Stress is all part of the richtapestry and intricate method by which our body functions.  In normalcircumstances stress is a natural response to the daily challenges that lifebrings.  Even though generally stress isconsidered in a negative way, it is in fact necessary to a degree and is notall bad.  If we did not have any degreeof stress in our lives we wouldn’t learn or grow and our lives would be devoidof purpose and meaning. 

Unfortunately in the modern 21^stCentury living being ‘stressed’ is common place and far from the positiveeffect that stress can have, the reality is that situations can overwhelm tothe point that it begins to affect our health, with chronic stress beingthought to be a huge contributory factor in heart disease, cancer, depression,anxiety and chronic pain. 

The presence of stress in ourlives invokes the action of the stress hormones .  Our ‘fight or flight’ response is designed tooperate when we face a perceived threat or pressure and in life threateningsituations; stress hormones surge into our blood stream and blood is divertedfrom areas we don’t immediately need toward our heart and, legs andmuscles.  When perceiving a threat thebrain secretes a hormone which stimulates the adrenal glands to releaseadrenaline and cortisol.  Once theperceived threat is over the adrenal glands stop pumping these hormones andyour body returns to normal.  However,when stress is continuous and the hormones are continually stimulated (yourbody can’t distinguish between a mountain of debt and an attack by a wild animal)the result is ill health of one type or another.  This is stress as a problem.

The purpose of adrenaline is toget you alert and focused, and the purpose of cortisol is to release fat andsugar into the blood stream, if you do not then ‘fight or flee’ ie: dosomething to use the released energy source, it has nowhere to go and must beredeposited as fat.  There is nothingrandom about where it is stored  - theabdominal area is close to the liver where it can be accessed if needed thenext time!  Additionally abdominal fatcells have more receptors for cortisol than anywhere else in your body and willcall out for it.

After the stressful situation haspassed adrenaline returns to normal quite quickly but cortisol remains elevatedand triggers the hunger mechanism (which is designed to refuel you after allthe energy you supposedly used). Therefore people under constant stress are likely to feel hungry and tocrave or tend toward the ‘feel good’ foods - fats and carbohydrates which are the food sources of choice forenergy.  Weight gain occurs when thisscenario is indulged. 

If periods of recovery are notachieved adrenal exhaustion results because the body cannot keep functioning onoverdrive.  When this happens blood sugarlevels drop dramatically causing the feelings of extreme fatigue.

Different people respond tostress in different ways – being in a very busy town with lots of traffic canbe a major source of stress to some, even joy can activate stressmechanisms.  What can make one sick canbe an invigorating experience for another. It is important to understand how you react to stress.  Once your body has been operating in what itsees as ‘survival mode’ (i.e long term stress) it has to be retrained that itis okay to release the stored fat.

Stored fat is toxic because itmanufactures an array of chemical messengers which raise blood pressure, causeinflammation, contract blood vessels, produce an immune response, secreteoestrogen and other compounds which interfere with the functioning of insulin.

Fat around the middle is far moremetabolically active than fat anywhere else and has been shown to affect theway insulin is used, affecting blood sugar balance, raising blood pressure andincreasing the amount of cholesterol in the body.  It has been shown to be an effect that canhave a domino style cascade, especially when coupled together with inadequatesleep, diet, exercise and relaxation, to serious health conditions such asdiabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Are You Stressed?

Effects of stress on the body –headaches, pounding heart, shortness of breath, muscle aches and pains, backache, clenched jaw/grinding teeth (especially at night), stomach upset,increased sweating, tiredness, poor sleeping patterns, weight gain, sexualproblems and poor skin tone and texture with spot breakouts.

Effects of stress on thoughts andfeelings – anxiety, restlessness, worried, irritable, depressed, sad, angry,mood swings, job dissatisfaction, burnout, forgetfulness, lack ofconcentration/inability to concentrate or pessimism.

Effects of stress on behaviour –overeating, undereating, angry outbursts, drug abuse (either recreational orprescription), excessive alcohol intake, conflicts with others, socialwithdrawal.

If you can identify with any ofthe above – try some or all of the following suggestions to help reduced yourstress levels.

1.      Chronic stress is NOT inevitable!  Stress occurs in our lives via the followingpattern.  Challenge.  Your perception of it. Your response.  In other words when a stressful event occurswe have a choice in how we let it affect us.  Whenever you feel stressed, immediately take note of what thoughts youare thinking (remembering that God’s word tells us to take every thoughtcaptive and make it obedient to Christ). Do this whilst breathing slowly and deeply.  Try and assess whether you response isappropriate and/or effective – if not then decide what you could do differentlythat would give a different response and do that instead.  The most important thing is to recognise whatcauses you to become stressed.

2.      There is a prayer which reads as follows:

“God grant me the serenity toaccept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can andwisdom to know the difference”

The moral here is to influenceour response to the problem by acknowledging that which we can do nothing aboutand enable us to focus on the things that we have control over – mostimportantly it acknowledges that God is the giver of wisdom and with His helpwe can apply His solutions to the situation.

3.      There are two breathing techniques that you cantry which are particularly useful when you first find yourself becomingstressed or overwhelmed. 

4/9 breathing – breathe in slowly to the countof 4 and out to the count of 9 until you feel calmer.  Breathing out longer than in helps to triggerthe relaxation mechanism in your body.

Feet Breathing – when you feel stressed turnyour attention and focus onto your feet and breathe imagining that you arebreathing in and out of them.  Imagineroots growing out of your feet into the ground below you and slow down racingthoughts.  Combine this with 4/9breathing for more effectiveness.

4.      If you have been under pressure/stress for sometime a selection of adrenal supporting supplements can offer extra help in atargeted way to assist recovery.  Inparticular Vitamin C,  Vitamin B complexand Rhodiola or Siberian Ginseng – it is usual for these to be needed for a 3 –9 month time period, depending on the degree of the problem.  Please feel free to contact me if you wouldlike advice on which are the best supplements for your situation.

5.      Theanine is an amino  acid (protein) which helps to increase levelsof GABA (a chemical in the brain) which in turn triggers relaxation but this isusually only effective if the source of the stress is dealt with at the sametime.  Once again if you would like anyadvice concerning this please feel free to contact me.

6.      Improving your diet and ditching junk food (comeon you know I was going to say that at some point!) eating sensibly, makinghealthy choices in particular a wide variety of vegetables and fruit.

7.      Exercise – regular fitness sessions are vital tohelp the body feel more able to cope by increasing the health of thecardiovascular system, reduce adrenaline secretion and improving nutrient andoxygen utilisation.

8.      A good night’s sleep makes it easier to dealwith pressure – avoid stimulates such as coffee, tea and alcohol and externalstimuli such as high drama films or books, especially just before bedtime.  Valerian tea is a good herbal night timesleep aid, as is making your bedroom a well ventilated, peaceful and tranquilplace.  Try things like candlelight and awarm bath to prepare for sleep.

Remember everyone is different and everyone respondsdifferently to stress – so take some time to find out what helps you to manageyour stress and do what works for you – it will help you with weight loss inthe long run.