Do you feel stressed? Do you know when you get up in the morning you are going to spend the majority of your day multitasking or feeling out of control?
Many things have an impact on our health - diet, exercise, sleep, social
patterns, environmental exposure, work, and stress play a crucial role in our
health. Over the last two weeks I have
seen several patients in my clinic who are physically ill from stress. Stress can cause, headaches, stomachaches,
memory loss, and obesity, just to name a few common symptoms associated with
stress. Today I want to try explain how stress impacts your health.
What is stress?
Stress is something we cannot put our finger on, we cannot measure it, and
often we dismiss stress as not being real. But, in reality our bodies are
driven by the nervous system which tries to maintain a perfect balance. The body is a miraculous creation, we have
many built-in options to try to keep us healthy and safe. But, just like an automobile if we do not take
care of our bodies, the options wear out, switches get broken, and safety
features fail.
For instance: Your
central nervous system has two branches, the parasympathetic (think: peace)
nervous system and the sympathetic (think: stress) nervous system. The two work
like a switch — when one is turned on, the other is off.
The
sympathetic nervous system is associated with the rapid release of stress
hormones, slowed digestion, and faster breathing and heart rate. This is the
state you are in when you are speeding through your day stressed out and
multitasking like crazy to get everything on your to-do list done. I know this
feeling, for many years this is how I l have functioned every day.
What
happens when we are stressed?
1. Stress changes gene
expression.
The chemicals your body produces when you are under stress turn on
or off of genes that change everything from how much fat you store, to how well
your immune system works, to how fast you age, to whether or not you will
develop cancer.
2. Stress causes brain damage.
High levels of stress hormones damage critical parts
of the brain, such as the
hippocampus, the area responsible for memory. One
reason people experience “adrenal burnout” after long term chronic stress, is
because the brain, in order to save itself, turns off the
adrenals.
3. Stress shuts down the immune
system and increases inflammation.
From slowing wound healing, to diminishing the
protective effects of vaccines, to increasing your susceptibility to infections, stress is the ultimate immune-modulator. Stress can also
reactivate latent infections — people who get cold sores know this from experience.
4. Chronic stress damages the
energy powerhouses of your body, your mitochondria.
These energy factories produce ATP, the currency
through which all cells and organs in your body do their work. The good news is
this damage is reversible over time, as stress goes away.
5. Stress reduces your ability
to metabolize and detoxify.
Studies have shown that the activity of hundreds of
genes responsible for enzymes that break down fats and detoxify prescription
drugs, are negatively impacted by stress. Stress can also increase your toxin
burden by increasing your desire for high fat, high sugar foods.
6. Your cardiovascular system
responds to stress, increasing cardiac output if you have to run away from a
tiger.
But chronic stress has been shown to increase the
thickness of the artery walls, leading
to high blood pressure and heart disease.
7. Stress messes with your sex
hormones.
Stress increases the amount of something called sex hormone binding globulin, the school bus that ferries testosterone and estrogen
around your body, meaning fewer of these hormones are available to your cells.
Chronic stress also increases the production of cortisol, leading to
something called “cortisol steal,” where fewer sex hormones are produced.
8. Stress is bad for your bones
and muscles.
There is evidence that higher stress levels are
associated with lower bone mineral density, and many studies show that people
under chronic stress experience more physical pain.
9. The gut and stress are
intimately intertwined.
You may have heard that 95% of your serotonin is in
your gut, and you may remember a time when you were nervous or sad, and your
belly was in knots.
But more research is showing how stress
impacts the function of your gut every day. It slows transit, leading to
constipation and the re-circulation of hormones like estrogen through your
liver. It increases the overgrowth of bad bacteria. And it loosens the barriers
between the cells that line the intestines, creating something called leaky gut,
which then leads to inflammation, food sensitivities and even autoimmune
disease.
Next week I will start a series on how to help minimize
the effects of stress on your health.
~ Connie ~
