Stress Kills: How Can You Remain Healthy In A Stressful Life?

I am recognizing the past year for the stressful time it has been for me.  Physically and mentally, it has been present the whole year.  Did I do things to help relieve it?  You bet I did!  I walked more with our puppy, I read more books for recreation vs learning, I began light weightlifting again (this began as Physical Therapy for my shoulder after surgery, but it has reminded me how much I love to do this, and how relaxed I feel after!).  As I write this, I am approaching my 53rd birthday just days away, a week of vacation coming in a couple of weeks, and I need this time off, away from reality, alarms, being on time etc.  I have been thinking about more ways that I can incorporate healing activities to keep the negative health effects of stress away.

So how does stress affect the “Foundations” in my body?

Digestion
Our responses to stress are guided by the sympathetic nervous system while many important processes of digestion rely on the parasympathetic nervous system. During times of stress the body will use all its energy to focus on the stages of stress response. Depending on the intensity of the stress this may cause digestion to drastically downregulate.

Stress impacts saliva production, diminishes or sometimes increases hydrochloric acid production, impacts the proper pH of the stomach, impacts the ability of the valves and sphincters to open and close, and impacts peristalsis and gut motility as all of these are parasympathetic driven processes.

Improper digestion of foods has the potential to cause inappropriate intestinal permeability (IP), or leaky gut. IP may eventually lead to negative consequences such as sensitivities or allergies to specific foods and invite pathogenic infections that love to grow in the impaired gut lining. It is easy to see how stress can be considered the underlying cause of inflammation and a host of diseases that thrive in a depleted gastrointestinal tract. Distress may be that unturned stone when you are not getting better while following a great protocol. Remember: when stress is on, digestion is off.

Blood Sugar Regulation
Stress has a profound effect on blood sugar regulation. We have already stated that we are built to withstand short term stress. We rise to the occasion and then
return to baseline – the incredible process of homeostasis. However, long term chronic stress is a real concern and must be addressed when working to balance blood sugar and optimize metabolic function. Think about the physiology of stress itself: the stress response requires the body to recruit all available reserves to quickly produce a substantial rise of blood glucose. Both the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system, HPA axis activation, as well as multiple other pathways of neuroendocrine response work together to increase blood glucose levels so that we can respond to the stress input.

Chronic stress and the corresponding prolonged response may eventually lead to inflammation and chronically dysregulated blood sugar. Stress can be an underlying cause of insulin resistance, metabolic disorders, and hormonal imbalances (Surwit, Schneider, & Feinglos, 1992), (Falco, et al., 2015).

Fatty Acids
Stress impacts fatty acid sufficiency because it impairs proper digestion. The release of bile from the gall bladder is a parasympathetic process. A chronically
stressed person will have a less than optimal ability to break down and absorb dietary fats (Mizuno & Ueno, 2017).

Prostaglandin E2 is closely associated with the stress response in animal studies. The regulatory hormones of our stress response, such as epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol play a role in the production of PGE2 and subsequent balance of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory pathways (Garcia-Bueno, Madrigal, Perez-Nievas, & Leza, 2008), (Morimoto, Watanabe, Morimoto, Nakamori, & Murakami, 1991).

Minerals
Let’s take a step back to the foundation of digestion. If stress has impaired digestion, leading to maldigestion and subsequent lower GI issues in the small and large intestine, it stands to reason that a body would be unable to break down minerals from the foods being eaten and then absorb them.  Increased levels of cortisol may also negatively affect osteoblastic ability and bone mineralization, as well as proper collagen synthesis (Stachowicz & Lebiedzińska, 2016), (Zhou, Cooper, & Seibel, 2013). 

Stress also impacts minerals in that the stress response is “minerally expensive.” Zinc, magnesium, and calcium are highly utilized by the nervous system for healthy cognition and may become depleted under times of prolonged stress that induce a sympathetic/overworked nervous system state. Calcium is an extracellular (outside of cells) signaling molecule on which many nerve processes are dependent.

