This article was first published in Life Extraordinary Magazine.
Ongoing stress has been linked with many illnesses. Feeling stressed out? Here’s why stress matters for your health, and what you can do about it.
Your stress hormones
Your adrenal glands, which sit on top of your kidneys, make the key stress hormones:
- Adrenaline, which fuels the body’s fight-or-flight response.
- Cortisol, a natural relative of medicines such as prednisone and cortisone.
- DHEA, which the body uses to make other hormones.
In the right amounts, cortisol helps your body’s resistance and endurance. It prompts the liver to turn amino acids into glucose for energy and to store glucose as glycogen, it helps control inflammation and allergic reactions, it helps regulate mood, and it helps you cope with the stress of infection, injury, emotional upset and temperature extremes.
When stress goes on and on, though, cortisol can stay high for too long. Over time that can disturb sleep, raise blood sugar, encourage weight gain around the middle, weaken immunity and leave you with a foggy mind.
What keeps stress hormones high?
- Poor diet. Diets high in sugar and refined carbohydrates cause swings in blood sugar that the body treats as stress.
- Gut health. Stress affects the gut. Ongoing stress can upset the balance of good and bad bacteria and weaken the gut’s immune defences.
- Unresolved emotional stress such as worry, anger, guilt, anxiety, fear and depression. Don’t underestimate the power of getting your head straight. It doesn’t matter how much good food, rest and exercise you have; if your head’s not straight, you won’t be either.
- Environmental and physical stress such as excessive exercise, exposure to industrial and environmental toxins, and chronic or severe allergies.
- Overwork, physical or mental, as well as surgery, late nights and not enough sleep.
- Trauma, injury, temperature extremes, chronic illness, chronic pain and disrupted body clocks from shift work.
- Chronic inflammation, which has been linked with many diseases, from diabetes to cancer, and adds to the load on your system.
What can I do to restore the balance?
Eat fermented foods. Regularly enjoying fermented foods and drinks such as kefir, kombucha, miso and kimchi adds beneficial bacteria to your gut.
Eat fewer sugars and refined carbohydrates. This helps keep blood sugar steady and supports healthy gut bacteria.
Stress less. Look at the causes above. Whether your stress is emotional or physical, it all adds up, and wellness means finding a healthy balance across all of them.
Reduce inflammation through food. Many foods help counter inflammation, including asparagus, beans, broccoli, carrots, cayenne pepper, celery, cherries, cinnamon, citrus, dark chocolate, dark green vegetables, edamame and soy, oily fish such as salmon, flaxseeds and flaxseed oil, garlic, ginger, lean meat, olive oil, omega-3 enriched eggs, onion, pineapple, pomegranates, green and white tea, turmeric, walnuts and whole grains. See my post on anti-inflammatory foods for more.
Get outside. Some people love “grounding” or “earthing”: taking off your shoes and walking barefoot outside, on the beach if you’re near one. Research on its anti-inflammatory effects is limited, but time outdoors, in nature and moving your body is proven to lower stress.
Check your hormones. Thyroid problems and perimenopause can both cause symptoms such as tiredness, weight changes, brain fog and anxiety that are easy to blame on stress. If this sounds like you, ask your GP about a blood test and talk through your treatment options together.
Be good to yourself
With so many “how-tos” and “how-not-tos” these days, I think it’s important to feel your way: listen to your gut instincts as you follow your passion, and remember you can’t be good for everyone else unless you are good to yourself.
Do what makes you feel absolutely fabulous.
If stress, anxiety or low mood are getting on top of you, please talk to your GP. In Australia you can also call Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Cassandra Austin x
About the author
Accomplished chef, consultant, recipe developer and food and wellness coach, branched into diet, nutrition and food psychology. I support women who want sustainable change with a healthy diet and an absolutely fabulous life. Success came at a cost to my mental and physical health; after years of ignoring it, I found ways to reverse the damage, and I know we all have unique requirements for wellness. Eat, drink, laugh, love and live your way to balanced wellness.
This article is general information about food and wellbeing, not medical advice. Please talk to your GP or a qualified health professional about any health condition, medication or major change to your diet.
