Stressed? I’m Not Stressed…..
“I’m not stressed.”
He said after his third scotch.
She said after her third brownie.
Stress affects all of us. Whether it's the big things like a sick child or a divorce, or the everyday frustrations like traffic, or an annoying coworker. It’s built into the system we’ve created, and become normal. Too often we are just too busy to stop and take note, completely unaware it exists.
But it does. And it doesn’t serve us.
Chronic underlying stress is a driver of chronic health problems for many reasons. The most significant; cortisol.
Cortisol is a beneficial steroid type hormone that helps maintain homeostasis in our bodies during acutely stressful situations (such as narrowly avoiding a dangerous car accident).
Cortisol regulates blood sugar release, sending surges of glucose into the blood when you need to react quickly. It regulates how our body uses carbs, proteins, and fats to optimize energy creation and utilization when we need to move fast. It helps regulate blood pressure, keeping it steady when we need it the most. It reduces inflammation, which improves our immune response. And when balanced, it helps regulate our sleep/wake cycle, with low levels in the evening helping us to fall asleep, and high levels in the morning, helping us wake.
We need cortisol, and our bodies have an effective way of maintaining just the right amount of cortisol at any given circumstance. When the acute stress is over, our levels of cortisol return to a normal baseline. However, when stress is chronic, which is what many of us are facing, levels of cortisol remain elevated. Even low levels of chronic stress can be detrimental to our health. In these situations:
Blood sugar stays elevated (hyperglycemia), increasing our risk of insulin resistance and type two diabetes
Blood pressure stays elevated, increasing our risk of heart disease and stroke
Metabolism of carbohydrates, protein, and fat is disrupted, which can increase risk of obesity, especially abdominal obesity, which is associated with metabolic syndrome
Systemic inflammation increases, which weakens and dysregulates our immune system, increasing our risk of infections, and autoimmunity
Sleep is disrupted, as cortisol levels may be higher at night
And if that isn’t enough, we tend to turn to unhealthy behaviors in times of stress.: excessive junk foods, alcohol, and other substances, isolating ourselves and avoiding people, or staying in bed and watching TV.
The physiological effects of low level chronic stress have a profound effect on our health. The good news is that we can limit these effects with simple relaxation practices.
You don’t need a week long rainforest retreat or a membership to the new yoga studio down the road. As little as five minutes a day can stop the cycle in its tracks.
Check out the relaxation practices offered in The 5/10/15, and feel the difference!
For more information:
Cortisol and dysregulation of immune system
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4465119/
How men and women differ in stress response
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2010/gender-stress
The 5/10/15
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