Let’s step back and understand what it is all about

Stress is something we hear talked about a lot.

Is it good, is it bad and what on earth is it?

Stress is a completely natural reaction the body has to changes in your environment, body, or mind which require a response. The response can be physical, mental or emotional.

And the feelings you experience are the bodies chemical changes when you react stressfully to a situation.

So you may ask, do we actually need it?

Well yes, it’s absolutely essential! The human body is designed to experience stress so we can then react to it. It can even be a positive thing by keeping us alert, motivated and ready to avoid danger.

Incredibly useful if you’re just about to fight off an attack from a lion, not so much if you’re a stressed commuter stuck in a traffic jam with nowhere for that extra adrenalin to go!

Starting in the mind, leading to the body

Stress always starts in the mind.

Think of how you feel when your dog runs out in the road in front of a car, when you know you’re going to be late for work, you’re facing a personal financial crisis, or an impossible deadline. 

Rapid signals are sent to the adrenal glands to produce adrenalin, within seconds your heart is pounding, your breathing changes, stores of glucose are released into the blood and your muscles tense.

These reactions are called the ‘Fight and Flight’ response. 

This ‘instant energy’ is diverting energy away from the body’s essential repair and maintenance jobs such as digesting, cleansing and rejuvenating. 

By continuing to be switched on to the ‘Fight and Flight’ mechanism your pituitary, adrenals, pancreas and liver are perpetually having to pump out hormones to control your blood sugar. 

Your body eventually becomes overloaded – until eventually it simply can’t respond to stress in the way it should.

….and at this point an everyday situation will be giving you enough adrenalin to keep you running for miles!

Take back control and save your energy

The reality is you are still going to be stuck in stressful situations that are unavoidable.

So you need to find a way to cope, to maximise your available energy for living, by optimising your nutrition. 

That way, you retain the energy produced by your adrenals, rather than burning out. 

This is done with three simple steps:

1)     Eat slow releasing carbohydrates that release their fuel gently

2)     Eat a varied, balanced diet to ensure you have an optimal intake of all essential nutrients

3)     Avoid stimulants and depressants like alcohol, caffeine and refined sugar

The result will be an increase in energy that will help you cope with the stresses and strains of life. 

Not only will you be able to break the energy consuming patterns that deplete you, but you will be able to regenerate energy for breaking the mental habits that initiate a stress response in the first place.