Stress Management: Stress Addiction

Are You Addicted To Stress?

Stress is a fact of everyday life that can have more of an impact than we realize. Stress changes the chemistry of our bodies in ways that can have long term significance. This article looks at the physical changes induced by stress that can lead to stress “addiction” as well as the long term consequences of chronic stress.

The Normal Response To Stress

Our bodies have very complicated regulatory systems that rely on the interaction of messenger chemicals such as neurotransmitters and hormones. Neurotransmitters are chemicals produced by the nervous system that facilitate the transmission of an impulse across a junction between nerves or between a nerve and its target tissue. Hormones are substances, secreted by a variety of glands, that travel through the blood stream to trigger specific activities by the tissues that are sensitive to them.

When we experience a stress, it doesn’t matter whether the stressor is real or imagined, physical or psychological; our bodies respond in the same manner.The perception of stress causes a region of the brain, the locus coeruleus, to increase its production of the neurotransmitter, norepinephrine (NE) or noradrenaline. When the locus coeruleus is activated in this way, it stimulates a group of hormone-secreting glands: the hypothalamus, the pituitary and the adrenals. The adrenal glands secrete higher levels of NE and the hormone, cortisol.

The locus coeruleus also stimulates the sympathetic nervous system and inhibits the parasympathetic nervous system. We go on alert, feel “wired”, and are unable to relax and digest food properly as a result.

NE raises the heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar to prepare us for the “fight or flight” response. Cortisol has a broader range of action; it does the following:

mobilizes and replenishes energy stores by causing blood sugar to increase and fat to be deposited in specific areas such as the abdomen
increases arousal and vigilance
focuses attention and improves memory
inhibits growth, reproductive and immune system functions.

All of these changes help us to get through the rough times; they are adaptive in a positive way for short periods.

The Response To Chronic Stress

When stress is not relieved, our bodies continue to adapt to what they perceive as the “new normal”. If the new normal continues for a long time, these adaptations become problematic. Here’s why.

NE and cortisol have buddied up to change the amount of glucose in the blood stream and cortisol alters the amount and manner of fat being deposited. These changes can predispose us to conditions like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

NE on its own will keep the heart rate and blood pressure elevated; these are also risk factors for cardiovascular illness.

The dual action of NE on the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems keeps us from relaxing; sleep and digestion suffer as a result. When sleep and digestion become disordered over sustained periods of time, additional maladaptive hormonal changes may occur.

Cortisol suppresses the activity of the immune system, making us vulnerable to infections and abnormal cell growths such as cancer.

How Chronic Stress Can Be Like An Addiction

Our bodies are “programmed” to operate within certain parameters. When the parameters are normal, good health results. When the parameters become shifted because of unrelieved stress, illness will eventually occur.

The parameter shift causes our bodies to perceive a new “normal”, like a thermostat that has been reset to keep the temperature in a building at a new level. Over time, the tissues that are being activated by the effects of NE and cortisol increase the number of receptor sites for the messenger chemicals. The tissues become accustomed to a higher level of stimulation.

When the level of stimulation falls, we feel “off”. The amount of messenger chemical stimulation is no longer in the range the target tissues have adjusted to. We don’t want to feel off, so we change our behaviour in a way that brings our stress level back into the range that will result in the messenger chemicals being secreted in the amount that feels normal to us.

We can do this by taking in stimulants like nicotine and caffeine or by engaging in thrill-seeking, high risk behaviour. If life isn’t bringing us too many thrills, we create substitute pressures with excess work, or relationship conflicts, or increase our sensitivity to these by increasing our level of fatigue through inadequate rest and sleep.

Like any addiction, the inevitable result of these stress-promoting behaviours is a long term impairment of health as the negative effects of chronic stress take hold.

In the next article, I’ll look at how stress addiction leads to a condition NDs call “adrenal fatigue” and outline some simple steps for restoring a healthy balance.

