7 Life Or Death Things You Should Know About Stress

We all know what stress feels like - but did you know that it's all nothing more than a bunch of chemicals in our blood?

When we experience something stressful, our adrenal glands make adrenaline and glucocorticoids. These chemicals make our muscles tense, our hearts race, our blood vessels constrict and, hence, our blood pressure spikes.

In nature, this rush means the difference between catching something to eat or being something to eat - the "fight or flight" survival instinct.

The problem today is that we are so surrounded with stress triggers that our bodies seldom quite get a chance to "shut off". What in the wild kept us alive is now killing us.

Stress has very serious side effects on our physiology that most people don't know about, including:

1) Lower cognitive ability. Stress shrinks the synaptic links between brain cells - decreasing IQ and reducing the ability to learn.

2) Weakened immune system. Stress makes it easier to get sick and makes getting better take longer.

3) Lowered dopamine (an essential neurotransmitter) in the brain. Stress and depression are directly linked.

4) Belly fat. It's true - as if you didn't have enough to be stressed about already - stress is associated with increased fat around the belly. This stomach fat is even more dangerous than fat deposits on other parts of the body - it manufactures the "bad hormones" associated with other health issues.

5) Fetal issues. Children born to mothers who are under heavy stress during pregnancy are less healthy than their peers with "less stressed" moms. Problems include high cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases, slower learning, depression and... stress issues.

6) Stress is a major contributing factor to the two largely preventable major killers in Western society: heart disease and stroke.

7) Last but not least... You've heard the expression "he has a short fuse?" The better way to say it would actually be "he has a short chromosome." Chronic stress is linked to shortening of our chromosomes, just like when we age. One year of heavy stress can be the same as six years of aging in terms of the length of our DNA.

Stress is not just some abstract thing that's "just part of life." Stress reduces the quality and length of your life. It's a symptom of a deeper issue - a lifesaving feedback loop gone into overdrive.

The great news is that stress is, fundamentally, nothing more than chemicals in your blood. You can stop the stress cycle by identifying its' roots and using powerful, drug-free techniques such as Guided Breathing.

by: Andy Krals

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