Stress – Recognising when it’s bad

If you’re a human living in year 2000's, chances are that you experience some form of stress daily. Most of us think about stress as psychological pressure, which is correct but reductive. So what is stress, how does it affect us, when does it become unhealthy, and what can we do about it?

From a physiological perspective, stress is a mental and physical reaction to stressors which may be internal or external, and of various types. For example, grieving a lost family member and worrying about being late to work are a form of internal stress of psychological nature. During physical exercise, pain and illness, you are under internal, mental and physical stress. Burning your hand on the stove and breathing polluted air in traffic are also kinds of external physical stress.

Now we begin to understand that stress is omnipresent in our lives and we can’t avoid it no matter how hard we try. Regardless of the origin stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, leading to a "fight or flight" response, a state of increased arousal, cognition and vigilance. Blood pressure is raised, as well as heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood glucose levels. Meanwhile appetite, digestion, colonic motility, growth, reproduction and immunity are suppressed. After stress is resolved, our nervous system returns to a parasympathetic state in which we are primed to rest, repair, digest and reproduce.

There is only one way in which we respond to stress, but the magnitude may vary. It’s not the stressor that matters; it’s how we respond to it, which is a very individual experience. For example, you may be incensed if a car cuts you up on the road, but your partner might not be bothered as much. Or you may pick up a stomach bug from a meal out and recover quicker than your friends who also got sick. Genetics, upbringing and what happens to us in life concur to make some of us more resilient to stress than others, but regardless of where we are we get better at it.

Not all stress is bad. We need stress to stimulate and develop ourselves. Take athletes who go through a tremendous amount of training so that their body and mind adapt to perform better. This is the very foundation of Darwin’s “survival of the fittest”. Without stress, there would probably not be any growth and evolution.

So when is stress detrimental? To determine this, it is useful to differentiate between acute and chronic stress. Acute stress is by definition short term. It is normal and necessary. Chronic stress is characterised by “sympathetic dominance” which means we are activated most of the time and have no chance to switch off. This has many adverse consequences across all the bodily systems and is associated with a myriad of disease processes, including adrenal exhaustion, thyroid dysfunction, insulin resistance (leading to type 2 diabetes), low immunity, autoimmunity, digestive disturbances, infertility, and cognitive / psychiatric disorders and cellular ageing. This process always involves inflammation and over time this often implicates a degree of nutrient deficiency (due to impaired absorption), microbiome imbalance, and poor liver detoxification.

Chronic stress can build over several years or decades and as it does so gradually, it can go unnoticed for a long time. Symptoms appear slowly, so we just suck it up. We may experience some tiredness mid-afternoon. That may coincide with a sugar craving or a need for a cup of coffee to tie us over. We are bloated after meals and you’re too wired to fall asleep. We may catch colds and flus more frequently. Perhaps our libido isn’t what it used to be, but it might just be because we are tired. Fast forward a few years and the symptoms have markedly worsened. Difficulty to get out of bed even after 8-10 hours’ sleep. Appetite is low, so we drink eight cups of coffee and snack on sweets stuff all the time. There is excess weight, particularly around the middle, and it won’t shift it even with regular exercise. All the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may now be there. Muscle cramps, headaches and inability to concentrate may also be present. We’ve started having bouts of eczema.

Ten years later, the IBS is really bad and there may be intolerance to foods like bread, dairy, eggs and pulses. Sleep quality has become terrible, and we are constantly tired. The skin, hair and nails are showing signs of demineralisation and premature ageing. Our last visit to the GP reveals high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and insulin resistance / type 2 diabetes and perhaps an auto-immune disorder, such as rheumatoid arthritis and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, as well. We’ve become moody and slightly depressed.

Here is the thing. Stress can lead to symptoms which pile more stress on us. It’s a vicious circle. This may sound very pessimistic, but it is what typically happens with long term stress when we let things go adrift. The good news is that, given the process takes many years / decades, we do have time to address the issues at hand and prevent this morbid outcome. So what can we do?

Reducing the stress load

It’s difficult to fight a battle when we don’t know who the enemy is, so it is worth doing an inventory across different areas of our lives to identify where we experience some form of stress.