If you think you could do a better job of managing your stress, check out this article for some tips and consider seeing an ND for ongoing guidance and support.

Stress Management and Adrenal Fatigue

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When the intensity and frequency of stress in daily life exceeds a person’s threshold capacity for coping, things start to break down.

Irritability, nervousness, and fatigue may set in. Blood pressure may be too high or too low. There may be cravings for sweet, salty or fatty foods. The person may experience more frequent or more severe infections such as colds. These symptoms can be the result of changes in adrenal function.

The Impact Of Stress On Adrenal Function

The adrenals are small glands located above the kidneys. They are part of a complex system of hormone-producing glands, and are responsible for hormones that regulate the amount of water in our bodies, our response to stress and inflammation, blood pressure, sexual function, blood sugar, sleep and more. The adrenal glands work like shock absorbers to help us adapt to stress. They do this by secreting substances like adrenaline (also known as epinephrine) and cortisol which prepare our bodies to deal with the effects of stress.

Adrenal fatigue can occur when chronic stress results in a gradual deterioration in the functioning of the adrenal glands. It is also known as hypoadrenia. When the glands become exhausted, a condition known as Addison’s Disease results. Main stream medicine focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of this endpoint, rather than on the sliding scale of diminished function which precedes it. Unless the adrenal glands function in an all-or-nothing fashion, it is unlikely that the marked state of failure that characterizes Addison’s Disease would not have milder degrees of dysfunction preceding it.

The Consequences of Stress “Addiction”

Adrenal Fatigue: Signs and Symptoms

When the functioning of the adrenal glands begins to decline, they may secrete hormones in a more erratic fashion; although the trend will be toward secreting less hormone, there may be transient instances when they secrete too much. As a result, some of the signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue can be conflicting. For example, blood pressure may be too low or too high. Here is a list of some of the things which can occur:

waking up fatigued after a normal period of sleep
generalized fatigue
insomnia
restlessness
anxiety, nervousness
tendency to startle
cravings for salt, sugar or fatty foods, possible changes in weight
feeling light-headed after a change in position, e.g. moving from a seated position to a standing one
increased susceptibility to infection
increased use of tobacco, caffeine, alcohol, sugar

Other conditions that may be linked to adrenal fatigue include:

allergies
asthma
muscle weakness or back pain
inflammation
headaches
blood sugar problems
behaviour problems
memory problems

When To Seek Help

If you do not have the signs, symptoms or conditions associated with adrenal fatigue but are in the midst of a stressful period, ensure you are managing your stress proactively. This article on stress management provides some ideas about how to do that.

If you’ve developed symptoms, it’s time to see a naturopathic doctor. The long term consequences of adrenal fatigue can have a serious impact on your health and quality of life, so do yourself a favour and invest in your health. Your body will reward you with renewed vitality.

Stress Management: Surviving, Striving, Thriving

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We live in a stressed-out society.

A little bit of stress can be challenging and motivating but too much leaves us feeling tense and exhausted. More importantly, high levels of chronic stress can have very serious impacts on health.

The Physical Effects of Stress

Stress makes us vulnerable to other illnesses. One thing stress does is depress the immune system which is involved in allergic response, response to infection and scavenging mutated cells. This means we become more susceptible to environmental/food sensitivities, infection and cancer.

Stress also causes an increase in a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol’s actions have long-term implications for health – it raises blood sugar and increases the storage of fat, especially on the abdomen, and these are risk factors for diabetes and heart disease.

How To Go From Surviving To Thriving, Strive To Manage Your Stress Effectively

Clearly, we have to live with stress. But if we want to be healthy as well, we need to be proactive about bringing the stress in our lives into balance. We can do this by making conscious stress management part of our everyday lifestyles.

What is “stress management”? Stress management is the use of specific skills that help reduce the health impacts of negative stress by invoking the “relaxation response”. Some examples of stress management techniques are deep breathing, the use of mental imagery, and progressive muscle relaxation.

