Last issue we talked about the relationship of stress to disease. Now, we’ll delve a little more deeply into stress and ways to keep it under control.

Remember, stress is not all bad. Stress helps our bodies adapt and grow stronger. For example, weight training stresses our muscles and bones, which grow larger and stronger as a result. Similarly, aerobic exercise stresses our heart and lungs, which adapt by growing stronger and more efficient.

Stress is the primary motivator of human growth. It helps us learn, grow, adapt. On the flip side, too much stress can wreak havoc in our lives and our bodies.

Never-ending cycle. Unmanaged stress can be a saboteur for your diet/ exercise regimen. You are more likely to make poor diet choices due to cortisol cravings and emotional eating. You may feel too exhausted and “stressed out” to exercise. What’s more, excessive stress can change your neural circuitry to increase habitual, destructive behaviors rather than productive, goal-directed behaviors. That means if you eat a cookie to try to cope with the stress, you are more likely to keep eating cookie after cookie even though they aren’t making you feel any better.

Common reactions to being over-stressed are depression, fatigue, over-eating, oversleeping and procrastination. It’s a never-ending cycle because the poor diet, lack of exercise and lack of productivity caused by too much stress only serve to make you feel even more stressed!

To break the cycle, check out the rest of this issue and the last for specific exercises and activities that can help.

Gender differences. Men and women feel and respond to stress differently. Per research, women are more likely to feel highly stressed and that their lives are out of control than men are. Women feel more stress from social/ family responsibilities while men are more likely to feel financial stress. Men and women also react differently to stress. Though women are more likely to report days of “high distress,” they are less likely to carry over those feelings to the following day.

Men are more likely to respond to stress with anger or hostility, while women more often “tend-and-befriend” – nurture and seek social support. Hormones may be one reason for the difference. Female hormones strengthen the effects of oxytocin, a hormone which diminishes anxiety and induces relaxation, while male hormones weaken its effects. Stress also increases the level of testosterone in men, which may lead to increased hostility/aggression.

Coping at work. In a 2007 poll by the American Psychological Association, about 75% of Americans said work was a major source of stress. Here are a few tips from Harvard Health for relieving stress at work:

• Relax. On your way to work and throughout the day monitor your tension level and try to consciously relax your muscles.
• Slow down. Leave yourself enough time so you don’t have to rush to work or rush through meals.
• Pause. Take a minute before leaving your car to center yourself before going into work.
• Walk. Take a 5-minute walk break every few hours.
• Breathe. Every hour or two, take a few minutes to breathe deeply from your diaphragm.
• Don’t rush. At the end of the workday, don’t drive home in a rush. Relax.
• Praise. At the end of the day, reflect on your accomplishments for the day.
• Comfort. When you get home, take a few minutes to change into comfortable clothes, breathe deeply and be quiet before jumping into domestic activities.

It starts early. Just as we saw with other lifestyle factors, the effects of stress start when we’re young, as early as the womb. In fact, a national poll on children’s health found stress to be one of the top 10 health problems for children, ranking higher than lack of exercise and teen pregnancy. Chronic stress can negatively impact brain development, learning and memory, cause anxiety and lead to difficulty controlling emotions. The earlier we learn to manage and reduce stress, the better. Strategies that work especially well for kids are:

• Breathing exercises
• Drawing pictures
• Caring for and playing with pets
• Optimistic thinking
• Study skills
• Communication skills
• Time management skills
• Adequate “down time” to rest and explore their own interests

Remember this. It’s never too early or too late to take control of your stress. Learn to recognize when you are feeling the effects of stress and seek ways to cope with it. Don’t let it sabotage your good health!