Magnesium is important for metabolic reactions, particularly the production and body’s use of ATP. Zinc is essential for protein structure and function and is concentrated in synaptic vesicles of glutamatergic neurons. Neuropsychological impairment may be a consequence of zinc deficiency (Kennedy, et al., 2010).

Hydration – Our ability to maintain a proper water/mineral balance may be affected by prolonged stress. HPA activation as well as activation of the sympathetic nervous system increase secretion of a hormone called aldosterone.
Aldosterone works in the kidneys to maintain a balance of water, sodium, and potassium. Aldosterone is created from cholesterol in the adrenal glands, and when increased during times of stress may contribute not only to dysregulated mineral balance, but also metabolic and cardiovascular dysfunction (Scod & Dunn,2019), (Kubzansky & Alder, 2010).

Stress Management
Ultimately, it is necessary to learn how to manage stress. The bottom line is that chronic, unmanaged stress will make us sick, tired, wired, and worse. We
will become less and less resilient to the normal challenges of day-to-day life with the long-term effects of stress.

The good news is that the brain can change itself if we are willing to set new habits into motion. As we consciously change our thinking and behavior, we can lessen the impact of stress and our reaction to it. Over time we can help our brain ​to change, to adapt to new responses, to replace old, ingrained patterns of thinking and behaviors that were previously unconscious reflexes to life.

Sleep:
I turn off all computers, phones, etc. at 9 PM every night.

I use blue blocker glasses so that the blue light in the television, computers, phones, tablets, does not trick my brain into thinking it is day light (the sun has blue light).  At about 6 PM, your brain starts making the hormone melatonin to help you go to sleep, if your brain is being told that the blue light of your phone or computer is day light, this important step is not made.  6 PM blue blocker glasses go on!

Relaxing activities
Reading
For me one of the most relaxing things I do is reading a book, often while curled up with our dog Sequoia.  The comfort of touch an added bonus to reading a book.

Walking
I have to walk our dog, so I may as well make it an enjoyable activity we do together!  Taking the time to see the beauty of nature, smell it, feel it, all makes this an enjoyable responsibility!

Stretching
One of the things my Chiropractor found in me causing issues, was how very tight my leg muscles were.  My legs never bothered me, but the least little movement the wrong way, threw my back out.  Bending down to try to touch my toes, and my hands barely cleared my knees!  Daily stretching has stopped all back issues, and I can now touch the ground with my hands.

Breathing
There are many simple breathing techniques that help to calm the nervous system by inducing the parasympathetic or ‘rest and digest’ response. The 4-7-8
technique is one such breath:
1. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
2. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of
four.
3. Hold your breath for a count of seven.
4. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of
eight.
5. This is one breath.

Reframing
Reframing is a way of viewing and experiencing what may be viewed as stressful events, ideas, concepts and emotions in a different way. It is not so much about
what has happened, or is happening, as it is about how you choose to look at it.

Active activities
Weights
I thoroughly enjoy lifting lighter weights, more reps, lighter weights!  I have been building upper body strength after years of a shoulder issue that had me not using my upper body strength much if at all.  I spend about 45 minutes 4-5 days a week now lifting 5–7-pound weights.  I can see muscle definition in my arms once again, and the added bonus is how relaxed I feel after!

Stairs
We have very steep stairs in our house, I try to make sure I do a minimum of 10 flights of stairs a day (one flight being one trip up and one trip down), I often run them vs walk them.

Housecleaning
Okay so this may not be fun to you, but it has to get done!  Vacuuming, mopping, dusting, all are movement and all count as movement!
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Play
Take your children or grandchildren to a park or in the yard and play WITH them!

Am I perfect at this? NO!!!  Not at all, I am constantly working on improving how I handle stress and what I perceive as stressful.  Just keep plugging away, working at this is better than not working at it!