How Does Stress Affect Your Health?
Uncovering the hidden ways stress impacts your body and mind
Stress comes in many shapes and forms, it can be short-lived, like watching a scary movie, or it can last a long time and become chronic. While some forms of short-term stress can be helpful, like when you need the surge of energy to run from a dangerous situation, long-term stress has several negative effects on your body and health as we will discuss below.
What is stress?
If you have ever found yourself with nervous stomach pains, sweaty palms, or heard your heart pounding in your ears before an important meeting or performance, then you have experienced stress. The human stress response developed as a way to keep us safe from dangerous situations by prepping your body to fight or run from a threat.
Today, you aren’t likely to be running from a predator often, but day-to-day situations can trigger that same stress response. This stress response leads to the release of hormones like cortisol, which is intended to keep you alert, and makes you hungry for foods that will boost your energy levels. If your life happens to be full of stressful situations like work deadlines, childcare, financial strain, busy schedules, and dealing with traffic, then your body can start to keep that stress switch on all the time.
Effects of chronic stress on health
Chronic stress has several negative effects on your mind, body, and overall health. The longer chronic stress lasts, the worse the effects can be. Chronic stress leads to an ongoing release of stress hormones like cortisol, which can lead to things like:
Sleep problems
High blood pressure
Increased risk of heart disease
Weight gain
Headaches
Anxiety
Muscle tension
Pain
Memory problems
Focus problems
Digestive problems
Weakened immune system
Reading through that list alone makes it clear that stress is not good for your health, and experts agree that managing stress is a very important part of staying healthy.
Can stress affect weight loss?
The clear answer to this question is that, yes, stress can make it harder to maintain a healthy weight or lose weight. In fact, stress has been tied to weight gain and obesity. Stress is thought to cause weight issues in several ways, including:
Increased appetite: When stressed, people tend to feel hungrier and crave unhealthy foods.
Sleep problems: Stress leads to sleep problems, which are also linked to weight gain. Being chronically tired can lead to lower activity levels or negative food choices.
Metabolism: Stress has been linked to changes in metabolism that make your body hold onto excess fat rather than burning it.
Insulin resistance: Cortisol can make it harder for your body to process sugars and makes it store more energy as fat.
Emotional eating: Many people, when stressed, turn to food as a way to feel better and cope.
Behavioral changes: Stress can lead to poor eating habits like late-night snacking, skipping meals, eating junk foods, and overeating.
Stress management
Rather than stress about how your stress is affecting you, let’s talk about some practical strategies to manage stress and get healthy. Here are some ways you can reduce your stress and keep it at bay as much as possible:
Social support: Surround yourself with supportive people that you can talk to and have positive experiences with.
Exercise: Find activities that bring you joy and bring down stress. This could be anything from walking to pickle ball or yoga classes. Exercise releases feel-good endorphins that combat stress.
Sleep: Sleeping 7-9 hours can make a huge difference in the way you feel day-to-day and also helps you manage stress more effectively.
Mindfulness: Practicing mindfulness, meditation, or breathing exercises can be incredibly helpful in cutting down stress.
Meal planning: Spending some time planning out a healthy, balanced diet can help to reduce cravings and stabilize your blood sugar levels in times of stress. Having things prepared and planned makes it less likely that you’ll reach for something unhealthy.
Seeking professional support: There are counselors, therapists, support groups, and doctors who can help you to address stress and stress-related problematic eating habits.
These strategies are just some of the ways you can focus on your wellness and build a healthier lifestyle. When you put strategies into place to manage your stress, you’ll soon find that you don’t just feel better, but it can also help you reach your weight loss and health goals.
Managing your stress can not only lead to better mental health, it can have a positive impact on your physical health as well. Leading to healthier habits and reducing the risk of developing other illnesses like hypertension.
At Agile, we understand the benefits of a holistic weight management approach. Our medical weight loss programs include lifestyle recommendations to promote long-term weight loss success and maintenance. This includes identifying stress reduction, offering diet recommendations and working with a board-certified provider to track your progress. Interested in learning more? See if you qualify for our weight loss program and schedule an initial, no-cost consultation with one of our providers.
