Reducing stress can help us live longer (and better). It is no secret that stress, as we know it, is highly harmful to health. Stress can be the cause of multiple somatic and psychological illnesses. Therefore, reducing it can be a life insurance policy.
The million-dollar question is, how can we reduce stress? We know that stress makes us lose health and therefore life, but many people don’t know how to deal with it when it appears on the horizon. Before we address this topic, let’s learn something about stress.
What do we mean by stress?
If we asked ten people to define stress, we would get very different answers, although they would all be equally valid. For Juan, for example, stress is something like feeling like a pot that is about to explode. For Luisa, stress is in the environment, as if it were an external stimulus: “Stress is the taxes I have to pay.”
For other people, stress is having too many things to do and not enough time to do them. For other people, stress is headaches and/or stomach aches caused by the problems of daily life. As we can see, stress can have many faces.
However, all of these definitions, although valid, offer an incomplete definition. Stress is a combination of the different elements we have mentioned. We can define stress as a non-specific response of the body to any demand made on it.
This response of the body is physiological and psychological. In addition, it is composed of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and glandular changes. The stress response is a complete biological activation, not limited to simple nervous tension.
What are the effects of stress?
Let’s imagine that we are suffering from stress caused by unforeseen changes in some important area of our life (a move, a job dismissal, the death of a loved one, etc.) The immediate changes that occur in our body are the following:
- Adrenaline levels increase.
- Increases heart rate.
- Increases blood pressure.
- Breathing becomes faster and more shallow.
- There is a considerable increase in muscle tension.
- It increases our body’s metabolism.
- The immune system decreases its function.
- Reduces intestinal and stomach tone.
- Increases blood circulation in the muscles.
- Etc.
Since a well-functioning immune system is essential for living longer and better, it is easy to understand that sixty to ninety percent of all diseases are related to stress.
However, the human body is complex, very complex. That is why it is difficult to establish exactly the role of stress in the disease process. However, it is known that people who face more stress in their lives get sick more often. In addition, they have more accidents than normal.
The effects of stress on the body are also influenced by people’s attitudes, personality types, and behavioral styles. This makes the issue even more complicated. But let’s be clear about one thing: it is not luck that decides who gets sick due to stress.
Reducing stress will make us live longer.
The stronger and healthier we are, the more stress we will be able to tolerate without it posing a serious threat to our well-being. To create this tolerance to stress, it is important to have healthy habits. But what are these habits? Well, here are some guidelines:
- Try to get regular and adequate sleep. Get enough sleep and try to get quality sleep, that is, really rest.
- Exercise regularly. You don’t have to become an elite athlete. Walking 30 minutes a day is enough.
- Eat a balanced diet. All nutrients are necessary. Eliminate ultra-processed foods and refined sugar from your diet. Reduce your consumption of fats and caffeine.
- If you think you drink too much alcohol, cut back greatly.
- Avoid tobacco. Don’t smoke.
- Get regular medical checkups.
- Give yourself time to rest. Face it, you are not Superman or Superwoman. We all need to rest, especially if we have a lot of activity.
- Practice optimism. Nothing is as terrible as we might imagine. We suffer more from what we imagine than from what happens. In this life (almost) everything has a solution.
By putting these tips into practice, you will be able to tolerate stress better. At the same time, you will feel better and your body will thank you for it. Reducing stress is possible as long as we take it seriously. This will make us live longer and better.