Stress and Your Health

Stress has been called the “Health Epidemic of the 21st Century” by the World Health Organization. It’s a contributing factor in chronic diseases, rapid aging, and inflammation. When the body perceives stress, it releases the hormone cortisol and neurotransmitters such as epinephrine and norepinephrine which elicits the fight or flight response in the body. In the short term, this is a desirable response as it helps protect the body but over time, imbalanced cortisol

• depletes nutrients such as magnesium and b vitamins

• disrupts estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone which in turn affect sleep and mood and increases anxiety

• induces brain fog

• causes headaches

• increases insulin and blood sugar, causes food cravings and long term weight gain

• can damage the lining of the gut, essentially making holes in it and leading to leaky gut, which leads to leaky brain which leads to brain fog and cognitive decline.

• depletes antioxidants such as vitamin c which are necessary for cellular health and healthy dna, which means they affect every facet of the body.

• suppresses the immune system and can contribute to symptoms such as eczema and psoriasis but also be a contributing factor to diseases related to immune system dysfunction such as Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and other autoimmune conditions.

Cortisol balance is also influenced by circadian rhythms, sleep/wake cycles, and eating cycles, so eating close to bedtime can affect sleep quality.

Prolonged stress

• can disrupt gut flora and deplete beneficial flora while increasing undesirable flora.

• affects the release of hydrochloric acid and function of digestive enzymes which impairs digestion causing gas, bloating, indigestion, fatigue and leads to food allergies

• negatively impacts the gut-brain connection and lowers serotonin

• impairs thyroid function and other hormonal function such as estrogen

• can cause brain shrinkage

• can contribute to a leaky blood-brain barrier

• disrupts healthy sleep which not only robs the body of rest and rejuvenation but also impedes the brain’s ability to detoxify

• worsens most diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes and is a contributing factor to many chronic diseases

• increases free radical production

Managing stress is a lifelong practice

Studies have shown that many times, it is more an individual’s mindset and reaction to a stressor that impacts their health and wellbeing. A daily meditation practice, breathing practice, mindfulness, and exercise regimen can help frame your mindset for the day, create stress resiliency, and influence your productivity. Hectic morning routines generate a stress response in the body that sets that as the intention for the day. What is in your morning routine that sets the tone for the day? What do you do to manage stress?

Exercise helps relieve stress and releases endorphins that help to feel better. Some people find exercising closer to bedtime helps them to sleep better, but others find that it keeps them up.

Relaxation techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, prayer as well as practicing mindfulness can be helpful to balance cortisol and reduce stress. Heart rate variability (HRV), which is the measurement of the difference in heart rate between beats, helps measure the balance between our sympathetic system (fight or flight) and parasympathetic system (rest and digest). A good HRV can be very helpful in balancing out the stress response and helps one’s reaction and response to stressors over time. Exercises to improve heart rate variability (including breathing techniques) can help with stress resiliency. Good heart rate variability has been linked to not only benefit with stress but also cardiovascular health. Heart rate variability can be measured using apps such as elitehrv (with a bluetooth enabled heart rate monitor) or inner balance by heart math (which is the best-studied).

Processed foods, sugary foods, and those with refined carbs can initially give a boost but then lead to energy crashes and blood sugar imbalances. The body forms a dependence to this sugar rush and craves it. It causes huge fluctuations in blood sugar that can decrease concentration, focus, cause fuzzy thinking, anger, and impulsiveness. It increases the production of insulin, which can lead to weight gain and insulin resistance. Instead, focus on foods that are nutrient-rich such as whole foods, vegetables, and fruit, to provide vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants.

Having processes and practices already in place, such as a nutrient-rich diet, regular exercise, mindfulness, meditation, or breathing, before a stressful moment hits, can really help with stress resiliency. However, it’s never too late to make a change, and making these changes now will help with managing stress in the future.

Testing

Measuring salivary levels of cortisol at four different points in the day can provide information on the body’s response to stress. Normal diurnal cortisol levels should be the highest in the morning and decrease during the day, being the lowest before bedtime. Cortisol levels that are higher or lower than average may explain symptoms such as morning or evening fatigue, irritability, brain fog, and sleep problems.

What can you do:

Food, sleep, and lifestyle are the most important parts of stress management. Optimizing nutrients can help manage the effects of stress. A good b complex, and magnesium supplementation is essential. Choosing a good magnesium supplement should be based on tolerability of the gut as well as optimal absorption. There are several forms of magnesium available and include magnesium glycinate, citrate, malate, taurate, and threonate. Magnesium glycinate is a good choice to increase total magnesium stores. Magnesium threonate is beneficial for those looking for additive cognitive and neurological support. Look for a future article where I go in deeper on the benefits of magnesium and how to choose a supplement.

Optimal vitamin D levels have numerous benefits and you can find out more here.

Antioxidants such as vitamin c, coq10, alpha lipoic acid can help counteract oxidative stress and protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals that are produced under stress. A diet rich in fruits such as berries and vegetables such as beets can provide antioxidants.

Adaptogens are used for short term stress management to allow the body to adapt to stress by modulating the body’s response to stress, and thereby bringing balance. Most adaptogens are combination products that have been used for centuries in eastern medicine and include ashwagandha, rhodiola, cordyceps, ginseng, eleutherococcus, holy basil, relora, and others. Combination products are the way to go vs. single agents when it comes to adaptogens. Products can be geared towards specific dominant symptoms such as being wired or tired or stress eating.

Traditional medicine follows a reactive approach to diseases where one waits for the disease to occur and then use conventional prescriptions to address that particular symptom and body system or organ. This approach may not do much to address the actual cause of symptoms or disease. In a functional medicine approach, the goal is to be proactive about health and wellness and take a holistic approach that takes into account many factors that influence health. Most of this focus is on food and exercise, but stress and sleep play an equally important role in wellness and disease prevention. The perfect diet and ideal exercise can only go so far to maintain health if other factors such as stress and sleep are not addressed.

References:

The concepts of stress and stress system disorders. Overview of physical and behavioral homeostasis. Chrousos GP et al. JAMA. (1992)

Stress and hormones. Salam Ranabir and K. Reetu1Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2011 Jan-Mar; 15(1): 18–22. doi: 10.4103/2230-8210.77573

Pathophysiological mechanisms of stress-induced intestinal damage. Gareau MG1, Silva MA, Perdue MH. Curr Mol Med. 2008 Jun;8(4):274-81.

Circadian rhythms in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Kalsbeek A1, van der Spek R, Lei J, Endert E, Buijs RM, Fliers E. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2012 Feb 5;349(1):20-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mce.2011.06.042

Sleep and Hypertension A Challenge for the Autonomic Regulation of the Cardiovascular System Jacopo M. Legramante and Alberto Galante Circulation. 2005;112:786–788 https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.105.555714

Effects of sleep deprivation on neural circulatory control. Kato M, Phillips BG, Sigurdsson G, Narkiewicz K, Pesek CA, Somers VK. Hypertension. 2000; 35: 1173–1175.