How to stress less and live better!
Learning how your body reacts to stress and how you can handle it can be a very useful talent.
Before you know it, the holiday season will be just around the corner. For most of us this means rushing to finish jobs before going on leave, kids being home from school, endless social events and family get-togethers, shopping for gifts – the list goes on! For some, this is the favourite time of the year, while others are filled with stress at the mere thought of it. If you’re one of the latter, read on!
The effects of stress
When you get stressed, your body feels under attack and automatically kicks into high gear to deal with the perceived threat. This is what is known as the ‘fight-or-flight’ response. Your heartbeat, breathing rate and blood pressure all go up, and the longer you feel stressed, the greater the physical demands placed on your body and the more likely your energy levels will be sapped. If you are exposed to stress long-term, it could lead to a host of lifestyle and health problems.
Behavioural problems: To get immediate relief from feeling stressed, it’s not uncommon to seek chemical relief from alcohol or cigarettes. You may also start to feel that you don’t have time to exercise or eat properly, and you may be worrying so much that you sleep badly. These lifestyle factors are likely to harm your health.
Heart problems: When stress is intense and your body’s biological reactions are not channelled into physical activity, your raised heart rate and high blood pressure put tension on the arteries and damage them. The artery walls become scarred and thick, which can reduce the supply of blood and oxygen to your heart. This is when the fight-or-flight response can become lethal: your heart accelerates to increase blood supply to your muscles, but the blood vessels may have become so narrow that not enough blood reaches the heart to meet these demands. This can cause a heart attack.
Lowered immunity: Stress can also damage your immune system, which explains why you often catch colds when you are stressed. It can also bring on headaches and irritable bowel syndrome, and there have been suggestions of a link between stress and cancer.
Mental health problems: The negative thinking that is associated with stress contributes to anxiety and depression and more serious mental health problems.
The natural way to calm
Taking nutritional supplements is one good way to manage your stress. The fi rst option is a good B complex vitamin. B vitamins are not stored in the body so need to be replenished daily. If you are under stress or run down, symptoms such as cracks at the side of your mouth may indicate you need to take a B group supplement.
B vitamins work together to help maintain the health of your nerves. Adding magnesium to the mix will further help because this mineral relaxes the brain and helps neurotransmitter signals work more effectively. Magnesium is best taken in the evening, particularly if your stress is causing insomnia.
Herbal power
For mild anxiety and depression, a natural herb called St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) has been found to be as beneficial as many prescribed medicines. St John’s wort has a particularly valuable ability to stimulate nerve regeneration and repair. There has been much research on the effects of this herb, and it’s been found to work more effectively when taken in conjunction with passionflower (Passi-fl ora incarnata), a traditional sedative herb.
Another herb with sedative properties is zizyphus (Zyziphus jujuba). It is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine for the relief of sleeplessness, irritability, anxiety and nervous exhaustion, and has also been used to treat spontaneous sweating and night sweats, especially when accompanied by anxiety, palpitations and insomnia.
Other helpful herbs include schisandra (Schisandra chinsensis), which has tonifying and restorative effects, hops (Humulu lupulus), which calms the nervous system, and vervain (Verbena offi cinalis), a sedative and relaxant to the nervous system. These all help your body resist the effects of stress and strengthen and calm your nervous system.
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Face the problem – make an effort to change your environment or situation – even small steps can eventually result in big changes
Change the way you feel – if you can’t change the situation, strive to change the way you deal with it and focus on what you want the outcome to be.
Accept it – if you have no control over an event or issue, accept the fact that there’s nothing you can do about it. |
Case Study
Mary* was so stressed out during and after menopause, she had trouble sleeping and was continually feeling anxious. She visited her local healthcare professional who suggested she take a combination of zizyphus, hops, schisandra, vervain and oats to help control her symptoms. Mary takes this all in one supplement before going to bed at night and says, ‘I can’t tell you what a miraculous effect it’s had on my life. I sleep like a log and am so relaxed. I only take one at night and it has restored my health. Thank you!’
*not her real name