Stress: How stress Can Affect You & How to Stay Healthy Under Stress

"Stress can create an extensive number of responses in the body; impacting behavior, emotions, and physical and mental well-being. Yet, no two people are likely to experience the same effects or exhibit the same symptoms of stress."

Everyone knows what it’s like to be stressed.  Stress can bring about anything from nervous jitters and sleepless nights to the risk of serious illness.  Sometimes stress in our lives can seem unavoidable.  When you are under stress, what can you do about it?

One thing to understand is that everyone reacts to stress differently, and everyone has different stressors since no two lives are the same. The things that cause stress for one person can be entirely different for someone else. While you may think that stress isn’t an issue for you, it doesn’t mean that you’re immune to its effects.  Stress can create an extensive number of responses in the body; impacting behavior, emotions, and physical and mental well-being. Yet, no two people are likely to experience the same effects or exhibit the same symptoms of stress.

Tips to de-stress include the following:

1. Rest- sleep allows our hormones to reset, the body to recharge, and the system to reboot itself.
2. A regular sleep schedule- with consistent bed times and wake-up times, the growth hormone, cortisol will become balanced.
3. Quieting the mind- yoga, meditation, and deep breathing are excellent ways to release tention and encourage your body out of its “fight or flight” mode
4. Improve Digestion- 70-80 percent of the serotonin (the ‘happy’ hormone) in the body is in the digestive tract.  More and more research is linking overall gut health with mood and brain function.   By eating a diet that consists of mainly vegetables and lean proteins, and limited processed foods and sugar, you can change the way you thing and respond to stress in the first place.
5. Support the stress glands- adrenal glands, located just about the kidneys, are responsible for releasing cortisol, the stress messenger,  A naturopathic doctor might help these glands with basic nutrients like vitamin C, magnesium and B vitamins, which are directly involved in the function of the adrenal glands and can be depleted during chronic stress. Herbs can also help the function of the adrenal glands so that you can become more resilient and better at coping with stress.  The right dose of botanicals like Rhodiola, ashwagandha, Holy basil, Siberian ginseng and licorice, can accomplish this task.