Too much stress, or the wrong kind, can harm our health.
Yet stress can also be a positive force in our lives, keeping us focused, alert, and at the top of our game.
It all depends what kind of stress it is, how prepared we are to meet it — and how we view it.
+++
People often think of stress as a dangerous and deadly thing.
Yet stress is simply a normal physiological response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your equilibrium in some way.
When you sense danger — physical, mental or emotional — your defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight or flight” response, aka the stress response.
The stress response is your body’s way of protecting you.
When working properly, the stress response helps you stay focused, energetic and alert. In emergency situations, stress can save your life or that of others — giving you the extra strength to lift a car off your child, or spurring you to slam the brakes to avoid an accident.
The stress response also helps you rise to meet challenges. Stress keeps you sharp during a presentation at work, increases your concentration when you need it most, or drives you to study for an exam when you’d rather be out with your friends.
But beyond a certain point, stress stops helping and starts damaging your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life.
Grab a piece of paper and write down all the things in your average day that could possibly be a stress on your body, mind, and emotions.
We’d guess your list probably looks something like this:
If you’re like most people, you’re a camel carrying a big load of straw with these combined life stresses.
Now imagine what could happen if you start piling on more straw with worrying about your body image, with physical stress from your workouts, or with restricting your food intake. Eventually… snap.
The pile of straw — the cumulative total of all the stuff in your life that causes physical, mental, and/or emotional stress — is known as your allostatic load.
Some stress is good stress (also called eustress). Good stress pushes you out of your comfort zone, but in a good way. Good stress helps you learn, grow, and get stronger.
For example, riding a roller coaster is fun and exciting. It lasts a short time, and you feel exhilarated afterwards. (That is, if you like roller coasters.)
Exercise can be another form of good stress. You feel a little uncomfortable but then you feel good, and after an hour or so, you’re done.
Good stress:
But let’s say you ride that roller coaster constantly, or lift weights 4 hours a day, every day. Now it doesn’t seem so fun, does it?
This is bad stress, or distress.
Bad stress:
One key feature that distinguishes good from bad stress is how well the stressor matches your ability to recover from it.
Since stress affects the mind, body, and behavior in many ways, everyone experiences stress differently.
Each of us has a unique “recovery zone”, whether that’s physical or psychological, and our recovery zone depends on several factors.
Just as important as the stress itself is how you perceive and respond to it.
Some people go with the flow and can adapt well to what others would perceive as highly stressful events. Other people crumble at even the slightest challenge or frustration they encounter.
There are many things that affect our tolerance to stress, such as:
Generally, the “recovery zone” looks like this:
If the stressor is too low — not enough to cause a reaction — then nothing will happen. You’ll go along the same as before, no better or worse.
If the stressor is too high — too strong, and/or lasts too long, outpacing your recovery ability — then you’ll eventually break down.
If the stressor is within your recovery zone — neither too much nor too little, and doesn’t last too long — then you’ll recover from it and get better. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!
We want enough “good stress” to keep a fire under our butts, but not so much that we break down and burn out.
(This applies to our own exercise and nutrition as well as our family lives and overall workload.)
That optimum zone depends on your allostatic load, as well as how you perceive and respond to it. Remember, this is your individual stress zone — nobody else’s.
And remember that the allostatic load is everything: mental, physical, emotional: that email from the boss… your hangnail… the weird paint smell in your office… your shockingly high phone bill… everything goes on to the “stress pile”. So consider this holistically.
If your existing pile of straw is already heavy, then it’ll take only a few more straws to break you. And if you view your pile of straw as being too large and heavy, regardless of its actual size, then again it will only take a few more straws to break you.
Thus to manage stress, we must do two things:
To lead a healthy, productive, and fulfilling life, you must manage your allostatic load.
Here are some activities you can do immediately to boost your body’s happy chemicals, activate your “rest and digest” nervous system, and start building your stress resilience.
In other words, think of de-stressing as purposefully chasing relaxation.
By the way, some recreational activities don’t count, such as:
Electronic stimulation, while fun, is still stimulation. So, anything involving a screen is out.
Lets dig a little deeper into a few of these.
Meditation is one of the best stress-relievers.
Research on regular meditation shows how incredibly restorative it is, as it:
Being chronically over-stressed can negatively rewire your brain, increasing your risk for anxiety and depression.
Fortunately, meditation is like magic. When done regularly, it can rewire your brain in the opposite direction, to do all kinds of awesome stuff.
For example, meditation can contribute to:
So how do you actually go about doing it?
