The Stress Response and How to Manage It
We all know what stress means on some level. Stress is often described as a feeling of being overwhelmed, worried, or run down. For some, stress translates into sleepless nights and irritability. For others, stress means that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, or tension in your back and neck that won’t go away. Stress for certain people can even mean productivity, motivation, and getting stuff done! Stress is universal to the human condition; it can affect people of all ages, genders, and circumstances, and can lead to both physical and psychological health issues.
The official psychological definition of stress is “any uncomfortable emotional experience accompanied by predictable biochemical, physiological, and behavioral changes” [1]. An extreme amount of stress can have adverse effects on many systems of our body including the cardiovascular system, the nervous system, the immune system, and the digestive system! Before we dive into stress management strategies, let’s get some background information on the anatomy and physiology of stress and how the stress response works. We need to know what we are up against!
The Stress Response
Think back to your high school science courses. You may remember that there are 2 main nervous systems in our bodies: the parasympathetic nervous system and the sympathetic nervous system.
The parasympathetic nervous system is our “Rest and Digest” nervous system. It regulates our unconscious actions at REST such as digestion, sexual arousal, urination/defecation, and constricting pupils. Think about the parasympathetic nervous system as being in charge when you are quietly reading in a dim room.
The sympathetic nervous system is our “Fight or Flight” nervous system. It regulates our unconscious actions under STRESS and does things like increasing heart rate, widening blood vessels going to muscles, widening airways, dilating pupils, and inhibiting digestion and sexual arousal. Think about the sympathetic nervous system as being in charge when you are running from a bear in the woods.
Once your sympathetic nervous system is activated (AKA when you see a bear in the woods), it activates your stress response through 3 main hormones: epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradrenaline), and cortisol. These hormones cause AROUSAL and ALERTNESS. Cortisol more specifically:
Increases blood sugar
Aids in metabolism (breakdown) of fat, protein, and carbohydrates
Suppresses the immune system
Decreases bone formation
Wakes us up in the morning
Decreases pain sensitivity
Helps with long-term memory
Cortisol helps sustain your body’s energy so that you can run from or fight the bear. In the short term, the stress response is wonderful; it helps us survive and respond quickly when we are under attack! The problem is what happens when the “bear” (i.e. your everyday life stressors) comes home every night, and this system is triggered over and over and over again. The stress response goes from being adaptive, or life-saving, to maladaptive, or health-damaging. In the long term, when the stress response becomes maladaptive, it can cause things like:
Weight gain
Fatigue
Anxiety
Depression
Headache
Poor digestion
Sleep problems
Heart disease
Cognitive impairment
And much more...
So that’s all lovely. Stress is a major contributor to all sorts of chronic diseases and it’s an unavoidable part of life?
Don’t worry, we’re going to go over some healthy coping strategies!
Stress Management Strategies:
Diet
Diet is one of the most foundational parts of naturopathic medicine and is very important to our health in general. Cortisol and blood sugar have an intimate relationship - remember: during stress, cortisol mobilizes glucose (sugar) into the bloodstream in reaction to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Hypoglycemia causes a release of cortisol. Therefore, to help manage our stress response, we want to avoid reactive hypoglycemia. Here are some tips to avoid reactive hypoglycemia:
Eat a consistent, whole-foods diet
Avoid skipping meals, especially breakfast
Eat, fat, fiber, and protein with every meal
Shoot for half of your plate in vegetables
Avoid simple carbohydrates and processed foods that can spike blood sugar
Another diet strategy that can help with chronic stress is avoiding caffeine. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that can exaggerate the stress response. It can amplify cortisol production many hours after ingestion, and these amplifications can persist with regular caffeine use.
A third diet strategy that can modulate the stress response is to make sure that you are eating foods high in B vitamins, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A. Deficiency in B vitamins can cause atrophy of the adrenal glands (the glands that make your stress hormones). The B vitamins play a major role in the production of adrenal hormones, especially in times of high stress.
Food Sources of B vitamins include:
Whole grains (brown rice, barley, millet)
Meat (red meat, poultry, fish)
Eggs and dairy products (milk, cheese)
Legumes (beans, lentils)
Seeds and nuts (sunflower seeds, almonds)
Dark, leafy vegetables (broccoli, spinach, kai lan)
Fruits (citrus fruits, avocados, bananas)
Vitamin C is an important cofactor for cortisol and sex hormone production. Biochemical cofactors like vitamin C are substances that help your enzymes perform their functions. Vitamin C can also help modulate cortisol release and blood pressure elevation in response to stress.
Food Sources of Vitamin C include:
Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower
Green and red peppers
Spinach, cabbage, turnip greens, and other leafy greens
Sweet and white potatoes
Tomatoes and tomato juice
Winter squash
Kiwi, citrus fruits, papaya
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and antioxidant that is essential to cortisol production. Even mild deficiencies of Vitamin A can cause significant blunting of cortisol production.
