Stress can be caused by various factors and is often perceived as something negative, but it isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's what helped our hunter-gatherer ancestors survive, and it's just as important in today's world. It can be healthy when it enables you to avoid an accident, meet a tight deadline, or keep your wits about you amid chaos. But too much constant stress can have adverse effects on your long-term health.
Unfortunately, too much stress is relatively common among Americans. When asked, 80 percent of Americans reported having at least one stress symptom in the past month. Twenty percent expressed being under extreme stress.
Most people leave with a certain degree of stress, and it's hard to eliminate it altogether. However, we can learn to avoid it when possible and manage it when it's unavoidable. In this article, we will take a deep dive into stress and its causes and tips on how to prevent it from ruining your mental and physical health.
What Happens to Your Body When You're Stressed?
Studies have shown that stress can alter the physiological levels of certain hormones and immune cells that respond to stress.
When you experience stress, your brain sends information to the central nervous system to take necessary action, sending messages to the appropriate organs, tissues, and cells to respond. These messages can either activate or suppress the immune system, and the body's failure to compensate for this can lead to serious health-related problems.
In one study, 276 volunteers completed a life stressor interview and psychological questionnaire. The volunteers were inoculated with common cold viruses and monitored for disease onset.
The study showed that stressful life events for a short period of time (less than one month) did not increase the risk of developing colds. However, severe chronic stressors (one month or longer) resulted in a substantial increase in the risk of getting sick. Under- or unemployment and family difficulties also contributed to increased disease risk.
Psychological stress is known to affect immune function and predict susceptibility to infectious diseases, and it is important to take action before it is too late.
What Are the Symptoms of Stress?
Stress can affect all parts of your life, including your emotions, behaviors, thinking ability, and physical health. Symptoms can be vague and may be the same as those caused by medical conditions.
Emotional symptoms of stress can include:
- Becoming easily agitated, frustrated, and moody
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Having a hard time relaxing and quieting your mind
- Avoiding others
Physical symptoms of stress include:
- Low energy
- Headaches
- Aches, pains, and tense muscles
- Chest pain and rapid heartbeat
- Insomnia
- Frequent colds and infections
- Loss of sexual desire and/or ability
Cognitive symptoms of stress include:
- Constant worrying
- Racing thoughts
- Forgetfulness and disorganization
- Inability to focus
- Poor judgment
- Being pessimistic or seeing only the negative side
If you experience too many symptoms of stress for a more extended time, you should try to take action and make necessary lifestyle corrections.
What Can Cause Stress?
Most people in modern society experience stress, regardless of profession or family situation. It is important to identify stressors to better deal with the side effects and find effective coping mechanisms. It is also important to listen to your body and be coherent to stress symptoms, especially if you are in one of the following potentially stressful situations:
- Being the primary caretaker of an elderly, sick, or disabled person.
- Financial insecurities. Under-employment or unemployment.
- Family problems
- Moving
- Death of a loved one.
6 Ways to Manage Stress
Experience stress could be incredibly consuming and significantly reduce the quality of life. Luckily, there are ways to cope with the stress symptoms, and below are six simple ways to manage your stress.
- Find time daily to relax and do something you enjoy.
- Yoga, exercise, sports, music, and meditation have been shown to lower stress.
- Have a good support group of family and friends who listen and encourage your efforts.
- Do not take things personally when someone is critical or negative.
- Stay positive — speak kind words, think positively, and visualize good experiences.
- Eat well-balanced, scheduled meals, so the body and brain have the energy to function.
How to Boost Your Health To Combat Stress
Stress negatively affects a person's blood pressure and blood flow, reducing the quality of life. Therefore, a healthy diet can help combat stress and reduce symptoms. Below are three supplements that can help when combined with a healthy and balanced diet.
LAMININE
The LAMININE supplement from LifePharm has been shown in a clinical trial to lower the stress hormone cortisol. This slows down a cascade of events that continue to bombard the body with other inflammatory and/or stimulating compounds that may increase anxiety.
Many people consuming one to two capsules of laminine daily report better sleep, more positive moods, less anxiety, and overall well-being. Since emotions can run high when certain adverse events happen, an overall calmness can help cope with stress.
LAMININE also has a series of other health benefits:
- LAMININE stimulates your body's stem cells to regenerate damaged cells in most organs to help alleviate sore and stiff joints and maintain healthy blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
- Lowers cortisol to reduce stress and anxiety, enhance immune function, improve mood, metabolic function, and energy.
- Promotes deep sleep for improved mental focus and clarity.
IMMUNE+++
As we mentioned earlier, prolonged stress can harm your immune system.
IMMUNE+++ contains a large amount of vitamin C, mushroom extracts and powerful antioxidants that provide immune support when the stressors in your life accelerate. Take IMMUNE+++ regularly to have its benefits in place before some crisis hits. IMMUNE+++ also:
- Clinically shown to increase all white blood cells, including B and T cells*
- Promotes quicker immune response by stimulating immune cell development & activity*.
- Encourages the body’s first line of defense by promoting natural killer (NK) cell response*.
- Provides round-the-clock, 24-hour immune protection, lasting longer than regular Vitamin C*.
- Maintains integrity of skin, facial tissues and connective tissues by crosslinking collagen fibers*.
- Supports faster wound healing*
For more information and health tips, please visit shop.lifepharm.com today!
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