Moderation is recommended for most things in life and stress is no different. A certain amount is required for humans to be productive and feel fulfilled but too much and it joins other factors such as poor diet, chemotherapy, age, insufficient sleep in being suppressors of neurogenesis and brain health.
There is an average of 5% brain volume decrease per decade and this is accelerated where there is high stress.
The main thing you can do to alleviate stress is address the cause but if this is not possible there are other activities that can mitigate the negative impact. The hormone response to stress is short and long term as adrenaline lasts 6min and cortisol 120min and strategies listed below that have both short and long term impact work synergistically when incorporated together:
1/ Physiological breath – 2 short inhales and one long exhale over 20-30secs increases parasympathetic nervous system activity
2/ Social connectedness and socialising
3/ Exercise 180min/week cardio 721 METS min per week
4/ Dilate your gaze – look outwards towards the sky and horizon
5/ Being outdoors 20min in nature
6/ Belief effects -reframe physical effects of stress – say to yourself the racing hear and sweaty palms are helpful and preparing the body to meet a challenge
7/ Meditation 13 min/day over 8 weeks/Mindfulness 10-30min/ non sleep rest 10-15min protocols
8/ Sauna 20-45min, in particular infra-red has multi-purpose health benefits
9/ Herbal mixtures that include ashwagandha
10/ Acupuncture
11/ Psychological therapy
The functional medicine approach of optimising health at The Ageless Clinic and General Practice enables you to be more resilient and cope with excessive stress.