Food Sources of Vitamin A include:
Beef, Lamb, Goose, and Cod Liver
King Mackerel, Salmon, Trout, and Bluefin Tuna
Goat, Limburger, Cheddar, Camembert, and Roquefort Cheeses
Butter
Egg
Sweet Potato and Winter Squash
Kale, collards, and turnip greens
Carrot
Sweet Red Pepper
Swiss Chard, Romaine lettuce, and Spinach
Exercise
Exercise (or more precisely, movement) is an excellent stress management strategy. Exercise mobilizes your blood and pumps back oxygen, nutrients, proteins, etc. back to your brain so that you can make your neurotransmitters (chemicals that regulate your mood). Exercise, especially exercise outside, also helps modulate cortisol and makes us feel more connected to the world around us and to nature. Exercise is good for brain health, eye health, bone and joint health, heart health, mental health, the list goes on…
It doesn’t so much matter what you do, so long as you are moving your body! It is important that you find an activity that you ENJOY because otherwise, you won’t do it. So if you don’t like running, DON’T RUN. You can go for a walk, dance, do yoga, garden, or whatever makes you happy and gets you moving. Anything is better than nothing, even if you can only squeeze in a 10-minute walk every day. If you sit for long periods during the day, try to stand up and stretch or jog in place at least once an hour.
For those with chronic stress, I recommend against heavy or intense exercise. Even though exercise is good stress (eustress) it is still a stress on the body. If you are recovering or suffering from chronic stress, intense exercise compounds on what your mind and body have to process, recover from, and deal with. A good amount of exercise to shoot for is 30 minutes of light to moderate exercise 5+ days per week.
Sleep
Sleep is also very important in helping us manage stress. Sleep is when our bodies recover and regenerate from the rest of our lives. Sleep hygiene is a variety of different practices and habits that are necessary to have good nighttime sleep quality and full daytime alertness. Essentially, it refers to good sleep habits. Below are some basics of sleep hygiene [2]:
Sleep 8-9 hours per night
Establish a routine: retire to bed by 11pm and wake around the same time daily.
Turn off the TV, phone, and computer 45 minutes before bedtime as blue light decreases melatonin production.
Limit daytime naps to 30 minutes. Napping does not make up for inadequate nighttime sleep. However, a short nap of 20-30 minutes can help improve mood, alertness, and performance.
Avoid stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine close to bedtime. When it comes to alcohol, moderation is key. While alcohol is well known to help you fall asleep faster, too much close to bedtime can disrupt sleep in the second half of the night as the body begins to process the alcohol.
Make sure that the sleep environment is pleasant. Mattress and pillows should be comfortable. The bedroom should be cool – between 60 and 67 degrees – for optimal sleep. Consider using blackout curtains, eye shades, ear plugs, "white noise" machines, humidifiers, fans, and other devices that can make the bedroom more relaxing.
Relaxation and Life Enjoyment
Making time for self-care can also go a long way in helping to ease stress. Set aside time for yourself each day to do something that you enjoy, even if it is just for 2 minutes a day! Some of my favorite relaxation techniques include:
Yoga
Meditation
Deep breathing
A warm bath or shower
Massage
Calling up a friend
Getting involved in your community, social engagement
Hobbies
Laughter
Time in nature
Reading
Gratitude
Playing with a pet
Spending time with your family
Cranking up the tunes and dancing!
Choose an activity that is special to YOU. Ideally, your self-care/life enjoyment activities should be ritualistic and preventative of stress (i.e. part of your routine) vs. a reaction to a stressful event.
Professional Help
Finally, and potentially most importantly, seek help if you need it. Don’t let yourself get to a crisis state - you do not have to be overwhelmed or burned out to seek help. Having input from a professional when you are doing really well can help optimize your health and prevent issues in the future. You might consider trying psychotherapy or other professional help. It should be noted that it is important that you like your healthcare provider, especially if they are your counselor/therapist. If you don’t know where to start, getting a referral from someone you trust is often better than trial and error.
I have a passion for helping patients with stress management and other mental health conditions. I completed a year-long rotation in naturopathic mental health in conjunction with the Pacific University of Oregon’s Psychology & Comprehensive Health Clinic and graduated with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Adler Graduate School. If I can’t treat your specific issue, I will refer you to someone that can!
Questions? Give me a call at (952) 377-8450 or shoot me an email at drjones@katherinejonesnd.com
Sources:
Baum, A. (1990). "Stress, Intrusive Imagery, and Chronic Distress," Health Psychology, Vol. 6, pp. 653-675.
National Sleep Foundation. “What is sleep hygiene?”. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/sleep-hygiene
