Stress Awareness Month
April is Stress Awareness Month, so what better time to talk about stress than now? Let’s dive in.
What is Stress?
Stress is a normal part of the human experience and can have a significant impact on physical and emotional wellbeing. Stress can be defined as the body's response to a real or perceived threat. When we encounter stressors, our bodies release hormones that trigger the "fight or flight" response. This response is activated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a complex system that regulates the body's stress response.
Whether the stress experienced is life threatening or not, the body always responds the same. Stressors include anything from nutritional deficiencies, emotional distress, toxin exposures, allergies, over exertion, and trauma.
The Stress Response
The HPA axis is a complex system that involves the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands. These glands intertwine the endocrine and central nervous system and govern your stress response. When a threat is detected, the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which triggers the pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). ACTH then stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol, your main fight or flight hormone. Cortisol has a handful of jobs to get you through challenges and promote survival. It helps modulate inflammation and increases heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar and alertness. While cortisol is necessary to life and is needed in small amounts, prolonged exposure to high levels of cortisol can have negative effects on the body.
Chronically Activated
Your body functions by alternating between the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). Your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems have opposite but complementary roles. Your sympathetic nervous system activates the stress response and puts your body on high alert, and your parasympathetic nervous system returns returns your body to homeostasis. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for recovery, healing, and repair when stress has subsided. It promotes digestion, reproduction and immunity.
When your body’s sense of safety and security is threatened your sympathetic nervous system takes charge, but can lead to wear and tear on the body if turned on for too long. Chronic stress keeps the sympathetic nervous system activated and pushes non-essential tasks like digestion and reproduction to the back-burner.
The stress response is meant to be a short-lived response, but modern living causes us to experience a chronically activated stress response and a major lack of parasympathetic nervous system activation.
Most women are stuck in an activated stress response and this leads to an alarming amount of health and hormone issues.
The Consequences of Stress
Chronic stress wreaks havoc on the body and can result in a weakened immune system, blood sugar dysregulation, impaired brain function, sleep disruptions, inflammation, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, depression and anxiety, digestive issues and hormonal imbalances. In fact, chronic stress is now recognized as an endocrine disruptor due to its huge impact on hormone health.
There’s a powerful link between stress and the menstrual cycle that is not to be understated. Prolonged stress is associated with:
Increased PMS severity. This is due to reduced progesterone since the body prioritizes cortisol production at the expense of progesterone. Progesterone helps to increase mood so a lack of it can exacerbate PMS. Chronic stress also depletes GABA, a neurotransmitter that promotes calm, resulting in more emotional disturbances during the luteal phase.
Delayed or stopped ovulation
Irregular menstrual cycles
Painful periods
Fertility issues
Exacerbated PCOS symptoms
Reduced thyroid hormone, which plays a major role in cycle regulation and overall health
Worsened symptoms of hot flashes, night sweats and mood swings during perimenopause
Steps to Manage Stress
Stress is unavoidable, so the key is to learn how to deal with it accordingly. Our perception of stress is a huge part of the equation, and with an improved mindset stress can be handled better. By learning stress management skills and how to tolerate different emotions, we can blunt the impact that stress has on our bodies and daily lives.
Here are some effective strategies for managing stress and switching your body into parasympathetic “rest and digest” mode:
Manage your energy
Assess areas of your life that are draining your energy. What are the biggest sources of stress, overwhelm and exhaustion? Then make a plan of how you can eliminate or reduce these in your life. Perhaps this means establishing more of a work/life balance, creating more realistic expectations of yourself, reassessing priorities, saying ‘no’ more often, and setting boundaries with people who drain your energy.
Practice relaxation techniques
These techniques let your body know it is safe and activates the parasympathetic nervous system. Practices include things like meditation, mindfulness, massage, body scanning, breathwork, yoga and progressive muscle relaxation.
Optimize nutrition
A balanced diet can support the body with the nutrients it needs to cope with stress. If your body is poorly fed, stress takes an even greater toll on health. Good nutrition is one of the most important stress management tools. Here are some key tips for optimizing nutrition:
Nourish your body with real foods. Real foods are foods that in or closest to their natural state. This includes fresh vegetables and fruit, nuts and seeds, legumes, whole grains and high quality animal products. Stress depletes nutrients and can increase your need for certain nutrients, so it’s crucial to support your body with nutrient dense whole foods.
Don’t skip meals, eat regularly and always include sources of protein, fat and fibre. This keeps blood sugar levels stabilized and ensures the body is receiving the macronutrients it needs to navigate stress and function properly.
Limit processed and high sugar foods as they increase inflammation and cortisol.
Prioritize rest and pleasure
Rest isn’t encouraged or valued in the world but it’s so necessary. The constant expectation to be doing, producing or consuming isn’t sustainable and is pushing us to burn out. Taking time to truly rest activates the parasympathetic nervous systems and allows our body to heal and recharge.
Yes pleasure can be sexual, but it goes beyond that. I invite you to get curious about what brings you pleasure - think senses (taste, smell, sight, hear). Then make more time for pleasurable things in your life!
Both rest and pleasure bring us into our body and calm our nervous system. They help to create safety, healing and enjoyment - all of which are powerful against stress.
Practice Menstrual Cycle Awareness
Menstrual Cycle Awareness allows you to tap into the impact your own menstrual cycle has on your daily lived experience, including your stress capacity. Knowing when you’re more resilient or susceptible to stress at certain phases of your cycle allows you to plan accordingly. For example, if you know you’re susceptible to stress during the week leading up to your period, you can plan ahead of time to ramp up the self-care, reduce obligations and be firmer with boundaries during that time.
In Conclusion
Stress is a normal part of life, but it's important to take steps to manage it in order to prevent negative effects on our hormonal health. By implementing some of the stress management techniques listed above, you can reduce the impact of stress has your life and health.
If you’re struggling and need extra support - whether that’s just someone to talk to, wanting personalized recommendations or nutritional advice - I’m here for you! Click here to book a FREE 20 minute virtual chat with me.
