Stress Solutions
When stress strikes, three hormones play a crucial role: cortisol, epinephrine, and oxytocin. The hormones cortisol and epinephrine together raise a person’s blood pressure and circulating blood sugar level, and cortisol alone lowers the effectiveness of the immune system.
This process is called the Fight or Flight response, preparing your self to run away from the attacker or stand up and fight!
This was fine when stress was a one off event, meaning some creature was trying to eat you, now stress can last weeks or months, with the natural stress response creating havoc with the bodies immune system, cardiovascular system and sugar control.
The main difference between men and women’s stress response is the amount of oxytocin released.
Women release a higher amount of the hormone oxytocin, and are more likely to deal with stress by “tending and befriending” – that is, nurturing those around them and reaching out to others, designed to protect the self and offspring creating a social network that promotes feelings safety and reduce distress.
Men, on the other hand, with smaller amounts of oxytocin, lean toward the tried and true fight or flight response when it comes to stress – either bottling it up and escaping, or fighting back.
Stress solutions need to focus on supporting the systems that the hormones Cortisol and epinephrine leave depleted.
The Cardiovascular System
Stress hormones are designed to increase blood being pumped around the body in preparation to run away or recover injuries, all good stuff however when your stress is more emotional than physical, this same response causes the blood pressure to raise. [more...]
Blood Sugar Control
When we are under stress, the body releases more insulin into the blood stream, to allow glucose out of your blood and into the cells, providing energy, in order to fuel muscles. But if you don’t need that energy (you don’t fight or flee) the default mechanism is to store the glucose as fat. [more...]
The Immune System
Stress can have a profound weakening effect on the immune system, cortisol a hormone, which is released by the adrenal glands in response to stress, actually suppresses the immune systems activity. Finding ways to combat stress such as Ti Chi, yoga and meditation can have a profound effect on the immune system. [more...]
The Digestive System
You may have noticed a feeling of unease in the abdomen during times of stress. Stress effects the nerves of the digestive system and can upset the intricate balance of digestion. [more...]
Energy Balance
As stress levels continue, slowly the adrenal glands, which have been propping you up during the stress, begin to get depleted, leaving you feeling drained and exhausted. [more...]
Muscular Skeletal System
The adrenal system is another important regulator of the inflammatory response.
The adrenal glands are located on top of the kidneys. They produce hormones for the body’s “fight or flight response”. They also regulate the immune system, hormonal system, muscle integrity, sleep, connective tissue, and inflammatory response, among other things. [more...]
Anxiety/Panic Attacks
Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. When anxiety becomes an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, it can become a disabling. Anxiety can be accompanied by physical effects such as heart palpitations, nausea, chest pain, shortness of breath, stomach aches, or headaches. Physically, the body prepares to deal with what it perceives as a threat. [more...]
Coping Strategies
There are various techniques that we can use to help us cope with stress more effectively. [more...]
