It might be a traffic jam in Sacramento, CA, that triggered the flow of stress hormones or your boss screaming or baby crying. It might seem insignificant, but each stressful situation triggers hormones that negatively affect your health. It’s part of the fight-or-flight response that prepares you for battle or to run. If you don’t do either, it can cause your blood pressure to rise, your body to accumulate abdominal fat or a plethora of other health issues that lead to far more serious conditions.

Stress hormones could save your life.

If you’re attacked by a wild animal or fight off a mugger, your flight-or-fight response is triggered. In those cases, it can help you survive. Unfortunately, other stressful situations trigger your flight-or-fight response, like an angry spouse or people cutting in line ahead of you. Those situations build up and can lead to serious health issues. The hormones released increase your blood pressure and heart rate. It increases the blood flow to the extremities. It causes the airways to widen in the lungs and increases oxygen consumption. Blood glucose levels rise, digestion slows or ceases, and you’re more alert.

If you don’t burn off stress hormones, it can lead to serious conditions.

Stress hormones like cortisol make the changes that affect most of the body. If you don’t burn them off and there are chronically high levels, it can lead to conditions like digestive issues, high blood pressure, weight gain, heart disease, headaches, heart attack, muscle pain, stroke, and impaired immune functioning. It can lead to mental issues like sleep problems, depression, anxiety, and problems with concentration and memory.

Exercise mimics running or fighting.

Pushing your body by exercising can burn off stress hormones and return your body to normal. It also enables the body to get stronger and handle stress better. If you’ve had digestive issues and started an exercise program, you may find those problems disappear. Cortisol is one stress hormone. People with high cortisol levels may have issues with a slower metabolism and where the body stores fat. The hormone causes visceral fat to be stored in the abdomen. Visceral fat is the most difficult type to lose and the most dangerous. It crowds vital organs like the heart or lungs.

• One study estimated that over three-fourths of doctor visits come from illnesses caused by stress. It explains why exercise helps lower blood pressure, improve digestion, reduce depression, and improve cognitive functioning.
• Besides exercising, learning mental stress control techniques can also help. Meditation and deep breathing techniques are two of those ways. Practicing those techniques can prevent stress from building.
• Exercise helps you sleep better. Part of the reason is that it burns off stress hormones that cause sleep-related issues. When you sleep, your body repairs itself, and your brain reorganizes. It improves your immunity.
• Stress can cause premature aging and lead to periodontal disease and tooth grinding. It can affect your vision and skin and lead to DNA damage. Stress shortens telomeres that protect the cell’s chromosomes.

For more information, contact us today at Team-ISC