STRESS and Effects On Your Body
This past Sunday I went to my first ever Bridal Expo. I was offering stress tests to help people determine how stress was affecting them. The results were dramatic, if not surprising. You might guess that brides-to-be are a pretty stressed bunch and you would be right. But these ladies almost broke my meter. At least 50% of them were off the charts; they’re bodies were reacting to their wedding stress by going into complete fight or flight mode. Interestingly, the mothers-of-the-brides all had the opposite reading. They were all in adrenal fatigue, or burn-out. So in honor of my brides (and their moms), I wanted to write today about exactly what stress is and how it shows up as physical symptoms.
Put simply, stress is your body’s response to any demand placed on it. The stress can be physical (pain, injury, hunger) or emotional/mental (divorce, job stress, loss of a loved one, planning a wedding). Your body doesn’t make too much of a distinction between different types of stress. As soon as you undergo stress, a series of reactions begin that are coordinated by your adrenal glands. The adrenal glands are triangular glands that sit on top of the kidneys. These small glands are in charge of your fight-or-flight stress response, which they control by secreting a number of different hormones including adrenaline and cortisol. While a little bit of stress was supposed to be protective (it would increase the chance you could run away from the tiger chasing you), long term stress can be very destructive because your body never gets a chance to recover back to its normal state. The effects of chronic stress include weight gain that tends to focus in the mid-section and belly, increased blood sugar, increased blood pressure and heart-rate, insomnia, decreased immune function, brittle bones, fatigue, allergic responses, and cravings for salty or sweet foods. Left unchecked, these will develop into full blown disease states of diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, and will probably cause your adrenals to burn out to the point where they can’t produce normal amounts of hormones. This point of “adrenal fatigue” is where most of the mothers-of-the-brides were.
Unfortunately, there’s no magic pill to reverse the effects. Anti-anxiety medication and sedatives have a host of unwanted side effects and don’t actually repair your adrenal glands. I’ve found the best prescription to heal your adrenals is a combination of diet, the right exercise for your body, incorporating stress relief techniques, and using certain supplements to help support your body while dealing with stress. If you’re curious how stress is affecting you, please contact the office for a FREE evaluation and consultation. And brides, fight the urge to become a bridezilla! It will do you more harm in the long run.
In health,
Dr. Goldberg, D.C.
