Side effects of stress. Oh my. Just the word “stress” is enough to stress you out.
Stress is something that we live with constantly in the 21st century. All the wonderful technological advancements haven’t done anything to lessen the stress anxiety in our lives. If anything, the stress has increased to almost unbearable levels. And the side effects of stress are many.

Did you know that one of the side effects of stress for women is to increase food consumption (surprise, surprise)? In research that was done it was found that about 20% of women eat more when stressed. Not only that, stressed out women were found to have more fat around their middles than other women. This is attributed to the hormone cortisol, which is released during stress. It was found to direct the fat to central storage depots in the body.

The immunity system is also know to weaken during times of stress. Stress causes certain “fighter cells” in the body to be released in order to fight the imaginary enemy. When this happens these immune cells are not around to help fight invasion of bacteria. Our immunity goes down and we get sick with colds, flu and much worse diseases.

Research has shown that our pain threshold is lower during times of stress. And this is true more of women than of men.

Lack of sleep is another symptom of stress. A stressed out person may wake up in the middle of the night and have all kinds of stressful thoughts and worries. This can keep her up and make it very hard to fall back asleep. It creates a vicious cycle because when a person is sleep deprived they tend to be more stressed about it during the day.

Some of the side effects of stress are an increased hear rate, tension in the muscles of the body - particularly the neck and shoulders, shortness of breath, a whole slew of digestive problems. Stress can elevate blood pressure and cause a rise in blood sugar levels. Stress has also been found to be connected to elevated cholesterol levels!

Stress feeds on stress and is a hard cycle to break out of. Stressed out people may blow up at seemingly insignificant causes and may be prone to angry outbursts. They may even have difficulty concentrating and making decisions. Stress can affect the attention span and memory and can even cause depression.

Are you stressed out enough yet from just reading about the side effects of stress?

Well, that wasn’t the purpose of this post. The purpose is to say - Wake up!!!
Our bodies are very special “machines” that have to be maintained from every different aspect. Sure, eating right and exercising are important to keep the machine working. But, since we are people (women) and not machines, we have psyches and that has to be tended to as well. We are spiritual and emotional beings and as such we have a need to nurture our spiritual/emotional side as well.

Stress must be dealt with if we want to be healthy and vibrant. Luckily, there are many, many ways to deal with stress. I will mention a few:

Yoga.
Ahh, just the word helps ME relax. Yoga is an ancient art which helps one to get and stay fit, both mentally and physically. It helps you to be a calmer person and tackle life’s challenges. Yoga is like meditation in that it helps you achieve harmony by synchronizing your body and mind by assuming various positions and controlling your breathing throughout. Yoga is a great way to relieve stress and its related side effects like backaches, headaches and cramps.

Herbs can also help you lower your stress levels. There are various herbs that can help with rapid breathing like Hawthorne berries and Linden Flowers.
If your stomach is feeling the effects of the stress you can try Chamomile, fennel or pepermint tea. Valerian is great to help you sleep when stressed out. Tension headaches can be helped by Feverfew and Willow bark. Oats are also nourishing for your nervous system.
Ginseng is said to help strengthen the body’s systems for dealing with stress.
If you are interested in the going the herbal route, find yourself an experienced naturopathic physician to help you. Also, check out a good Magnesium and Vitamin B supplement. May be very helpful.

Hypnosis is another great way to deal with stress. Listening to audios while lying down in a relaxing position is an excellent way to slow breathing and induce a relaxed feeling. You may want to check this out: Instant Audio Relaxation.

One thing is for sure, your heart (and soul) will thank you for learning a new relaxation technique!

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