Rx for Stress:

3 Essential Stress Fighters

You can strengthen your body’s resistance to stress by getting the proper sleep, exercise and nutrition. Like a car that needs preventative maintenance, your body requires these essentials to function at its peak performance. A well-maintained body experiences less stress and recovers from it more quickly. Learn about three essential stress fighters and how you can build your resistance to stress.

Rx #1: SLEEP

Sleep is more than a time out from your busy routine. Obviously, sleep is essential to your physical and emotional health. Without adequate rest and sleep, you may feel irritable, tired, and cranky and find it more difficult to concentrate, accomplish tasks, and cope with stress. Why? One reason is that your brain can’t maintain the biochemical and electrical balance necessary for effective functioning.

Another reason is that sleep is essential to your emotional well-being. In your sleep, you pass through alternating patterns of REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM sleep. REM sleep is when you dream and is a period of high activity. Your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing are similar to what you experience when you are awake. It is believed that you symbolically complete your unfinished business of the day in your dreams. Sleep helps maintain your psychological balance.

During non-REM sleep, the opposite happens—your heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure decrease. This stage is believed to be the most restorative time for your body. Scientists believe the right combination of REM and non-REM sleep allows you to feel well rested and function at your peak performance.

How much sleep do you need? Most people need an average of about seven to nine hours of sleep a night for optimum performance, although individual needs vary. If you have trouble staying alert during boring or monotonous situations, you may not be getting enough sleep. Feeling unreasonably irritable with other people and difficulty in concentrating or remembering facts may be other signs of poor sleep.

"Nodding off" easily during daily activities is a good indication that you are probably not getting enough sleep. Certainly, this can cause immediate danger to yourself (as a driver) and to your long-term health.

Oversleeping can be as problematic as sleeplessness. A "need" to sleep nine or more hours may signal depression, physical exhaustion, or a desire to withdraw from the pressures and responsibilities of the day. We often withdraw through sleep when stress overwhelms our coping skills.

If your sleep problems persist longer than a week or interfere with your daytime activities, a visit with your doctor or personal health care provider is the best first step. He or she will want to find out whether there are any underlying problems that are contributing to your sleep problems. In many cases, your doctor or personal healthcare provider will be able to discuss lifestyle changes you can make to improve your sleep.

Rx #2: EXERCISE

Exercise provides significant health benefits and helps fight life’s stressors. Regular exercise reduces the amount of stress you experience by strengthening your muscles and releasing your tension. Other benefits include an improved mental outlook and an increase in your energy. When you work out, your brain releases endorphins, chemicals that produce a sense of well-being and a positive mood, combating depression and anxiety. Exercise helps burn calories which otherwise would turn into body fat and add stress to your heart and lungs. Regular physical activity also helps remove low-density (LDL) cholesterol to prevent it from clogging your arteries.

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, even low to moderate intensity physical activities for as little as 20-30 minutes on most days can give general health benefits and substantially reduce your risk of developing heart disease, colon cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure. These activities include pleasure walking, climbing stairs, gardening, yard work, moderate to heavy housework, dancing, and home exercises. Perhaps waxing those kitchen floors won’t be such a bad idea after all!

Doing more vigorous aerobic activities, such as brisk walking, running, swimming, bicycling, roller skating, and jumping rope three or four times a week for 30-60 minutes can improve the fitness of your heart and lungs. Consider at least 2 hours total per week to achieve considerable health benefits. Aerobic activities train your body to maintain energy at a level of high physical activity. In response, your muscles work harder while becoming stronger and more efficient. Your heart and lungs develop their capacity to bring more oxygen to your body for the same amount of work. That’s why athletes have low heart rates. As result of the improved efficiency, you have more energy and stamina for your daily tasks. Your body also recovers from stress reactions much faster.

Physical activity doesn’t need to be strenuous to achieve health benefits. You can gain greater health benefits by increasing the amount (duration, frequency or intensity) of physical activity. New studies show that frequent walks can give you significant health benefits with low risk of injury.

Always consult with your personal health care provider before beginning or significantly changing your exercise routines or activities.

The recommendation to exercise applies at any age. Studies show that regular moderate exercise, such as gardening, walking and exercise classes, improves the ability of older adults to function in daily life. Those who are active maintain their strength, endurance, flexibility and balance. Regular physical activity maintains the ability to live independently and reduces the risk of falling and fracturing bones. In the past, health professionals have often advised the frail not to exercise, but that attitude is changing because inactivity is more risky at any age.

However, if you have not exercised in a long time, are over 40 or have a medical condition, you should consult with your physician or personal healthcare provider before beginning any exercise program. He or she can make specific recommendations for a safe, effective exercise program to help you attain your fitness goals.

Rx #3: NUTRITION

When you’re under stress, your body works harder. Your brain’s activity, heart rate, and respiration speed up. Your liver releases your stored energy and vitamin C, B-complex vitamins and other nutrients to meet your body’s demands. Constant stress can deplete your body’s resources and make you more vulnerable to infections and illnesses. Proper nutrition is essential to build up your body’s reserves and minimize this breakdown.

Poor diets can add stress to your body. A deficiency or excess of certain nutrients and foods in your diet, can cause your body to function less effectively and increase your risk for certain diseases. A deficiency in vitamin D, for example, can cause rickets and weaken your bones. Excess fat in your diet can increase your risk of developing heart disease and cancer.

If we pay attention, our bodies often give us early warning signs of a poor diet or stressful eating habits i.e., indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, and fatigue. With more awareness, you can improve a poor diet and eliminate negative eating habits to reduce stress.

Proper sleep, exercise, and nutrition provide the foundation to good health and increase your resistance to stress. From this solid foundation, you’ll be able to learn additional skills to develop mastery over stress in your life.