Stress and Management Techniques

It is impossible to live stress-free these days. Chronic stress has become an epidemic in our world where faster is better as we try to squeeze more obligations into our expanding daily schedules.

The relationship between stress, blood sugar and belly fat has been well-known for a long time. When stressed, our insulin levels increase which causes metabolic dysfunction, weight gain and eventually diabetes.

When we’re stressed, our adrenal glands release hormones like adrenaline and cortisol which raise our heart rate, increase our blood pressure, and increase belly fat storage. 

Let’s look at the following questions:

• What is stress? 
• How does it damage our health?
• What can we do to manage and reduce its effects?

Stress is just a result of our perception of pressure. Two people in the same exact situation may have completely different stress responses and may find very different coping mechanisms. That is very empowering, since it’s up to us to change our perception about any given circumstance.

There are two types of stress, positive and negative:

Positive stress is our reaction to exciting events such as getting a new job, buying a home, or falling in love. 

Negative stress is our body’s survival tool for protection from danger. When the danger appears, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) leads to the release of hormones, which puts us in “fight-or-fight” mode. In that state, the body prioritizes getting our energy to the muscles for mobilization and slows down all other unnecessary systems, such as digestion. The interesting thing is that the body doesn’t know the difference between being chased by a tiger or being late for a deadline at work.  

Here is what happens during a stress reaction in our bodies: 

• The Alarm Stage: When your body is alarmed by a trigger, your SNS is activated to protect you and the adrenal glands secrete cortisol and adrenaline. This alerts the rest of your body equipping you with the emergency fuel you need. 

• The Adaptive/Resistance Stage: When the initial stress response is over, your body attempts to return to its stable state (called homeostasis). But when your stress reactions are too powerful or triggered too frequently, your body remains on “high alert”. In that state, your body’s resistance and tolerance to continuous stressors increase. Meanwhile, the extended release of stress hormones lowers your immune system and makes you more susceptible to sickness.

• The Exhaustion Stage: When the body never fully returns to the rest state, your emergency resources are depleted, and your body starts to shut down. This is the final burnout stage where your body is unable to continuously cope with the high demands of chronic stress.

While it is vital to have stress acutely, having chronic stress has a huge toll on our bodies:

1. The body diverts to using glucose as fuel and doesn’t burn the fat reserves. Hence, when we are chronically stressed, no matter how much we exercise or how well we eat, it is much harder to lose weight. 

2. It affects behavior around food, that is what we consume and how much we consume. It does so by changing the brain’s response to highly palatable foods and leads to increased desire to seek them out. These high calorie, high-fat, high-sugar foods provide a quick source of energy that the body needs when it’s stressed, and the brain releases the “feel-good” hormone, dopamine. But over time, the same amount of food isn’t enough to feel good, therefore we consume more, and this leads to addictive-like behaviors. Being able to stop eating becomes more difficult as the hormone response is affected by stress.

3. By creating the perfect scenario for fat storage, and creating a pro-inflammatory state, stress causes some of the most common chronic diseases, especially obesity which is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. 

Can we break the cycle of stress? Absolutely yes! Just like the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) turns on the “fight-or-flight response”, the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) turns it off. The PNS is the one responsible for helping the body conserve energy and rest. Unfortunately, a return to rest and relaxation doesn’t occur automatically in today’s world. We need to consciously choose to activate the relaxation response.

Here a few ways to turn off the stress response:

• Resorting to calming activities like meditation, exercise, yoga, music, deep breathing, books, and journaling.
• Making sure your living space is clutter-free and peaceful.
• Managing time by prioritizing tasks, concentrating on one thing at a time, and delegating tasks when feeling overwhelmed.

It is so easy to underestimate the effects of stress on our health and get carried away with the never-ending tasks while following our care-taking instincts. 

But, in fact, delaying self-care is like not putting the oxygen mask on us first. We can’t help our loved ones if we can’t “breathe” properly. When we don’t do any conscious work to bring our bodies back to the rest and digest state, not only we are causing long term damage to our health, but we also radiate fight-or-flight vibrations to our families. 

I don’t know about your household, but in mine, I joke that my kids have “spider-sense”. They immediately co-regulate with how I am feeling and function from the emotional state I am in. Our mental wellbeing has a direct impact on our families, our communities and eventually the world around us.

When we take care of ourselves, we take care of each other.

Today, think of one action step you can take on a regular basis to reduce stress and put it in your calendar. 

To add more accountability to your commitment to your well-being, email me your stress-reducing action step at healthy@melisdoglu.com and I will check-in with you!