Since some of you weren't able to come to our health talk last Thursday, we figured we'd kick off a new thing we'll be doing on our blog called "Healthful Hints" with just a couple of things you can do to improve your stress levels.
Today our topic is stress. All of us deal with it, but what actually goes on inside our bodies when we experience stress might help you understand why you might want to learn some effective coping mechanisms to work through it. (Spoiler Alert: we've got some stress relieving tips at the end of this post if you want to skip the technical jargon ;)
Now on to the affects of stress: Here's the skinny, when we get overloaded at work, or the kids won't stop screaming, or we can't figure out how to balance our everyday hectic lives, our body creates a way to cope with this. Within our brain, signals are sent to our amygdala and hypothalamus that causes certain hormones to be released.
Two of these hormones include adrenaline and ACTH. Adrenaline causes our heart beat to increase and raises our blood pressure to prepare us to take action. The purpose of ACTH is to stimulate the adrenal glands, which sit on top of our kidneys, to release cortisol. The main function of cortisol is to increase the amount of sugar we have in our bloodstream to help supply the energy we will need to overcome physical or emotional obstacles. These obstacles are perceived by your body as the same, and thus your body responds to both with an increased release of cortisol.
When we are experiencing an event that is truly a crisis such as being chased by a bear or escaping a burning building, this stress mechanism using cortisol works very effectively to supply the energy we need to get you us safety. However, when we experience excess stress without having a real need to use the excess cortisol, the cortisol begins to block the uptake of sugars into your cells by inhibiting insulin. It's believed that this may be part of the mechanism which perpetuates development of Diabetes type 2.
Now this isn't a bashing cortisol session, but cortisol does have one more negative affect and that is that it encourages redistribution of fat to more visible places such as the abdomen.
Okay, so now that we've gotten through all the technicalities, we hope it makes a little bit more sense why you might want to start becoming aware of options you have to effectively deal with your stress. Here are a couple of Healthful Hints to help modulate your stress throughout your hectic day:
5 Healthful Hints to Reduce Stress
1) Balance your gut bacteria
- It's probably not what you were thinking would make our top 5 list, but the most recent research is leading scientists and medical professionals alike to believe that our digestive system has a close connection with our neurological health. In fact, did you know that 95% of seratonin, the hormone that greatly affects our ability to feel happy, is created by our intestines? We suggest everyone use a good probiotic to help regulate a healthy digestive system.
2) Get active
- If your body's got excess sugar pumping through your bloodstream because of your cortisol levels, why not put that burnable energy with a good workout. Join a walking club, lift some weights or get involved with a yoga group. We launched our community yoga group just a couple of weeks ago and we recommend that all of our patients use it to help relieve their stress and strengthen their postural muscles. Our last blog post has all the deets on when and where we meet, so check it out below if you'd like to join.
3) Create a Stress-Reduction List
- Make a list of your favorite things to do that helps you relieve stress and then choose one to do each day. If you make a daily habit of doing things you enjoy it will give you an opportunity to relax each day and take a load off your mind.
4) Meditate
- Taking 15 minutes each morning or evening is shown to not only reduce emotional stress, but it also can help reduce physical symptoms of pain that plague many people. As a daily practice, I meditate every morning before I get out of bed. It calms my mind and creates a reprieve before I start my busy day.
5) NET treatment
- This is a special stress-reducing therapy that originates from acupuncture. It's focus is on reducing the emotional components of our stress that we may not even be aware are affecting us. It is extremely effective and suggested if you have tried other methods of stress reduction and just can't seem to get the results you'd like. Dr. Nix has been trained as an NET practitioner and would love to help you get to a happier, healthier state through this treatment.
Well, that's all for this edition of Healthful Hints. If you'd like to get more of our advice on your health and well being, please subscribe to our blog below and we'll be sure to keep you in the loop. Until next time,
Here's to your health,
Dr. Joel Dayton D.C.