Strategies for Managing Stress
Culminating our series on stress, allostatic load, and the body’s response to stressors, we want to leave you with practical strategies for reducing stress and overall allostatic burden on the body. Some of these points you may not consider as contributing to your stress level, but as we’ve studied allostatic load together, we understand that there are many factors that play into the body’s stress burden.
Prioritize Quality Sleep
Sleep is the most important nutrient for the body. This is the time your body needs to rest and repair. In fact, not obtaining consistent quality sleep is associated with impaired immune function, cognitive decline, obesity and trouble managing weight, systemic inflammation, decreased mental health, and increased overall disease risk.
If you are waking up in the middle of the night and are unable to fall back asleep, it is likely caused by blood sugar dysregulation. When blood sugar drops in the middle of the night, adrenaline is released by the body to compensate. This wakes you up and hinders your ability to fall back asleep.
Strategies for achieving restorative sleep:
Be mindful of your stress levels during the day. Functioning in a hyper-arousal state during the day does not foster quality, peaceful sleep at night.
Turn off screens about two hours before sleep.
Consider wearing blue light blocking glasses 2 hours before sleep if you are exposed to artificial light in that time frame.
Sleep in a completely dark environment. Use black out curtains, if needed.
Do not allow electronics in your sleeping environment. These include cellphones, computers, TVs, LED alarm clocks, etc.
Turn off your Wi-Fi at night as EMFs disrupt sleep and overall health.
Eat a Non-inflammatory, Nutrient Dense Diet
Consuming nutrient poor food causes inflammation and is an overall stressor to the body. Food is medicine; so finding the correct diet for your body is an important piece in managing allostatic load.
Identify and eliminate food sensitivities with your doctor.
Identify and correct nutrient deficiencies.
Avoid processed and refined food like products that are generally found in the center aisles of the grocery store.
Try to eat or shop from the Clean15 and Dirty Dozen produce lists to avoid the highest levels of pesticides and herbicides.
Avoid conventionally raised meats, eggs, and dairy products as they are high in exogenous hormones, antibiotics, and other undesired components.
Exercise
Exercise releases the feel good neurotransmitters in the brain called endorphins. Endorphins act upon the opiate receptors in the brain and initiate a positive feeling in the body, therefore reducing stress.
Exercise, particularly high intensity interval training (HIIT), also increases brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) within the brain. BDNF helps the brain to develop new connections, repair failing brain cells, and protect healthy brain cells. Higher BDNF levels could be considered a natural antidepressant. Likewise, lower levels of BDNF are associated with depression, mood disorders, and neurocognitive decline.
When planning how to move your body for greater health, it is important to consider what you enjoy doing. Exercise can be, and should be, fun! Do you thrive in a group setting? Do you enjoy being outdoors? Playing organized sports? Getting it done from home? The most important factor in a sustainable fitness program is that you adhere to it for long term results. Fitness is journey that must be viewed as a marathon rather than a sprint.
Some inspiration for physical fitness:
High intensity interval training (HIIT)
Strength training
CrossFit
Walking/jogging
Dance & barre
Hiking
Yoga
Tai qi & qi gong
Intramural and recreational sports programs
Fitness Blender is a great resource for free at-home workouts
One-Minute Workout is a fantastic read to understand the physiology of HIIT; and, of course, to get results in a short amount of time!
Reduce the Toxic Load
As discussed in our blog on allostatic load, internal and external environmental toxins can contribute to stress and overall allostatic load.
To reduce the body’s toxic load:
Scrutinize personal care and household cleaning products.
Drink clean water by using a Berkey water filter or other high quality system.
Identify and clear infections such as candida, Lyme, mold, viruses, etc. with a functional medicine practitioner.
Determine and remove heavy metal exposures such as amalgam fillings, cigarette smoking, air and water pollution, cookware, medications, etc. Keep in mind that rice is a significant source of arsenic exposure. Consuming fish such as shark, swordfish, tilefish and king mackerel can increase exposure to mercury.
Reduce the Stress You Can Control
Say “no”. It is important to be mindful of your limits so you do not take on commitments you can’t handle.
Avoid people who stress you out. This may sound harsh, but limiting time with individuals who are takers and not givers may be helpful in reducing stress levels.
Limit your exposure to news. The reality is, we have a choice in what we are exposed to. Use news outlets and social media as a tool that you control, not allowing it to control you. Hide, unfollow, or do not visit social media accounts or news that are not life-giving for you. Choose to silence the noise.
Have realistic expectations on yourself. In preparation for the day ahead, plan out your top priorities; this can be done the night before or in the morning to start the day. Drop unimportant tasks to the bottom of the list. Better yet, cross them off entirely. The world will go on.
Mitigate the Impacts of Stress You Can’t Control
Take part in regular mindfulness and/or prayer. At their core, mindfulness and prayer are the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something. While we believe practicing mindfulness and/or prayer should be a lifestyle, it can fall into a stress management category.
Cultivating life-giving relationships and social support.
Expressing gratitude for the gifts in your life. Gratitude radically shifts our physiology for the better. Focusing on the gifts we have been given calms the body, lowers inflammation, improves mood, benefits the heart, improves sleep, increases blood flow to the hypothalamus, optimizes dopamine levels in the brain, and rewires brain pathways towards positivity.
Developing a sense of purpose. Identifying and acting upon what fuels you can have profound impacts on not only your stress levels, but overall quality of life.
Manage your time appropriately. Mismanagement of time is a significant contributor to increased stress.
Consider Supplementing with Adaptogenic Herbs
A class of herbs that helps the body respond to stress are called adaptogens. Holy basil, ashwagandha, ginseng, maca, and rhodiola are some of the adaptogenic herbs we use at the clinic. Generally speaking, these herbs help support proper circadian rhythm and cortisol levels, hypothalamic and pituitary function (HPTA axis), and neurotransmitter regulation.
Alternate Nostril Breathing
Check out our YouTube video on alternate nostril breathing to reduce stress. Overtime, practicing this technique for 3-5 minutes a day can have significant benefit on the body’s stress physiology and tone the parasympathetic (rest and digest state) nervous system.
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