How Do You Know When You’re Stressed?

Here are some common symptoms:

Tired, can’t sleep
Worried, anxious, depressed, irritable, “spacey”
Aches and pains
Digestive issues: heartburn, indigestion, change in bowel or bladder habits
Increased use of cigarettes, alcohol, caffeine, other substances
If you’re not sure what your symptoms are, ask someone who knows you well and start to observe yourself. You can’t deal with something you don’t know about.

In striving to balance the effects of stress in your life, there are 2 key things to focus on:

Learn to recognize how stress effects you
Counter these effects with “stress-busters”

Stress-Busters

Simplify your life – learn to say “No”
“Let go, and let God…” – learn to act on the things you can control and to accept those beyond your control.
Treat yourself – make a point of doing something enjoyable every day.
Exercise your sense of humour – it’s good for your perspective and good for you physically. Laughter can be the best medicine.
Exercise your body – nothing relieves the physical effects of stress as much as exercise, and a relaxing walk is a good way to start.
Eat well, sleep well – your physical resources are rapidly depleted when you’re stressed. Make sure you recharge.
Share your concerns and seek professional help when overwhelmed.
Learn to use relaxation techniques, such as mental imaging, progressive muscle relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing

Be SMART About Goals

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Goals are most effective when they are SMART:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-bounded

Here’s an example of a SMART movement goal.

I am going to walk from my front door to the end of my driveway (a 30 second walk) and back once each day for a week.

The goal states specifically what the activity will be. It’s measurable (you can record it as completed or not). For all but the most severely ill, it is achievable and realistic, and the time-frame for accomplishing the goal has been stated.

What would your SMART goal look like?

Dealing With Stress-Eating

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Image result for adrenal glands actions — Image source: https://slideplayer.com/slide/9713487/

More

How to stop stress eating

The silver lining in this cloudy situation is the fact that you recognize you are stress-eating. This gives you more power over your behaviour than you might think.

While the question targets eating as the source of concern, the underlying problem is stress. If you deal with the stress, the binge eating will become easier to resolve and may subside on its own.

The Effects of Stress

The adrenal glands are significantly involved in the physiological experience of stress which is mediated by hormones, adrenaline (also called epinephrine) and cortisol in particular.

Adrenal hormones:

help regulate your body’s stores of salt and water,
influence the physiology of stress, metabolism and inflammation, and
contribute to sex hormone levels for androgens such as DHEA and testosterone.

Chronic and/or recurrent levels of high stress cause your adrenals to work hard and they can eventually begin to underperform. Naturopaths call this “adrenal fatigue”.

Adrenal fatigue can be characterized by abnormal patterns of cortisol secretion that contribute to cravings for sugar, salt and comfort foods. The alteration in the pattern of cortisol secretion can result in chronic low energy or low energy in the morning and a high energy “wired” state at night.

Dealing with Stress Eating

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a fantastic tool for managing perceptions that promote stress. Support from a therapist or counsellor can be very helpful too.

There are, however, two very simple things you could begin to do RIGHT NOW that would make an immediate difference:

Substitute water for soda – even diet soda. Cortisol can distort your blood sugar level, as can the caffeine and aspartame in diet soft drinks – you need to stabilize your blood sugar. Moreover, there are several studies that show aspartame can affect cognitive function and mood.
Until you feel ready to get regular exercise, do deep breathing exercises. Your body’s response to stress is largely controlled by the part of your nervous system called the Sympathetic Nervous System. It’s partner, the Parasympathetic Nervous System, is the main controller of the relaxation response. Deep (diaphragmatic) breathing triggers parasympathetic activity. This page on marksdailyapple.com provides details on the how’s and why’s.

Parts of this article originally appeared on Quora.

Strategies for Managing Dietary Protein

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What are some strategies to sneak more protein into one’s diet?

