We have all had moments of stress in our lives. With the hectic pace of life these days, difficult personal or family situations, and the challenge of finding time for quality exercise and self-care, it would be very rare not to have some sort of stress.
The thing is, every one of these stressful situations has the potential to create a lasting negative effect on our quality of life. And we’re not just taking about crazy, emergency-level situations because, no matter the stressor, the body seems to react with a similar hormonal response; whether you are being chased by a bear or stuck at a red light when you are late for work.
Those two examples demonstrate emotional stress, but it’s important to know there are other forms of stress that can have an equivalent effect on your health.
In this article we’re going to dive into the 3 main types of stress and what you can do to reduce the effect they have on your life.
The Three Main Types of Stress:
There are three main types of stress: Mental/Emotional, Biochemical and Physical.
Mental/emotional stress:
This is probably the most common form of stress people think of when they hear the word “stress.”
Changes in life events are major stressors that we typically do not give enough weight. Moving, changing jobs, death of a loved one, etc. are all stress responses that have similar effects in our bodies.
Biochemical stress:
This is how our body responds to the things we put into and onto it.
Look at a Standard American Diet. This is the most common style of nutrition in our society and is depleted of nutrients and loaded with empty carbohydrates, refined oils and sugars. This triggers inflammatory cascades in the body, which the body perceives as injury, or stress, and responds accordingly.
Physical stressors:
These can be postural, like sitting at a desk all day, chronic pain, and/or acute traumas and infections. Many of us are dealing with chronic pain, chalking it up to “getting old” or that bad knees, backs, etc “run in the family.” The reality of pain is that it elicits a very similar response hormonally in the body as all other stressors.
Luckily for all of us, there are many ways you can reduce or eliminate stress from our lives.
3 steps to reduce stress:
Here are 3 simple steps you can take to reduce the stress in your life.
Practice mindfulness:
This can be in the form of breathing exercises, meditation or just slowing down when you eat a meal.
Eat a whole food diet:
Removing refined oils, sugars, grains and dairy products from the diet will reduce the overall inflammatory load on your system. Ask yourself before eating, “why am I eating this?” Think of eating for your health rather than just for pleasure. Find a balance between pleasure and positive health benefit with your food choices.
Take care of your body:
Daily stretching and exercise is imperative for stress reduction. Most people think of exercise as being “fit” or burning fat, but, the reality is that the hormonal response you achieve when exercising can mitigate our stress response and reduce the impact it has on our overall health.
Conclusion:
Stress is a huge topic but that doesn’t mean we need to get stressed out trying to learn everything about it! Making even the simplest change is enough to see a difference in your life.
Not getting any exercise? Park a few rows farther away in the parking lot so you can get in extra steps. Challenged with eating correctly? Replace a single item in your diet with something healthier. No time to meditate? Take 10 seconds before eating to for a couple deep breaths.
Change does not need to be drastic. Even becoming aware of the stressors impacting your life and making the tiniest changes can help a lot. Then, when you feel ready, you can take the next step forward. Give it a few months and you may even see yourself living a completely new lifestyle.
-Written by our Lead Chiropractor in Woodstock, Dr. Chris Allin
Read here for 3 more powerful habit to create a healthy mind and body.
