Back in the 50s, when the research first showed up about stress affecting the immune system, the medical community started to pay attention. But, they only knew a piece of the story. Since then, we have learned so much more. Current research shows that stress

• affects our immune systems in many and complicated ways
• causes adrenal fatigue or exhaustion
• impacts our hormones
• alters our metabolism — usually by weight gain but sometimes with excess weight loss

It impacts every part of our bodies…and honestly, we think we’ve become immune to it. After all, we’re used to it. As long as we can power on through! We almost take pride in how little sleep we get, how hard we work, and how stressful our lives are. I really am on a crusade to make that stop. I am as guilty as the next. But truthfully—allowing stress into our lives at the levels we do is simply unhealthy—and something we MUST get a handle on.

Let’s define stress. There’s the emotional or psychological stress we all know about. It leads to the sense of tension you feel in your body, the constant worrying, the recurrent and sometimes obsessive thoughts. There’s stress about money, health, or a loved one.

Then there’s physical stress: surgery, trauma, illness, over-exercising, eating toxic foods, or being exposed to environmental toxins.

Let’s talk a teeny tiny bit of science—stay with me (it’s short)!

There’s something called the HPA access which connects your brain, pituitary, and adrenal glands and is vital to the way your body responds to stress. It’s also the way your brain communicates with your glands and body. The HPA axis mediates your stress response, mood, digestion, immune system, libido, metabolism, and energy levels—so it’s very important that it stay balanced and in tip top shape!

When you are stressed, the HPA releases certain chemicals—cortisol, adrenaline, ACTH, etc. It also effects your sex hormones (estrogen, testosterone). Some of these hormones tell your body to act, putting it on high alert. They sharpen your senses, increase blood flow to your muscles, and cause them to tighten (in case you need to run or lift a car off a child!). Your blood pressure rises and your breathing quickens. Think: fight or flight.

Thus, stress induces a fight or flight response—even when such a response is inappropriate. While the stressors may seem commonplace to you and not life threatening (or you are numbed to them) the truth is, your body sees stress as—stress. It can’t easily differentiate between a saber tooth tiger and a deadline that got moved up. (Note: our thoughts can help our bodies make those distinctions, though.) The HPA tells your body to kick out these hormones system-wide. The more stress, the more you tax your HPA axis.

AND, if your body is focused on handling the stress, sex hormones, among other things, take a back seat.

When the HPA axis is on overdrive it means that it does not return to the state of equilibrium that we see in nature. A deer, after being chased by a lion and escaping, returns to grazing in the field, stress gone. But our minds and imaginations allow us to continue to experience the stress even when the cause is gone. That contributes to the overall stress burden. Eventually, the HPA axis eventually malfunctions and your adrenals burnout You might have heard of adrenal exhaustion? Eventually, you experience symptoms like extreme fatigue, low immunity, sex hormone imbalances, joint pain, inflammation and pain—for starters!

So, that’s your science lesson for the day—I hope what you take from it is to reduce your stress levels. Now.

Here is one tip to do that:

Take five minutes, two or three times a day, to just breathe deeply. Turn off all electronics for just 5 minutes at a time, and sit quietly. Close your eyes. Focus on your breathing, slowly inhaling and exhaling. Feel your body begin to release. Try not to think of anything but observing your breath. Slowly begin to increase the length of your exhale so that it is twice as long as your inhale. (If you inhale to the count of 4, exhale to the count of 8). This will make true physiological changes in your system.

Remember—you’re trying to break that HPA cycle of stress (and inflammation). If you can tell it to stop long enough to interrupt that feedback loop, you will have taken a big step toward your health (and sanity)!

If you’d like to learn more about stress and your health, go to the top or bottom of this page and download my new free booklet called Five Things Your Doctor May Not Know about Your Health.

As always, let me know your thoughts!