While people sometimes think of meditation as an arcane practice best suited to adherents of the Hare Krishna sect, it’s actually pretty easy to do, and you don’t have to look or act like an aging hippie to benefit from it.
That’s it. Pretty easy right?
You already know that drinking green tea has tons of health benefits. At PN we have been singing its praises for years. And now you can add one more benefit to that list.
A large study in Japan found that regularly drinking green tea lowered the stress levels of those found to have high levels of psychological stress. This is thought to be due to L-theanine, a non-protein amino acid in green tea (and, to an extent, in other teas).
L-theanine is a proven stress reducer and calming agent. It inhibits cortisol, which our body releases in response to stress, and also lowers your blood pressure and heart rate as it chills out your sympathetic nervous system. And it causes all of these actions in as little as 30 to 40 minutes after consumption.
L-theanine may even change your brain function. During most of your waking hours, your brain is producing beta brain waves, which can affect concentration and focus. Green tea consumption will actually stimulate your brain to emit alpha brain waves instead, creating a state of deep relaxation and mental alertness, similar to what you can achieve through meditation.
This may occur because L-theanine is involved in the formation of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma amino butyric acid (GABA). GABA influences the levels of two other neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin, producing the key relaxation effect.
Sipping a few cups of tea throughout the day can help to lower stress, increase focus (even more effectively than coffee), suppress appetite and improve your health. Not too bad.
Regular exercise is a great tool to help you handle stress. Exercise often allows you to blow off steam, and exercising regularly can boost your stress-tolerance.
However, remember that all stress fits in one bucket — i.e. the allostatic load. If you have a super-stressed out life, training your ass off 6 times a week is only contributing to that, as training stress goes in the bucket too.
Instead, balance your exercise approach. It’s not all about high-intensity, high-volume lifting combined with high-intensity intervals all the time. Training intensely as your sole approach to exercise will continually jack up your sympathetic nervous system and compound your stress symptoms.
Instead, do a mix of intense weight training, some intense conditioning, and plenty of restorative exercise — exercise that leaves you feeling more refreshed and invigorated after doing it, not drained and exhausted. This would include activities like:
This exercise is meant to stimulate some blood flow, get you outside if possible (because sunshine and nature are proven to improve mood and lower stress), burn a few calories, and stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system.
Your parasympathetic nervous system is known as the “rest and digest” system (as opposed to the “fight or flight” sympathetic nervous system). Engaging your parasympathetic nervous system is key to lowering your stress.
There’s nothing wrong with kicking butt in the gym, but don’t let your only form of exercise be balls-to-the-wall high intensity training, especially if you already lead a stressful lifestyle.
Allow yourself some quiet and gentle exercise: You’ll lower stress, improve recovery, and — as a side benefit — you’ll also improve your intense lifting.
Don’t get stressed out by trying to incorporate all these tips. (Ha, ha.) Just focus on two key points:
To stay healthy, lean, and fit, you must manage this load. Find the strategies that work best for you, and practice them on a regular basis. And keep in mind that what works best for you at this particular stage of your life may not work for you in other stages. Be willing to evolve your strategies as your life, and allostatic load, evolve.
View stress as a challenge or an interesting puzzle to solve. Roll with the punches and have a Plan B (or C, or D). Stay open, flexible, and creative. This attitude helps you handle your allostatic load better, and mitigate the potential harm it could cause you.
jQuery(document).ready(function(){
jQuery(“#references_link”).click(function(){
jQuery(“#references_holder”).show();
jQuery(“#references_link”).parent().hide();
});
});
Click here to view the information sources referenced in this article.
Beilock, Sian. Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting it Right When You Have to. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.
Bonfiglio, Juan José, et al. The Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Network and the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms Involved. Neuroendocrinology 94 (2011):12–20. DOI: 10.1159/000328226
Bremner, J. Douglas. Does Stress Damage the Brain? Understanding Trauma-Related Disorders From a Mind-Body Perspective. New York: W.W.Norton, 2005.
Chen WQ, et al. Protective effects of green tea polyphenols on cognitive impairments induced by psychological stress in rats. Behav Brain Res. 2009 Aug 24;202(1):71-6.
Daitch, Carolyn. Anxiety Disorders: The Go-to Guide for Clients and Therapists. New York: W.W.Norton, 2011.
Davidson, Richard J.; Kabat-Zinn J, Schumacher J, Rosenkranz M, Muller D, Santorelli SF, Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine July/August 2003 vol. 65 no. 4 564-570
Emerson, David, and Elizabeth Hopper. Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga: Reclaiming Your Body. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2011.
