Life, by nature, is unpredictable —and therefore, stressful. If we are lucky, the stress we experience is short-lived. Too often, however, situations occur that keep us stressed for days, weeks, or even months. This experience of unrelenting stress can cause significant damage to our health, mind and emotions. If you go to the internet, you’ll find pages and pages of articles and research studies linking stress to ill health.

Stress Creates a Super-highway for Spreading Cancer

Depression and Chronic Stress Accelerate Aging

Stress: Yes It Really Can Trigger a Heart Attack

Chronic Stress Can Damage Brain Structure and Connectivity

Clearly, if we are interested in staying healthy, stress management should be one of our top priorities.

The Stress Response

Let’s take a look at the mechanisms of the stress response. Stress is described as “any physical, emotional, social, economic or other factor that requires a response to change.” It has been said that, ” change is the only constant in life.” If stress is associated with change, than it too can be considered a constant. Luckily the human body is brilliantly designed to deal with stress. It does so by activating the secretion of the hormone cortisol. This initiates a beautiful cascade of physiological responses that allows us to deal with any immediate danger or challenge.

When the adrenal gland releases cortisol into the body, the hormone “turns off” many of our normal physiological mechanisms while “turning on” many temporary mechanisms. This is the source of the “fight or flight” response. Ideally once the emergency situation has been resolved, our metabolic functions go back to their normal functioning.

Unfortunately, if we are under constant stress, the adrenal gland does not get a signal to stop producing cortisol. This long-term production of cortisol can severely compromise our health and permanently alter our metabolic process. I’ve gone into more detail on the effects of content stress on the body later in the blog, but first, let’s look at some proven stress-busters.

Stress-Busters

While we may not be able to eliminate the stress in our lives, we can take measures to give the body the relief from stress that it needs in order to stay healthy.

1. Decrease consumption of caffeine and alcohol, both of which impact cortisol levels
2. Go to bed by 10:00. Your body needs sleep. Getting six hours or less over time can significantly increase cortisol levels. It takes a full 7 to 8 hours of sleep to give your body enough time to recover from the stresses of the day before.
3. Practice a stress reduction technique. Research has shown that the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM) can lower cortisol levels. The lowering is even greater in those who practice TM regularly. In fact, the longer people practice TM, the more pronounced is the effect. TM was also found to decrease the time it took for the body to return to normal functioning following stressful stimuli. This is significant because, as mentioned above, high cortisol levels can create a self-perpetuating loop by disrupting the delicate feedback balance that tells the brain to stop releasing cortisol. Researchers concluded that the Transcendental Meditation technique gives the body a reprieve from experiencing stress, and as a result, the body is able to respond more normally to stress stimuli of short duration.
4. Schedule a week of Panchakarma treatments. Multiple studies have shown that massage therapy can lower cortisol levels, increase dopamine and serotonin (our happy, feel-good hormones), and lower excitatory hormones like norepinephrine and epinephrine. A week of luxurious in-residence treatments can provide a much-needed break from the day-to-day pressures at work and home.

More Stress-Busting Recommendations

• Get more spinach in your diet. Spinach has magnesium, which helps balance your body’s production of cortisol.
• Eat more citrus fruits. Research has shown that citrus fruits like oranges and kiwis have high content of vitamin C, which help slow the production of cortisol.
• Make sure you’re getting enough healthy omega-3 oils in your diet. These healthy fats not only inhibit inflammation, but also help lower cortisol levels and reduce stress.
• Get some holy basil (tulsi) in your diet! This tasty herb is an adaptogen herb, which is a unique class of healing plants that help reduce the production of stress related hormones.
• Research has shown that zinc helps inhibit the production of cortisol. Vegetarians can get zinc from cashews, pumpkin seeds, spinach and beans.
• Good news! Dark chocolate has high levels of anti-oxidants that help decrease inflammation and slow the secretion of cortisol. Just make sure that it’s at least 70% dark chocolate.

Results of Long-Term Stress

Is it really necessary to put time and attention into managing our stress? Here are some of the documented results of long-term stress:

1. Weakened immune response leading to heightened vulnerability to infection
2. Memory loss: excess cortisol can overwhelm the hippocampus and actually cause atrophy. Studies of the elderly have indicated that those with elevated cortisol levels display significant memory loss resulting from hippocampus damage. Luckily the damage incurred is usually reversible.
3. Shortening of telomeres. The link between memory loss and stress may in some part be due to shortened telmeres. The telomere is the outermost part of the chromosome. As we age, telomeres shorten. Recently there has been an association made between shorter telomere length and cortisol levels indicative of exposure to chronic stress. If its telomeres get too short, a cell may die. Shortened telomeres is associated with risks for dementia and may be a marker of biological aging.
4. An increase in abdominal fat. Researchers at Yale University found slender women who had high cortisol also had more abdominal fat. Abdominal, or visceral, fat is a key player in a variety of health problems. Visceral fat has been linked to metabolic disturbances and increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. In women, it is also associated with breast cancer and the need for gallbladder surgery.
5. Systemic inflammation. Researchers have found that chronic stress changes gene activity of immune cells before they enter the bloodstream so that they’re ready to fight infection or trauma — even when there is no infection or trauma to fight. This leads to increased inflammation in the body. Problematically, systemic inflammation is known to cause elevated cortisol levels. Thus chronic stress can create a vicious cycle wherein the cortisol and inflammation basically feed each other. Chronic inflammation has been linked with a range of conditions such as heart disease, depression and even cancer.

Arming ourselves with an understanding of the stress response and taking steps to minimizing the impact of stress on our minds and bodies is key to maintaining balanced health. This is why any responsible health program must include stress reduction techniques.

Phone or Skype consultations are available with our Ayurvedic Wellness Experts. This is a time when building a foundation of good heath has never been more important. Take the opportunity to create a healthier life-style. To schedule a consultation, call, 800-864-8714.