Psychological and emotional stress are often more apparent, although sometimes we cannot see the obvious and it is useful to chat it through with someone who knows you well. Then there is physical stress which is caused by any form of physical pain and dysfunction in the body. Think headache, intestinal bloating, illness, having to push through tiredness, lack of sleep, over-exercising, toxins and pesticides from food, water, cleaning products and cosmetics, eating foods that don’t agree with you, exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from WIFI/4G, etc. Where possible, we should look to remove the stressors and increase the amount of time we spend in parasympathetic mode.

Have a good sleep hygiene. Make time to unwind 30 min before bed (read paper books, have an Epsom salt bath, listen to calming music or guided meditation, avoid blue lights from screens); go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, aiming to sleep 8 hours from approx. 10pm to 6 am to synch up with the circadian rhythm for optimal hormones; avoid eating dinner late which impairs sleep quality; turn off WIFI in the house during sleep to reduce EMF exposure and promote repair functions.

Schedule some time to relax and nurture yourself daily. Put it in the diary if necessary e.g. 10min meditation first thing and last thin, a walk in the park, yoga, sport, dancing, creative work, massage… Spend time in nature. Try ‘grounding’ by walking barefoot on the earth or swimming in open water. This will increase light exposure, which is great for mood, hormones and vitamin D.

Spend time with friends and family. We are social animals. Emotional connection is nurturing. It increases endorphins, oxytocin and vagal tone among others, all of which make us more relaxed. Resolve conflicts – inner and outer. Seek help from coaches and therapists. You don’t have to do it alone. Have a purpose in life. Practise charity and gratefulness. It makes us happier and thus less stressed.

Watch your emotions and how you respond to adverse events. Use a heart rate variability monitor to detect when your response to stressors during the day. Minimise stimulants (alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, drugs) to be sensitised to how you really feel without the caffeine prop and ensure you give yourself time to rest. Learn to accept that which you cannot change and let go of that which doesn’t serve you. Try some ‘tapping’ (Emotional Freedom Technique) and tension and trauma release exercise (TRE) to dissipate negative feelings.

Exercise enough but not too much. Standing and walking will do but you need to move regularly throughout the day to ensure good circulation and lymphatic drainage (less toxins = less stress). If you can stomach it, the most time-efficient and effective type of exercise is high intensity interval training (HIIT) for 30 min three times a week. Add one or two sessions of yoga, Pilates or stretching for good measure to improve relaxation and flexibility.

Reduce exposure to environmental toxins. Drink filtered water. Eat organic food. Ditch plastic containers and toxin cookware. Replace cleaning and cosmetic products with natural alternatives. Try making your own with vinegar, bicarb and essential oils. Avoid polluted zones. Use an air sanitiser in the bedroom. Support liver detoxification with green leafy and cruciferous vegetables, eggs, beef liver, brazil nuts, avocado and chickpeas which contain B, C, E vitamins, selenium and cysteine. Other liver boosting nutrients include milk thistle, turmeric, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), and alpha-lipoic acid. They do so by upregulating glutathione, our master anti-oxidant.

Eat a plant-based, low-carb diet to optimise nutrition and physiological functions as well as reducing inflammation and oxidative stress. Drink 1.5-2 litres of water a day. Correct any nutrient imbalance with supplementation. If you suspect you have one, do a lab test. Some are quite affordable. Taking 500 mg of magnesium citrate, L-theanine and 5-HTP at bed time supports relaxation and prolongs time in sleep. Adaptogenic herbs are great for supporting the nervous and immune system e.g. ashwaghanda, rhodiola, shatavari, gotu kola, ginseng, and medicinal mushrooms. Try CBD oil.

Eat “dirt”, which refers to our need for commensal bacteria in and around us to be healthy. Don’t over-wash and overcook vegetables and fruits (only if organic). Anything raw or fermented contains good bacteria (probiotics) e.g. sauerkraut, kimchi, kombutcha, kefir, yoghurt, miso, tempeh, natto. Feed them with prebiotics fibre contained in vegetables and wholegrains. A balanced microbiome reduces inflammation and stress. Try raw garlic and onion in dressings.

Conclusion

Stress is unavoidable but we can limit exposure to stressors and find healthier ways to deal with it. There are many practical tools, some of which are listed above, but don’t try them all at once. It’s more effective to pick one change and commit to it for a couple of months. Research found that it takes 66 days to form a new habit. Once it has stuck, make another change – and don’t get stressed about doing it all perfectly. Strike a happy balance.

The above article does not constitute medical advice.