Many health care professionals also consider chronic stress a significant risk factor for illnesses such as cancer and heart attacks. One reason is that our body’s physical reactions to prolonged stress may accumulate slowly and go unnoticed in our attempts to adapt to ongoing stress. However, even if it seems we’re building a tolerance to stress, our nervous system is still dealing with an overload, which can seriously affect overall health in the long run. One of the most common physical reactions to stress is the tensing of muscles, which can ultimately trigger tension headaches, migraines, and other musculoskeletal conditions. Stress is also hard on your digestive system, as it affects which nutrients your intestines absorb, influences how quickly food moves through your body, and can provoke you to eat more or less than you normally do. The disruption of your body’s natural digestive processes can cause nausea, pain, vomiting, heartburn, constipation, acid reflux, or diarrhea. In addition to the various physical effects of stress, it can also contribute to a number of mental and emotional disorders, including anxiety, phobias, and panic attacks. This emotional stress can make it difficult to focus, make decisions, think things through, or remember things. Stress may also cause irritability, making you easily frustrated and impatient with others, and can even contribute to depression, anger, feelings of insecurity, and relationship conflicts. While the many physical effects of stress can be overwhelming, it is important not to ignore these psychological effects as they also play a large part in overall health and vitality. Engaging in regular moderate exercise such as walking, yoga, or swimming has proven stress-reducing benefits, as exercise releases positive stress-busting endorphins and can increase self-confidence and lower the symptoms associated with anxiety and depression. In combination with daily activity, eating a healthy whole foods diet rich in dark greens and chlorophyll-containing foods is helpful for treating stress. Since chronic stress can strip your body of essential B vitamins, it is important to obtain these nutrients, as well as magnesium and calcium, through diet or supplementation.* Remember to avoid caffeine and sugar, as these stimulants can contribute to stress and depression. Getting adequate sleep is also imperative to reducing stress. Stress can physically wear out your body, and without sleep, you will feel the effects of stress much more. Finally, work to reduce stress by learning to think differently. Knowing when to let something go and thinking positively about your life will help prevent you from being upset about minor things and worrying that you aren’t good enough. Supervising your thought process is only part of the battle, but if you work at easing stress with healthy lifestyle and diet changes, you can largely avoid escalating anxiety issues. He has been a pioneer in the field of integrative medicine since the early 1980s and has been treating cancer and chronically ill patients using his holistic, integrative and highly personal form of healing for over 25 years.
