Is Your Lifestyle Causing You Stress

 

I’m sure you have heard the phrase “Can to Can’t”, well that’s how many of us choose to run our daily lives. What is the meaning behind that phrase? It means: being busy from the time you get up until you just can not go any more or until your head hit’s that pillow. We pack as much into one day as we possible can. That’s the American way, right? That’s the only way I can make it to the top. The only problem with that theory is the stress it is causing our body, it is aging us faster than it should be.  When we finally achieve our goal, if we achieve it, we are so worn out and harshly aged from lack of sleep, proper exercise and diet, and stress of the busy days.

 

The kind of every day stress I am talking about is everyday stress like: the fight with the spouse or the fights with the kids over, “your not wearing that are you?”   Or road rage, it’s always some one else’s fault when you are late. What am I going to fix for dinner tonight, I will have to go to the store because I forgot to thaw something out. Sound familiar ladies. These are just a few of the every day stress that we go through.

 

Then there is extreme stress like, the death of a loved one, or an illness in the family, financial problems, divorce or a job you just can’t stand but your stuck in it. These are a little harder to deal with because most of these are out of your control.

 

What is the stress doing to our body? There is a chemical in our body called cortisol that releases into the blood stream in the early hours of the morning. This is so we can rise and shine with the needed energy it takes to kick off a busy day. Through out the day we use the supply of cortisol our body produces. By the mid to late hours of the night just before your normal bedtime the cortisol levels in your body should be extremely low, thus allowing you to fall asleep. However, when you are under more than normal stress, your cortisol levels may not work properly. Your cortisol levels will rise very rapid under a burst of stress that has just entered into the body. To high of cortisol level for the body is not good. It can cause middle weight fat to appear impossible to get rid of no matter how many sit-ups you do. It can even cause adrenal fatigue; this can be temporary or permanent depending on how long you go untreated. If you are feeling like you can’t go without an afternoon nap, this may be happening to you.

 

We will finish more on this topic in next month’s issue. If you feel you are suffering from to much stress in your life visit your local compounding store for a free hormone assessment or go to your physician and have them check your cortisol levels. The best test for this is a 4 panel saliva test.