It’s not difficult to get enough protein. Adults require a 0.8 – 1 gram per kilogram of body weight.

Once you work out what your target intake is, familiarize yourself with the protein content of your favourites. If you can’t tolerate a lot of meat, try more easily digested protein sources, such as poultry, fish, eggs and tofu or tempeh. Chicken breast is 31% protein by weight; tuna is 30%; eggs are 12% and tofu is 8%.

For example, if you weigh 150 lbs or 68 kilograms, you need about 54 – 68 grams of protein per day, depending on your level of physical activity. If you have a 3 egg omelet for breakfast (18 grams), lentil soup with swiss cheese on soda crackers for lunch (23 grams) and a chicken caesar salad for dinner (29 grams), you will have consumed 70 grams of protein. This total does not include protein from beverages or other foods you would probably consume in a day.

If you need to, you can increase your protein intake by having a protein drink once per day as a snack. You can purchase prepared products (e.g. Glucerna, Boost or Ensure) or make your own using Greek yogurt, milk or soy milk as the protein source.

This article originally appeared as an answer on Quora.

Eating Well with Stealth Vegetables

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Children of all ages (and some adults, too) can be finicky about food.

Ensuring a healthy variety of vegetables in the diet can be difficult. If this is your challenge, you’ll find some strategies in this article for getting vegetables into your picky eater. Here are some ideas to consider for making vegetables more palatable:

You can hide almost any cooked vegetable in tomato/spaghetti sauce. If you’re pressed for time, buy pre-made sauces that include multiple vegetables like Catelli’s Garden Select line of sauces.
A number of companies make fruit juices that also contain vegetable juices: V8, Bolthouse, Arthurs.
It’s easy to “hide” mashed sweet potato and grated carrot or zucchini in sandwich fillings like egg salad or tuna salad.
Vegetables can easily be added to meat loaf – try sweet potato, zucchini, carrot, or cabbage. The key is to mash or grate the vegetable finely so it doesn’t make an obvious change to the texture of the meatloaf. None of these vegetables will alter the flavour significantly. Serve the meatloaf with tomato sauce instead of ketchup for added nutrition.
Kids will often eat vegetables in a soup that they won’t eat when served as a side dish. As a time saver, fold left-over or frozen vegetables into a pre-prepared soup. If you’re buying canned soups, look for ones that are lower in sodium.
It’s easy to serve fruits and vegetables in baked goods. Substitute apple sauce for up to 1/3 the amount of oil called for in muffin or cake recipes. Chocolate zucchini cake and carrot cake are favourites in many families.
Sometimes renaming a dish makes a difference. For example, kids who won’t go near Vegetarian Chilli will try Spicy Mexican Casserole, particularly if they don’t know what the ingredients are.

For more on these and other ideas, check out the following resources:

Stealth Health by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD

Michael Smith’s Hidden Vegetable Tomato Sauce

Mary Ann Gratton’s What’s for dinner? I’ll never tell

Dr. Briffa: ‘Stealth vegetables’ and other tactics for getting healthy food into our kids

Diane’s Kitchen: Semi-Stealth Veggies

Parenting tips: how to sneak vegetables into your child’s diet

Sneaky Vegetables: Learn how to sneak healthy foods into your family’s meals

The Eat-A-Rainbow Game

Advanced Diet Information For Managing Chronic Pain

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“Invisible illnesses” and conditions of chronic pain tend to be characterized by other symptoms too, such as intense fatigue and brain fog.

Pain, fatigue and cognitive difficulties can have their roots in inflammation, and diet can be a driver of this, as explained in the basic diet information article. Other drivers of these symptoms include blood sugar dysregulation, gluten and food intolerances and nutrient deficits.

The brain is very sensitive to changes in blood sugar (glucose). Research has shown low glucose can alter the perception of pain [1]. Low glucose can also contribute to fatigue [2]. Dietary strategies that reduce wide blood sugar fluctuations can improve symptoms of pain and fatigue in chronic pain conditions.

