04/05/2020
Let's Talk About Stress Baby!
What happens to our bodies when we have or perceive stress. Our Autonomic Nervous System (think Automatic) controls everything our body does that we don't have to think about. Our heart rate, blood sugar, blood pressure, breathing, digestion and much more. It has 2 parts: the Sympathetic "Fight or Flight" and the Parasympathetic "Rest and Digest"
When we have a stress (real or perceived) our Sympathetic kicks it. It prepares our body to "fight or flee", our situation. Adrenaline and cortisol is released. Our blood sugar goes up to supply energy to our muscles, our insulin effect goes down so that sugar is available for our muscles, our blood pressure goes up, our heart rate goes up, our breathing increases,and our digestion stops.
After the stress has stopped, our Parasympathetic ramps up.
Our Vagus nerve, uses Acetylcholine to start bringing the body back to normal. Our digestion starts, our blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar and breathing start to go back to normal. Our parasympathetic is very important to maintain balance in our body.
What happens when the stress(real or perceived) doesn't stop? We stay in a "fight or flight" response. The increased cortisol, lowers our immune function and keeps our blood sugar high. Our heart rate, breathing and blood pressure stay slightly elevated.
How can we stop this cycle in our current situation? We have real stress right now, physical, emotional, financial and psychological.
1. Deep belly breaths, gargling, humming in your throat all help to activate the Vagus Nerve. Eat foods that will give your body the building blocks for Acetylcholine like broccoli, fish, eggs, beef liver, lecithin and sunflower seeds. Phosphatidylcholine can be taken as a supplement.
2. Try not to use sugar to manage stress. Carb craving is a sign of low serotonin, when we eat carbs it actually increase production of serotonin. But raises our blood sugar. Focus on foods that have tryptophan and B vitamins, like poultry, shrimp, nuts and seeds and legumes. Supplements like 5-HTP and B-complex also help.
3. Try not to use alcohol to manage stress. Alcohol actually binds to GABA receptors. GABA is our most calming neurotransmitter, so you may think this is a good thing to bind to those sites. But it has a rebound effect. By binding to those receptors it doesn't allow GABA to bind. The body doesn't think it needs GABA so it slows down production.
Once the alcohol leaves, the anxiety returns stronger than before and a vicious cycle begins. Foods that contains GABA
Cherry tomatoes, kefir, shrimp, and oolong tea. There are also GABA supplements that can help extreme anxiety.
4. Exercise. It helps to use up some of those stress hormones. But do not do intensive exercise during times of high stress, which can cause an increase in cortisol.
5. Sometimes we are more afraid of our feeling of fear than the actual situation. We start to imagine what could happen and what would we do. I know when I do this I can feel my heart rate increase immediately. Candace Pert, In Molecules of Emotion found that our thoughts change our neurotransmitters faster than our nervous system. When this happens, Practice mindfulness. Become aware of your surroundings and Look for 5 different colors. Feel 4 different textures. Listen to 3 different sounds. Smell 2 different scents
6. Argue with Automatic Negative Thoughts Dr. Daniel Amen has great resources online for this.
7. Last but not least, remind yourself of how you have survived things in your past that you didn't think you would get through. Remind yourself of all the things that you thought for sure would happen that didn't. Remind yourself that your thoughts are just that, thoughts. They do not fortune tell, they do not always tell the truth, they are the rambling of a stressed out reactive brain. Make a decision to decide what thoughts you will have today.
Pray, meditate and breath. As my good friend Christopher Robin said to Pooh.
Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think
