day stress is different from the stress our ancestors faced. Our ancestor’s stress response helped keep them alive. It helped them sense danger or run from bears so to speak. Today, stress is more constant and chronic. Perhaps it’s triggered by a looming deadline, family obligations, news, social media, city living (ahem….Friday traffic), poor eating habits, or environmental toxins. Unfortunately, today our stress response doesn’t merely tell us to run from a bear and then stop. Instead, our stressors leave people feeling constantly hyped or agitated providing little time to recover from a stress reaction.
According to the American Psychological Association (APA) 2021 annual survey, 84% of U.S. adults reported regularly feeling emotions associated with chronic stress. For many Americans, these feelings of chronic stress increased with the pandemic and have not subsided. And to add to it, the holidays are right around the corner. This inherently stressful time only piles on to our current stress levels. So, it isn’t surprising that so many people struggle with the effects of chronic stress on the body.
In my practice, I see chronic stress as one of the leading culprits to many of my patient’s chief complaints. But, at the end of the day, we can’t avoid stress. It’s everywhere. So while we may want to reduce the stress in our lives there is no magic wand to make it all disappear.
Instead, I help patients with tools to build resilience to stress so that it doesn’t take over and manifest in unwanted ways throughout the body.
What is a Stress Response?
Our body’s stress response is the emergency reaction system of the body. Also known as the “fight or flight” response, our stress response helps keep you safe during a perceived emergency. When you experience a stressor, your body activates a series of physical reactions to prepare your body to respond.
When your stress response is turned on, the adrenal glands are activated. These triangle-shaped glands located on top of both kidneys secrete the hormones cortisol and adrenaline during a stress response. Cortisol and adrenaline are two of the main hormones that prepare your body for a stress response. In addition to producing stress response hormones, the adrenal glands help regulate your metabolism, immune system, blood pressure, and many other functions.
The Adrenal Glands Role In Your Stress Response
When danger is perceived, the amygdala notifies the hypothalamus of the threat. This is your body’s way of pulling the fire alarm. Chemical signals notify your adrenal glands which begin pumping out adrenaline and cortisol. These chemicals are like your personal first responders. They prepare your body to evade any danger creating your fight, flight, or freeze reaction.
After your adrenal glands send out the first responders, other body systems adjust their functions to support your stress response. This can include increasing your heart rate and blood pressure to redirect blood flow to the heart, muscles, and brain. All to support you running from the perceived bear.
Once the stressful situation has passed, the brain follows the same pathway to turn off your stress response. Yet, when you are experiencing chronic stress your adrenal glands may not receive the signal to slow the production of adrenaline and cortisol. And this leads to feelings of constant or chronic stress.
Effects of Stress on the Body
After a stressful event, our adrenals act as a life preserver helping to restore the body. They slow the production of cortisol and adrenaline and begin secreting hormones that help restore normal bodily functions. This is a wonderful function when your stress comes to a stop and you can recover. However, modern-day stressors are holding people in chronic, low levels of stress all the time. Never allowing them to fully recover. Because of this, a wide variety of body systems are affected.
Chronic stress can have a mounting impact on your health. Affecting just about every major body system. Here are some of the most common effects of chronic stress on the body:
Digestion
Stress causes blood flow to divert away from digestion. The diminished blood flow can lead to digestive issues such as reflux, heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating, IBS, inflammatory bowel disease, leaky gut syndrome, microbiome imbalances, stomach cramps, and ulcers.
Mental Health/Nervous Systems
When we are chronically stressed, our brains and nervous system are on high alert. Chronic stress can lead to mental health or nervous system issues such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, memory issues, brain fog, and other cognitive issues.
Endocrine/Metabolic Systems
When our adrenals are pumping out higher levels of stress hormones our endocrine system slows. Stress hormones signal to the endocrine system to store fats and decrease the conversion of thyroid hormones. This can lead to fat accumulation in the abdomen, insulin sensitivity, and thyroid issues. Learn more about the adrenal-thyroid connection in my previous blog post.
Reproductive System
Reproduction is the last thing your body wants to support when it is stressed, especially chronically stressed. Your brain is so focused on helping the body manage the stressor that it diverts resources away from reproductive processes. This can have an impact on your hormones leading to PMS, painful and/or heavy periods, abnormal menses/cycle, fertility issues for both men and women, and sexual dysfunction.
Time and time again, I have helped women who are struggling with fertility build more resilience to stress and successfully get pregnant!
Immune System
Excess levels of stress produce hormonal changes that lower the body’s resistance to infection. This can lead to increased inflammation, decreased immune function, and autoimmunity. With the pandemic and heading into “cold and flu” season, we must be doing all we can to help our immune system to be in tip-top shape right now.
5 Tools for Building Resilience to Stress
We can all agree that stress isn’t going anywhere. Fortunately, we can build our resilience to stress. Making stress easier to manage and less impactful on our bodies. Below are five tools I use in my practice to help patients build resilience to stress.
1.Mindfulness Practice
Mindfulness may be an intimidating place to start. But like we train for a marathon, we can train our bodies to be calm. Activating and toning your vagus nerve will keep you from going zero to 60 every time you encounter stress. Starting with just five minutes per day of breathing or guided meditation will get your body used to being in the parasympathetic, relaxed state.
2.Movement
Get moving every day by doing something that feels good to your body. However, too much movement can contribute to further stress and exhaustion. A good rule of thumb when determining a workout length for your body is to feel energized after working out, not wiped out.
3.Nutrition and Vitamins
When stressed, the body uses a lot of nutrients and fluids. Focus on staying hydrated and giving your body extra nourishment. A diet high in fruits, veggies, fiber, whole grains, and nuts/seeds is very beneficial when stressed. Try to avoid fried and processed food as these are also stressors for the body. When stressed, your vitamin C and B-vitamins can get depleted and may need
supplementation.
4.Herbal and Mineral Support
Support from herbs and minerals can help support the body during stress. I use minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and sodium for patients experiencing chronic stress. Also, adaptogens can be very beneficial. Adaptogens are traditionally used in mountain climbers on Everest to help them adapt to the immense stress on their bodies. But, these same herbs are excellent at supporting your body during chronic stress. My favorite adaptogens include:
Rhodiola – Reduces stress, combats fatigue, and increases mental resilience.
Holy Basil – Protects against infection, lowers cholesterol, lowers blood sugar, and eases joint pain.
Schisandra – Increases resistance to stress and increases energy.
Eleutherococcus – Helps the body better handle and adapt to stress.
Ashwagandha – Reduces anxiety and stress, fights depression, and boosts brain function.
Astragalus – Protects and supports the immune system, lowers blood pressure, and protects the liver.
5.Take a Technology Break
Take a break from technology. Take some time off from social media and give your brain a chance to rest. Try not to sleep with your phone next to you and avoid looking at your phone first thing in the morning.
We all want to reduce our stress, but working to build our resilience to stress has a longer, more lasting impact on our bodies. I am here to help you care for your nervous system and quiet your inflammatory responses. And in the process, you will increase your energy, find more restorative sleep, and improve your health.
Build your resilience to stress and unearth your vitality by scheduling an appointment today.