Almost everybody has some degree of stress in their life, but what effect does stress put on your health? At Integrative Cardiology Center Of Long Island, Dr. Druz can teach you all about managing stress in order to live a healthier more holistic life. Learning to deal with stress the proper way will create a positive impact on your heart health, as having too much stress in your life can lead to more serious health problems.
When you are chronically stressed, health problems may include:
- Risk of heart attack or stroke
- Weight gain
- Respiratory issues
- Weakened immunity
- Fertility issues
- Muscle tension
- Frequent headaches
- Insomnia
While under stress, your body produces stress hormones which in excess, can have negative long-term effects on the body. In particular, inflammation caused by the effects of stress can lead to weight gain as well as a whole host of issues on not only your cardiovascular system but nearly all components of your body.
These simple lifestyle changes can relieve the stress in your life dramatically.
- Get active – Physical exercise has a wide variety of benefits including hormones metabolization that helps to restore your body and mind to a more balanced and relaxed state.
- Find quiet in your day – Whether it’s taking deep breaths when a stress trigger occurs or finding time for meditation and yoga, eliminating distractions and centering yourself in the moment has proven to be an effective way to coping with stress.
- Limit caffeine – Caffeinated beverages can put you on edge leading to stressful reactions to situations. Try to limit or eliminate beverages like coffee and switch over to tea for a more moderate level of caffeine.
- Avoid alcohol – Alcohol can affect your mood as it is a depressant. It may feel good at the moment, but often the internal side effects linger hours and even days past. It also impairs liver function making it difficult to lose weight/avoid weight gain.
- Reduce your overall sugar intake – Addiction to sugar is stressful for the body on its own, let alone any highs and lows associated with. Stick to natural sources of sugar like from fruit. Avoid artificial sweeteners also! Some studies have shown that although you are eating fewer calories when substituting, your body’s reaction is the same.
- Avoid processed foods – Chemicals found in packaged foods are inflammation-causing. You are better off buying whole ingredients.
- Interact – Whether its family, friends, or a pet, interactions with others makes you feel more connected, therefore reduces stress.
- Say no – Don’t add stress to your life by constantly saying yes to all invitations or requests for assistance. You do not want to deplete yourself.
- Limit technology use – Technology has made us accessible to work and all of our social networks at the click of the button. This is very stressful! Try turning off notifications for apps that you find to be particularly stressful so that you can enjoy the moment you are living in.
- Communicate – Talking about a stressor whether verbally or writing in a journal helps to prevent you from ruminating on the issue.
Aside from these techniques on how to relieve stress, it is also important to know how stress affects your overall health. At ICCLI, we can help you better understand the causes of your stress and ways to combat it. Through a wide variety of tests, we can help provide you with the right treatment option for the ramifications of your stress as well as ways to combat further inflammation. Contact us today!