Stress is something that everybody goes through. It is in our nature to produce hormones that cause us to feel stressed. Stress is not meant to be a bad thing, it is a survival mechanism. It’s there for the same reasons that we feel hungry, thirsty, or tired. Stress is often thought of as being rushed or anxious, but that is often not the case. Mechanical, chemical, or emotional means trigger the hormone cascade that causes us to feel stressed. Things such as blood sugar dysregulation or just life in general all contribute to stress. Are you sick or can’t sleep? Stress might be the culprit.
How Stress Works
There are a few different hormones that cause stress. These hormones are epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol. Each has its own role in the stress process. I’m sure most of you are familiar with the phrase “fight or flight”, where your heart rate, blood pressure, and heart rate increase and you’re at a heightened state of alertness ready to either fight off danger or run from it. Epinephrine and norepinephrine cause this response. This response typically happens in response to some sort of potentially life-threatening experience or something that is startling. The effects of these hormones are rather brief and only typically last until shortly after that stressful event resolves itself.
Once startling situations resolve and these epinephrine and norepinephrine start to decrease, cortisol starts to ramp up. Cortisol is a longer-term stress hormone than epinephrine and norepinephrine and takes much longer for the body to metabolize. It is responsible for a lasting feeling of being amped up after you were startled or in some sort of dangerous situation. Cortisol is also responsible for decreasing bodily processes such as digestion and re-routing resources so that way you can continue to run and get as far away from the danger as possible. Obviously, when danger is truly present, this is a good thing. Issues start to arise when the body is under constant stress and cortisol is chronically high.
Health Risks with Stress
When the body is under stress for a long time, there are a lot of downstream effects that are going to lead to sub optimal health. For starters, stress dampens the immune system, leading to increased susceptibility to infections, which can cause even more stress on the body. Because of this, people who are chronically stressed oftentimes get sick a lot. Stress can cause disturbances in the circadian rhythm, your daily sleep/wake cycle. When stress disturbs this cycle, you’ll often feel tired in the morning, re-energized later in the day, and then struggle to fall asleep at night. This leads to decreased quality sleep, which can further contribute to stress. Go figure. Some other general, less apparent signs of chronic stress are increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and weight gain. These things lead to long-term health risks including heart disease and stroke.
The Path to Resilience
Today, people have two main stressors: chemical and emotional stress. Some sort of process within the body that is contributing to high cortisol levels induces chemical stress. Blood sugar dysregulation or infections often cause this. Emotional stress requires much less explanation. Family, kids, work, or any other aspect of life that causes typical feelings of stress cause emotional stress. Getting a handle on these stressors can significantly decrease stress and improve your quality of life. Stress can be a difficult cycle to break, but once we break it, we can work to increase the body’s resilience to better handle future stress. I often think of a stressed-out person as an old, cracked rubber band. There’s no elasticity left and any force put into it will break it. As we begin to break the stress cycle, the elasticity will return and we will be able to pull on the rubber band with much more force without breaking it. Decreased stress leads to increased resilience.
Take Charge of Your Stress
In order to get a grip on your stress, I urge you to try the following things:
- Find a consistent sleep schedule that works for you. Aim for 8 hours of sleep per night and try to wake up at the same time every day. Consistency is key.
- Get your blood sugar in check. The best thing that you can do for your blood sugar is to eat 3 meals a day with no snacks between them.
- Make sure you replenish your electrolytes. Chronic stress caused excess loss of sodium in the urine. Just a teaspoon of Celtic Sea Salt in 8oz of water first thing in the morning is a great way to combat this while keeping your other electrolytes in balance as well.
- Find ways to deal with stress more effectively. Find an outlet to let that stress out. Some people enjoy working out, being outdoors, or spending time with family and friends.
- Get in contact with a functional medicine practitioner to discuss your symptoms and see if you need further evaluation. A lot of the signs and symptoms of stress that we discussed can be the result of many underlying issues. If your stress is affected by infections, toxicities, or other things that can’t be treated at home, examination by a professional is necessary.
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