What You Need to Know About Stress & Your Health

You are killing it! I see you! Crushing business goals, making promotions, tending to your family and friends! You are doing the thing, and doing it well! 

So, why does it seem like you are constantly running around with low energy, sometimes things fall through the cracks, and that brain fog is getting a bit annoying? Not to mention those digestive issues that you tell yourself you'll pay attention to soon. 

I’ll let you in on a little secret. Stress is killing your game. 

“But, I love what I’m doing and I don’t feel stressed.” Right!? She’s a sneaky one, that stress. 

Stress is actually necessary for our survival. When we do have a stress response, like when we get a cut or hurt or sick, our body sends out stress hormones and immune cells to clean up the infection/virus/bacteria we’ve encountered. This is a stress response that helps us! 

We also get a burst of adrenaline, a stress hormone, when we need to act fast in dangerous situations. This is a survival response and is stressful to our body, but the good thing about these situations is that they are acute, meaning that the situation happens and it is over shortly. We want to be cognizant of when our stress response becomes chronic, meaning constantly occurring even in small doses.

When stress becomes chronic is where we see disease and a decline in health both physically and mentally.  Hans Selye defines stress as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change.” Things that can provoke a stress response can be physical, mental, or emotional. There is also perceived and anticipatory stress. Just thinking about all the stress can be stressful! 

What does stress to the body look like?

While we tend to think about stress as general life stress or trying events in our life, stress comes in many different forms. There are physical, psychological and perceived stresses. When we only think about stress as coming from outside of our own body, we can miss internal stressors that are perpetuating our stressed state and causing health issues.

Examples in external stress include:

• Overtraining

• Relationship difficulties (significant others and friendships)

• Loss of job

• Isolation

• Work

• Natural disaster

• Emotional stress (fear, abandonment, resentment, anger)

• Trauma

Examples in internal stress include:

• Under eating/nutritional deficiencies

• Gut health

• HPA axis dysregulation

• Sickness

• Injury

• Dehydration

• Blood sugar imbalances

It is important to note that whether you experience internal or external stress, the body perceives it all as the same stress. It will have the same response from a bad day at work that it would have to overtraining in the gym. The body knows that something is happening and the environment may not be safe to perform normally. 

What happens in the body with stress

Everything starts in the brain. We experience a stressor and it triggers a cascade of hormones and messengers to either produce energy or conserve energy in order to fight, flee, or freeze because our body believes it is in danger.  The neurotransmitters (messengers) signal the adrenals to produce the stress hormones, epinephrine and norepinephrine. 

This also creates a response to start producing glucose to be used in a physical response to stress usually resulting in increased heart rate and reduced blood flow to the gut. Our body functions this way to provide us the quick energy we need in the event that we need to run from a threat and fuel out muscles. Eventually cortisol is produced for longer term stress responses and vigilance. It is due to this constant stream of cortisol that we see more effort, nutrients, and oxygen required to maintain homeostasis and a happy body. 

How stress affects digestive health

Digestion happens in a restful state, and when we are stressed or encounter a stressor, our body responds by decreasing saliva production, hydrochloric acid production, and peristalsis (the involuntary movement of our GI tract to move food through or system). These are three essential components needed to properly break down and absorb the nutrients we consume. The improper digestion of food then causes irritability throughout the gastrointestinal lining leading to intestinal permeability and symptoms like food allergies, bloating, increased/decreased appetite, and fatigue. 

How stress affects nutrient levels

Because stress impacts digestion negatively and disrupts the absorption of nutrients, we can agree that stress depletes essential vitamins and minerals in the body. Not only does it prevent proper absorption but stress pulls as many nutrients as possible to maintain homeostasis and manage excess hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and insulin. All nutrients work together to keep the body functioning properly. Common nutrient deficiencies from high stress levels include magnesium and calcium. 