What About Gluten?

Gluten is a protein found in grains such as barley, rye, wheat and oats. Gluten sensitivity can result in a wide variety of symptoms, including pain, fatigue and brain fog.

Sensitivity to gluten can range from mild to extreme, with the extreme form being known as celiac disease or sprue. Blood tests and biopsies are usually performed to confirm a celiac disease diagnosis, and blood tests are also available to test for milder forms of sensitivity, such as non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS).

If you are gluten-sensitive, eliminating gluten from your diet may result in symptomatic improvement. If you are not gluten-sensitive, eliminating gluten is unlikely to produce any symptomatic improvement aside from placebo effect.

Food intolerances to substances other than gluten can also contribute to the development of pain, fatigue and brain fog. Talk to your healthcare provider about the risks and benefits of an elimination diet for identifying food sensitivities.

Other Nutritional Considerations

Pain, fatigue and financial limitations may underlie decisions that result in a sub-optimal diet and nutrient inadequacies. Food intolerances and digestive system conditions such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome may also contribute to the development of nutrient deficiencies. Fibromyalgia and CFS, for example, seem to create nutrient deficiencies and/or higher than normal requirements for certain nutrients. If you are concerned you may be low in a specific nutrient, please contact your healthcare practitioner for assessment prior to experimenting with supplements because some can induce toxicity symptoms and/or interact with medications.

Managing Blood Sugar

People who live with chronic pain can be limited in their capacities for activity, including exercise. When dietary intakes are not balanced with physical activity, metabolic changes leading to obesity and type 2 diabetes can occur.

Blood sugar management involves moderating your total caloric intake according to your level of physical activity, as well as the frequency of meals and their content. Dietary approaches, such as the Dysglycemia Diet, that focus on whole foods, lots of fiber, and food sources of probiotics promote better blood sugar stability.

How To Make Dietary Changes

With the exception of food avoidance due to intolerance or allergy, most people get better results when they make incremental dietary change over time than when they implement drastic change suddenly. Human bodies like consistency and have many regulatory processes (homeostatic mechanisms) that promote it. Abrupt change interferes with this preferred state.

When you implement The Dysglycemia Diet, you may begin to eat more pulses (beans and lentils) and other sources of fiber than you are used to. Increasing your fiber intake or introducing foods you don’t consume regularly can result in digestive upset.

The key to avoiding this is to start low and go slow. Start with small amounts, eaten once per day. As you adapt to the change, try increasing the amount or frequency but not both at the same time.

Remember the basics too: choose whole (unprocessed) foods, avoid CRAP, spread your calories through the day, and maintain your hydration level.

References

[1] Gibbons, Christopher H., et al. “Experimental hypoglycemia is a human model of stress-induced hyperalgesia.” PAIN® 153.11 (2012): 2204-2209. http://pfizerpro.com.co/sites/g/files/g10012911/f/publicaciones/2012_153_11_Experimental-hypoglycemia-is-a-human-model-of-stress-induced-hyperalgesia_2204_2209.pdf

[2] Cryer, Philip E. “Symptoms of hypoglycemia, thresholds for their occurrence, and hypoglycemia unawareness.” Endocrinology and metabolism clinics of North America 28.3 (1999): 495-500. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10500927

Basic Diet Information

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“You are what you eat.”

It is literally true. Pain often results from inflammation, and inflammation can result from too many pro-inflammatory foods and not enough ant-inflammatory ones. Following the tips on this info sheet will help you maintain the right balance.

What’s your strategy?

To make the most of your energy peaks and minimize the limitations of the valleys, you will need to be strategic about how you eat. This article presents the dietary strategies you’ll want to use: self-assessment, implementing the basics of good nutrition and avoiding CRAP.

