Life in our modern society is stressful - no doubt about it.
We have so many expectations to live up to: Have a successful career and being financially stable, a happy family life, a great relationship, many friends and a great-looking, fit body.
Nobody lives a perfect life, and although we know that deep down, we still can't stop comparing ourselves to others and trying to reach that unrealistic style of living that the media proposes to us.
And what happens to people when they can't achieve what they want or can't live up to their goals? They stress themselves.
Yes, I say it like that purposely: Stress is something we burden ourselves with.
It's a construct of our own mind.
Of course, life always has some difficult situations or problems we need to face.
But HOW we act in those situations and HOW we counter those problems is entirely up to us.
Being stressed constantly doesn't only take a toll on your mind - it also has a lot of negative effects on your body and physical health.
What happens in our body when we feel stressed?
Stress triggers our fight-or-flight-response.
Our ancestors used to be stressed when they were facing a wild animal and had to fight for their survival.
That's why stress increases our heart rate and blood pressure, and tenses our muscles: We get ready to run away or fight, if we have to!
But nowadays, stressful situations are a lot different for us.
When we feel stressed, our adrenal glands are releasing Cortisol - the "Stress Hormone".
Apart from the effects on our heart rate and blood pressure, this is also increasing our risk for a stroke: cortisol causes the inner linings of your blood vessels to perform poorly, which leads to atherosclerosis, a build up amount of cholesterol that clogs our arteries.
Chronic stress makes you more likely to gain weight.
The stress hormone Cortisol increases your appetite - especially for comfort foods and anything rich in carbs.
Binge eating is also a distraction for many people, they eat delicious (unhealthy) foods because it makes them temporarily feel better and cope with the stress.
Also, when you're stressed you rarely eat a nutritious diet. Many people just eat whatever they can get quickly, and that's often processed food or junk food.
These factors together make a stressed person very prone to weight gain.
Stress also affects our bowel system.
As you might have noticed already, we often have a strange feeling in our gut when we're scared or very stressed.
It's almost a feeling as if you were going to through up.
That's because our brain is directly connected to our gut - I have actually mentioned this in a previous post already.
When we're feeling stressed, our autonomic nervous system is being activated.
Our brain communicates the stress to our intestinal nervous system, which causes bowel problems, and also makes heartburn more likely to appear.
The worst effect of chronic stress is probably that it can seriously affect your aging process.
To understand this, we have to look at our Telomeres - these are the ends of chromosomes, similar to the plastic tops on your shoe laces.
They prevent chromosomal fraying, and get shorter as we age.
Once they have reached a certain level of length (or shortness, shall I say) they can't shorten any more and the cells die.
Several studies have shown that stress shortens the telomeres, and therefore ultimately makes us age quicker.
Other negative effects of stress on our body include hair loss, insomnia, acne, headaches (due to increased muscle tension in the neck area) and a weakened immune system which makes you more prone to diseases as well as slows down the healing process.
As you can see, stress has countless negative effects on our physical and mental health. But like I have mentioned above - stress is a product of your own mind.
Most people stress way too much about something they could approach differently - and then handle the problem more successfully.
I always like to remind myself: There is no stress. There are only Solutions.
© Sirwinchester