How stress affects blood sugar levels

The stress response requires the use of all available nutrients and energy to get back into balance and stabilize blood sugar. During a stressful event, our blood sugar rises so we can have available energy to respond, but when stress becomes chronic and our blood sugar is elevated consistently, it can lead to insulin resistance, inflammation, and metabolic inflexibility. This can present symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, insatiable hunger, shaky between meals, and afternoon energy crashes.  

How stress affects athletic performance

Exercise elicits a stress response from the body, whereas as movement elicits more of a restorative response. As we’ve mentioned above, stress in the form of extreme exercise produces increased cortisol levels. This is not an issue until it becomes repeated over and over from overtraining. Chronically high levels of cortisol have been shown to increase the risk of digestive issues, weight gain, impaired sleep, and other metabolic disorders that can negatively impact your performance in the gym. 

How to reduce stress and improve your health

We are always discussing stress reduction techniques with clients, because we all have stress! Having strategies to find relief is essential in our world where we are constantly facing new stressors. 

Here are some practical tools to help you reduce stress naturally:

Use breathing techniques

When stressed, our body needs more oxygen, but when we are stressed, we tend to have more shallow breathing. Start by becoming aware of your most stressful times of the day and take a few minutes to perform 3-5 slow deep breaths with a count on 5 for the inhale and 5 for the exhale. 

You can also use a 4-7-8 breath technique to induce a ‘rest and digest’ state. This is performed by breathing in for a count of 4, holding the breath for a count of 7, and exhaling for a count of 8. Then repeat this sequence 3-5 times. Focus on lengthening the exhale of the breath as it is impossible to be in a sympathetic state while exhaling in particular.

Spend time in nature

Ever heard of forest bathing? This is where you immerse yourself in nature and breathe in all of the sunlight, fresh air, and aromas of nature. It helps connect us back to our 5 senses and calms the nervous system. Even spending as little as 2 hours in nature has been shown to have stress relieving benefits. Put your phone away and be one with nature.

Take a slow walk

Walking is extremely beneficial for circulation, circulating oxygen and blood throughout the body as well as increasing insulin sensitivity. Planning a leisurely walk after dinner or throughout the day will decrease stress and better allow you to regulate blood sugar naturally.

Do things that bring you joy: play! 

Nourish your soul with a little more play time. Adults tend to get caught up in the grind of daily life and forget about their inner child and playful side. According to the polyvagal theory, play can only happen in a secure, connected, and mindful state. When we are stressed, we are in an unsafe state and therefore play cannot coexist. Step into your child like nature to invite creativity and connect with play to relax and receive joy. 

Prioritize your sleep

It’s free, it’s at home, it’s cozy...it's sleep! During sleep our body is repairing itself, balancing hormones, and removing toxins from the body. When we become sleep deprived, even just a few hours a night of insufficient sleep, our toxic load builds up, our hormones are out of balance, and blood sugar becomes dysregulated. All of these consequences lead to inflammation and more stress on the body. Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep. Make sleeping your favorite activity and see how rejuvenated you feel. 

Support healthy vagus nerve stimulation

The vagus nerve is one of the largest nerves in our body and is connected to every organ in the body. Stimulating this nerve in healthy ways ensuring proper signaling between the brain and organs, and also improves your stress response to be within an appropriate range. Here are our favorite vagal nerve techniques:

• Practice EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) aka tapping - Learn how to here

• Alternate nostril breathing

• Breathing in deep, and out through a straw for as long as possible

• Ice on the face

• Inversion - handstands or even child’s pose

• Turn the shower cold for 10 seconds at the end

• Ice baths

• Massage your occipital area (base of skull on neck)

• Parasympathetic oil from Vibrant Blue on the occiput and/or on the vagus nerve (right below the ear)

• Laugh until you cry

• Have someone lightly frighten you and then laugh about it with them

• Gargling - stimulates vagus nerve and proper stress response

• Gagging yourself with your toothbrush

By working on managing your stress throughout the day and keeping stress hormones in check, you can thrive in all other areas of our lives and see drastic improvements in health status. You will have more capacity and energy for work, play, and being creative so you can crush all of your goals and build a healthy body.