Stress Management and You

What Is Stress?

Stress is an evolutionary survival response. When you experience stress, the body releases hormones that increase your heart and breathing rates and prepares your muscles for a physical response to a threat. You may know this reaction to a stressor as the “fight or flight response” (APA).

Biologically, here is what is happening: your hypothalamus tells your adrenal glands to release stress hormones, known as adrenaline and cortisol. You heartbeat speeds up and blood flows to areas of need, like muscles and major organs. In many cases, stress is not a bad thing and is actually healthy because it helps you cope with various situations. Stress only becomes problematic when your central nervous system does not stop firing when the threat is no longer present.

Alternatively, your central nervous system will not relax if the threat is not addressed. For many of us, the causes of stress in our everyday lives are often not easily mitigated and we succumb to the effects of chronic stress, including over- or undereating, alcohol and drug abuse, social withdrawal and so on.

What Does Stress Do To Your Body?

When you suffer from chronic stress, whether it is from a high-pressure job, personal and family responsibilities, or anything in between, your body suffers in a handful of ways (Healthline). Here’s what happens to some of your body’s vital systems when you experience chronic stress:

Respiratory and Cardiovascular Issues

As we mentioned earlier, stress increases blood flow to your major organs, like your heart and lungs, causing them to work harder. The stress hormones that are released also cause your blood vessels to constrict and divert more oxygen to your muscles to increase strength. When your heart and lungs are working this hard on an ongoing basis, your blood pressure rises and increases your risk of stroke or heart attack.

Digestive Stress Issues

In stressful situations, your liver produces extra blood sugar to increase your energy levels. Those experiencing chronic stress may find that their liver has trouble keeping up with this additional glucose production. In these cases, your chances of developing Type II diabetes is significantly increased.

The rush of hormones and blood that occurs in stressful situations can wreak serious havoc on your digestive system and lead to problems like acid reflux, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, and even ulcers in severe cases.

Muscular System Issues

As you may have guessed, stress can negatively impact your muscular system too. Stress causes your muscles to tense up to help protect your body from injury. If that tension becomes chronic, it can cause physical aches and pains in your neck, back, and other major joints. In severe cases of chronic stress, we find that patients will turn to self-medication, whether with drugs or alcohol, to relieve this pain.

Reproductive Stress Issues

Those under chronic stress often find their sexual desires fluctuating dramatically. In some cases, ongoing stress can lead to erectile dysfunction or impotence in men. For women, the menstrual cycle can be impacted by chronic stress as well, most often leading to irregular periods.

Immune Strength Issues

Your immune system arguably takes the biggest toll from chronic stress. Initially, stress can give your immune system a boost, but chronic stress will weaken your overall immune system and reduce your body’s ability to respond to infection or illness. Stress can also reduce your body’s ability to recover from injuries or infections.

So, How Can You Achieve Successful Stress Management?

It is difficult to effectively mitigate the stress in our lives. The best thing to do is take care of your body when stressful situations arise, especially when you know they will be long-lasting. A stress relief supplement can help you mitigate your chronic stress when you’re feeling overwhelmed. And we’ve got a few great stress relief supplements for you.

Life Extension – Cortisol-Stress Balance

Life Extension’s Cortisol-Stress Balance, for instance, is a great supplement to you’re your stress under control. This supplement is designed to maintain healthy cortisol levels, inhibit factors that promote cortisol release, and encourages a healthier response to stress with 2 outstanding extract blends. Each capsule contains:

• 500 mg of Relora^® – A proprietary blend of magnolia (bark) and phellodendron (bark) extracts.

• 100 mg of Oligonol^® – Another proprietary blend of herbal extracts, this one contains lychee (fruit) and green tea (leaf) extracts.

Those herbal ingredients are sure-fire ways to keep your stress levels under control for the foreseeable future.

Herbs Etc – Stress ReLeaf

If you’re looking another type of stress relief supplement, consider trying Herbs Etc – Stress ReLeaf Dual Action Protection. Similar to the supplement mentioned above, Stress ReLeaf features a proprietary blend of herbal extracts that provide immediate stress-relieving effects and long-term coping benefits. This blend features many stress-alleviating ingredients, such as:

• Ashwagandha root

• Black Cohosh extract

• Fresh Skullcap herb extract

• Valerian root

• Holy Basil herb extract

• And more

These ingredients all work together to shield and tone the central nervous system, reduce tension throughout the body, decrease irritation to your CNS, promote relaxation, and protect other bodily systems against the negative effects of chronic stress.

Manage Your Stress With A High-Quality Supplement

If you have trouble managing stress in your life, then it might be time to try one of these effective supplements. Thanks to our unique partnerships with supplement manufacturers, we can offer you these terrific stress relief products at affordable prices.

Order your first batch of Stress ReLeaf or Cortisol-Stress Balance today!