Fernandez-Rodriguez, Eva, Paul M. Stewart & Mark S. Cooper. The pituitary–adrenal axis and body composition. Pituitary 12 (2009):105–115 DOI 10.1007/s11102-008-0098-2
Gallwey, Timothy, Edd Hanzelik, and John Horton. The Inner Game of Stress: Outsmart Life’s Challenges and Fulfill Your Potential. New York: Random House, 2009.
Groeneweg, Femke L., et al. Rapid non-genomic effects of corticosteroids and their role in the central stress response. Journal of Endocrinology (2011) 209, 153–167.
Grossman, P., et al. (2004). “Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefitsA meta-analysis”. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 57 (1): 35–43.
Herman, J.P. et al. Neural regulation of the stress response: glucocorticoid feedback mechanisms. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research (2012) 45: 292-298.
Juneja LR, Chu D-C, Okubo T, et al. L-theanine a unique amino acid of green tea and its relaxation effect in humans. Trends Food Sci Tech. 1999; 10:199-204.
Kerr, Catherine, et al. NeuroReport 16: 1893-1897.
Keller A, Litzelman K, Wisk LE, et al. Does the perception that stress affects health matter? The association with health and mortality. Health Psychol. 2012 Sep;31(5):677-84
Lazar SW, et al. (May 2000). “Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation”.NeuroReport 11 (7): 1581–5.
Mason R. 200 mg of Zen; L-theanine boosts alpha waves, promotes alert relaxation. Alternative & Complementary Therapies. 2001,April; 7:91-95.
McEwen, Bruce S. Brain on stress: How the social environment gets under the skin. PNAS | October 16, 2012 | vol. 109 | suppl. 2: 17180–17185.
Palmer, AC. “Nutritionally Mediated Programming of the Developing Immune System.” Adv Nutr 2, no. 5 (2011): 377-95.
Peng CK, Mietus JE, Liu Y, et al. (July 1999). “Exaggerated heart rate oscillations during two meditation techniques”. Int. J. Cardiol. 70 (2): 101–7.
Spijker, A.T. and E.F.C. van Rossum. Glucocorticoid Sensitivity in Mood Disorders. Neuroendocrinology 2012;95:179–186. DOI: 10.1159/000329846
Steptoe A, et al. The effects of tea on psychophysiological stress responsivity and post-stress recovery: a randomised double-blind trial. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007 Jan;190(1):81-9.
Tang, Yi-Yuan, et al. Short-term meditation induces white matter changes in the anterior cingulate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2010.
Urbanowski F, et al. (July–August 2003). “Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation”. Psychosomatic Medicine 65 (4): 564–570.
Valdés, Manuel, et al. Increased glutamate/glutamine compounds in the brains of patients with fibromyalgia: A magnetic resonance spectroscopy study. Arthritis & Rheumatism, 62 (2010): 1829–1836. doi: 10.1002/art.27430
Venkatesh S, Raju TR, Shivani Y, Tompkins G, Meti BL (April 1997). “A study of structure of phenomenology of consciousness in meditative and non-meditative states”. Indian J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 41(2): 149–53.
Yehuda, Rachel and Jonathan Seckl. Minireview: Stress-Related Psychiatric Disorders with Low Cortisol Levels: A Metabolic Hypothesis. Endocrinology, December 2011, 152(12):4496–4503.
Zunszain, Patricia A., et al. Glucocorticoids, cytokines and brain abnormalities in depression. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 35 no.3 (April 2011): 722-729.
Kraly, F. Scott. The Unwell Brain: Understanding the Psychobiology of Mental Health. New York: W.W.Norton & Co., 2009.
Loehr, James. Stress for Success: The Proven Program for Transforming Stress Into Positive Energy At Work. New York: Times Books, 1997.
Maté, Gabor. When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2011.
Wicks, Robert J. Bounce: Living the Resilient Life. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Learning how to help clients manage stress, build resilience, and optimize sleep and recovery can be deeply transformative—for both of you.
It helps clients get “unstuck” and makes everything else easier—whether they want to eat better, move more, lose weight, or reclaim their health.
And for coaches: It gives you a rarified skill that will set you apart as an elite change maker.
The brand-new PN Level 1 Sleep, Stress Management, and Recovery Coaching Certification will show you how.
Want to know more?
The post SSR: Good stress, bad stress: Finding your sweet spot appeared first on Precision Nutrition.
Source: Health1