Feeling Stressed? Here’s Some Help!

Lets face it, we all get stressed out at some point in our lives; but when stress is a regular occurrence it can have a toll on our body and health. When we get stressed out our body goes into fight or flight response. When this happens our body releases hormones like adrenalin and cortical ( can contribute to weight gain), which speed up our heart and slows down digestion. Stress also makes our pupils dilates, breathing becomes rapid, we become insensitive to pain, blood rushes to the muscle getting ready to flight ( run), sweat glands increase secretion ( you start sweating more), and urinary tract organs decrease activity ( you have to urinate less). Being stressed can also inhibit our ability to think clearly which may cause us to do things that we may not normally do or say. Being stressed also effects all the people around you.

Stress can cause health problems such as : Hypertension, Depression, Diabetes, Obesity, Obsessive- compulsive or anxiety disorder, Hair loss, Heart disease, Hyperthyroidism, Sexual dysfunction, Tooth and gum disease, Ulcers, etc.

So now that we know what stress is, how can we help ourselves feel less stressed? First let me just say that one technique may not work for everyone, you’ll have to do a trial and error type thing to find what works for you, but here are some suggestions that may work.

• If your stress is financial make a budget and stick to it. Think about what is really a need and what is a want and remember the excitement of material things only last a short while.
• Take a hot bath
• Exercise (this is what I do and it makes me feel so much better afterward)
• Keep a journal (write your thoughts done before bed if you are having trouble sleeping due to stress)
• Make sure you get enough sleep
• Draw
• Talk to a friend or family member
• Give yourself a manicure or pedicure
• Give yourself a facial
• Work on a hobby
• Listen to music
• Dance
• Watch a comedy
• Read the comedy section of the paper
• Color
• Do a crossword/ word search
• Play a game of solitaire
• Make sure you are eating a healthy diet and drinking plenty of pure water.

Here are some foods that may cause you to become stressed and that you will want to avoid:

• Caffeine- causes stress by stimulating the central nervous system
• Alcohol- can disrupt sleep, cause malfunctioning and can cause problems with family, friends and co-workers which can lead to more stress.
• Sugar- quickly raises energy for a short-period of time and then causes a fall in the energy level, making you tried and irritable.

Foods that reduce stress:

• Proteins- maintains the body’s muscles and strengthens them which helps fight stress
• Carbohydrates ( but not to many because it can increase the glucose levels in the blood)- unrefined form increase positive energy levels which helps combat stress.
• Potassium- helps prevent high blood pressure
• Iron- helps transport oxygen to the blood. Iron deficiency can lead to poor intellectual capacity which weakens the body’s stress response level.

~written by Ann Moon