More people every day experience stress as a constant factor in their lives. Stress creates a very unpleasant feeling, but constant stress has also devastating effects on the body. It is important to reduce stressful factors in your live to limit harm to our body but there are a few other factors that can help reduce the damage of stress.

What is stress?

Stress is our response to the perceived relationship between the demands on us and our ability to cope. It is a reaction to situations and circumstances.

Sources of stress

• Psychological – examples are: emotional strain, anxiety, depression, time pressure, frustration, excitement, anger, fear, perfectionism, overwhelming work load, feeling out of control or unfulfilled.
• Social – Bereavement, redundancy, new job, trauma, accidents, shift work, moving home, pregnancy, being struck in traffic
• Nutritional – Sugar, alcohol, tea, coffee, chocolate, cola, cigarettes, allergies

Increased demands

When stress builds up, you become more susceptible to physical illness, behavioural and emotional problems. Stress puts increased demands on the heart, blood vessels, skin, muscles, digestive system and many other parts of the body.

Adrenal Glands

Stress makes the adrenal glands work harder. Prolonged stress overworks and fatigues the adrenals so that they are less able to cope with demands upon them. You might start to catch infections and find them difficult to shift. You may feel exhausted. During stress the body uses up vitamins B5 and B6, vitamin C, zinc and magnesium. These are all needed to produce the adrenal hormones. Therefore it is so very important that your diet is rich in foods containing these essential nutrients.

• Vitamin B5 is found in wholegrains, salmon, broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, liver and seet potato.
• Vitamin B6 is found in peppers, garlic, asparagus, wholegrains, legumes, bananas, nuts, seeds, potatoes and green leafy vegetables.
• Magnesium is found in peppers broccoli, oranges, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, brussel sprouts and parsely
• Zinc is found in lean meat, fish, spinach, pumpkin seeds, wholemeal bread, pulses and shellfish

Tips for reducing stress

• Reduce or even better eliminate caffeine (like coffee, tea, cola, chocolate) as this stimulates production of the adrenal hormones adrenaline and cortisol.
• Cut out or reduce the intake of alcohol. It destroys the nutrients that your body needs to combat stress and produces chemical stress on the body.
• Cut out refined carbohydrates (white bread, pasta and rice, cakes, biscuits, processed food). These cause problems with blood sugar control which leads to impaired mental function and fatigue.
• Eat regular planned meals in a relaxed environment. Make sure your get away from your desk at work and take at least 15 minutes to eat your meal.
• Identify food allergies and eliminate them from your diet. These contribut to chronic fatigue
• Ensure that you exercise regularly. A minimum of 20 minutes three times a week that leaves you feeling slightly out of breath.

Relaxation

If you do suffer from stress it is important to build some form of relaxation into your day, to give your body some respite from the effects of the stress hormones .

Try to incorporate some of the following ideas into your week

• Spend 30 minutes every evening before you go to bed reading or listening to some calming music.
• Buy or download a relaxation or guided meditation tape. These are great for inducing sleep.
• Have a regular massage. Not only is massage relaxing, it also helps remove toxins from your body.
• Add a few drops of lavender oil to a warm bath before bedtime. Lavender is renowned for its calming properties.
• Take up yoga, pilates, tai chi or some other form of relaxation class.

Practice deep breathing excercises for ten minutes every day

1. Sit or lie comfortably, wearing loose garments.
2. Put one hand on your chest and one on your stomach.
3. Slowly inhale through your nose or pursed lips (to slow down the intake of breath).
4. As you inhale, feel your stomach expand with your hand. If your chest expands focus on breathing with your diaphragm.
5. Slowly exhale through pursed lips to regulate the releases of air. Rest and repeat.

Time Management

• Set priorities
• Organise your day
• Delegate as much as possible
• Tackle tough jobs first
• Minimise meeting times
• Avoid putting things off
• Don’t be a perfectionist

Are you concerned about your stress levels or would you like to find out how nutrition can support your heath issues. Please contact me on 07967 639347 or email me on emily@4wellpeople.co.uk. I offer one to one consultations and can help you with a variety of health issues. In addition I also run Zest4Life nutrition and weight management classes.