Stress
Stress
We live in a world dominated by stress and, even if you think you aren’t stressed, it's likely you are! Stress has a major impact on our gut and digestion and can be a leading cause of weight gain and, more specifically, weight loss resistance. And stress can have a huge impact on perimenopause, or menopause, symptoms and on sleep.
Elevated stress can be caused by all sorts of things including foods you eat, life stresses - busy job, children, family demands, etc., - poor sleep, or there may be other signs of increased inflammation going on, also a stressor.
One of the main impacts of stress is to increase production of the body’s stress hormone cortisol to support the fight or flight response. This means slowing down any physiological processes that aren’t crucial to surviving an immediate threat, i.e. our metabolism, whilst holding onto fat stores and increasing our appetite to provide the energy needed to react.
So, even if you're eating a really good diet, exercising regularly and doing all the right things, if you're under elevated stress, you'll find it difficult to resolve any digestive issues, lose weight, sleep well and/or get relief from menopausal symptoms.
What to do
The first thing is to make sure you're including strategies to build your resilience to stress, every single day. These can include:
• Getting out in daylight as often as possible. This helps support your natural circadian rhythm, which helps you feel more awake in the morning and sleepy in the evening.
• Breath work/meditation. These activities help lower stress hormones, reduce anxiety and make you feel more present. Try 4-7-8 breathing: breathe in for 4s, hold the breath for 7s, then exhale for 8s.
• Moving every day. Regular exercise - such as walking, yoga and strength training - helps boost happy hormones and lowers stress hormones.
• Eating real food. Eating real - unprocessed - foods, as often as possible, helps to keep your digestion working well and lowers inflammation. This, in turn, helps lower stress hormones.
We live in a world dominated by stress and, even if you think you aren’t stressed, it's likely you are! Stress has a major impact on our gut and digestion and can be a leading cause of weight gain and, more specifically, weight loss resistance. And stress can have a huge impact on perimenopause, or menopause, symptoms and on sleep.
Elevated stress can be caused by all sorts of things including foods you eat, life stresses - busy job, children, family demands, etc., - poor sleep, or there may be other signs of increased inflammation going on, also a stressor.
One of the main impacts of stress is to increase production of the body’s stress hormone cortisol to support the fight or flight response. This means slowing down any physiological processes that aren’t crucial to surviving an immediate threat, i.e. our metabolism, whilst holding onto fat stores and increasing our appetite to provide the energy needed to react.
So, even if you're eating a really good diet, exercising regularly and doing all the right things, if you're under elevated stress, you'll find it difficult to resolve any digestive issues, lose weight, sleep well and/or get relief from menopausal symptoms.
What to do
The first thing is to make sure you're including strategies to build your resilience to stress, every single day. These can include:
• Getting out in daylight as often as possible. This helps support your natural circadian rhythm, which helps you feel more awake in the morning and sleepy in the evening.
• Breath work/meditation. These activities help lower stress hormones, reduce anxiety and make you feel more present. Try 4-7-8 breathing: breathe in for 4s, hold the breath for 7s, then exhale for 8s.
• Moving every day. Regular exercise - such as walking, yoga and strength training - helps boost happy hormones and lowers stress hormones.
• Eating real food. Eating real - unprocessed - foods, as often as possible, helps to keep your digestion working well and lowers inflammation. This, in turn, helps lower stress hormones.