Three Important Questions for Self-Assessment

Do you have at least one bowel movement daily?
Is passing gas a rare thing for you?
Is your breath inoffensive? (Maybe you should ask someone…)

The Basics of Good Nutrition

Eat a variety of fresh, whole foods most of the time.
Foods provide the greatest nutrient value when they are fresh. Canned and processed foods provide fewer nutrients, along with other undesirable ingredients. Frozen foods provide a nutrient level that is midway between fresh and processed. The healthiest foods will always be fresh items that you prepare for yourself.

Eat plant-based foods more than anything else.
Nutrition is chemically complex. While we have identified many biologically active and health-supporting chemicals in food, we haven’t found them all nor do we understand how they work together to influence health. Plants provide vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, proteins, fats and a host of other nutritionally important components in ratios that are perfect for our health. These nutrient packages cannot be replicated with supplements.

Enjoy your food but treat it as fuel.
The heightened availability of dietary information has fostered much anxiety and many misconceptions. People worry about eating too much of this and not enough of that. The bottom line is this: Food is meant to be enjoyed. Enjoy what you eat, eat a wide variety of foods, and eat modest portions. Viewing your food as fuel means that you make conscious decisions to select high quality foods in the amounts that you need. Learn to recognize and respect your body’s cues to hunger and satiety.

Have some protein at each meal.
Protein, like carbohydrates, provides 4 calories per gram. Unlike carbohydrates, it is digested slowly and helps to keep blood sugar stable. Blood sugar spikes and the corresponding insulin peaks they produce, contribute the development of metabolic dysfunction and inflammation in your body. Having some protein with each meal helps to keep your blood sugar level and your energy high throughout the day.

Eat regularly – do not skip meals.
This principle also addresses the concern about stabilizing blood sugar. When you skip meals, your metabolism slows to conserve energy. Your body “thinks” it’s starving. With the next meal comes a flood of blood sugar, which triggers an insulin spike. Frequent small meals keep your body supplied with a steady stream of fuel. It doesn’t go into starvation mode. If you must fast or skip a meal, make your first meal after your fast a small one that includes some protein to prevent sugar-flood/insulin-spike reaction from occurring.

Ensure your diet includes: sufficient water, probiotics and fiber.
Your body uses water in most of its millions of chemical reactions every day. Staying hydrated keeps your metabolism running smoothly. Even mild dehydration can cause fatigue.

Probiotics are bacterial that are normally found in our digestive systems. They are commensal organisms, meaning we provide them with a living environment and in return they help to keep us healthy. Make a mental note to include a source of probiotics, such as yogurt, kefir or sauerkraut, in your diet every day.

You’ve heard a lot about fiber in the news, in magazines and on TV. You know it’s important to get enough, but how much, exactly, is that? While most people need 25 – 30 grams per day, the good news is that if you eat a diet that is 75% plant-based, you will probably get enough without ever thinking about it.

Avoid CRAP

Carbonated drinks
Refined sugar
Artificial anything
Packaged/processed foods

I recommend minimizing your intake of these foods because they promote inflammation, often by interfering with insulin regulation, and because they tend to be high in calories and low in nutrients.

For additional guidance, check out the Advanced Diet Information .

Wild Rice Salad

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Wild Rice Salad

Recipe by Summit Natural Health Centre

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Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

Salad
2 cups wild rice
1 carton (946 mL) of organic low sodium chicken broth
4 stalks celery, sliced
8 green onions, sliced
2 cups frozen peas, thawed
3/4 cup dried fruit such as cranberries or blueberries
salt and pepper to taste
Dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp. organic coconut palm sugar
2 Tbsp sesame oil

Directions

Put the chicken broth in a medium sized saucepan and add the rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Let cook for about 40 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and cool completely.
In a large bowl gently mix together the cooled cooked rice, chopped celery, green onions, peas and dried fruit.
Whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, coconut sugar and sesame oil.
Pour dressing over the salad and gently mix. Season with salt and pepper.