Doctors don’t agree on everything. Some doctors practicing traditional allopathic medicine are completely opposed to the philosophies and methodologies of naturopathic, holistic or homeopathic practitioners. There is however, one area of increasing consensus: The adverse effects of stress on the body.

The Nature of Stress

Stress is a natural and desirable reaction. Normal functioning individuals need to have the ability to experience stress and react to it in appropriate ways. For instance, you need to be able to jump quickly away from a snake or increase your adrenaline levels if you are being followed in a parking garage at night. This is the useful aspect of stress. Stress produces a “fight or flight” response in us which enables us to not only sense danger, but react in a way that will get us out of a dangerous dilemma.

So Why Limit Stress?

Stress in small quantities for limited amounts of time is normal, natural and even necessary. The problem arises when stress becomes a chronic problem. Day in and day out we have become the emotion equivalent of warriors fighting on the battlefield. We wake up late for work; we become frustrated sitting in traffic; we go to a job that we hate in order to make a paycheck that is not enough; we come home to a house that has two mortgages. Finally, we lay down at night still worrying about relationships, the economy and the political landscape and we wonder why in the world we cannot sleep. Wake up. Repeat.

Stress is an evolutionary endowment meant to get us out of crisis and back to our natural state of peaceful relaxation. Take a look at the animal kingdom and you will see prime examples of how organisms are supposed to react to stress then return to a homeostatic state of rest. The deer in the forest is at peace most of the time, wandering around and grazing. Then she jumps into high gear when she catches the scent of a human or sees a coyote lurking in the shadows. With an instant spurt of energy fueled by stress, she bounds to safety and instantly resumes her wandering and grazing.

The Physiology of Stress

There are a number of things that occur physiologically as our body experiences stress.

• Our immune system is suppressed.

• Blood is diverted to our large muscle groups to enable us to flee a situation or fight an enemy.

• Digestion is slowed or shut down completely.

• Adrenal glands poise themselves for increased cardiac output and increase blood sugar to ensure you have enough energy to fight or flee.

These are just some of the reactions to stress that a healthy body produces. Thanks to your sympathetic nervous system that controls these processes you will almost surely be able to survive your next emergency. As you can see, however, these reactions can become problematic when you are experiencing them all or most of the time. Have you ever wondered why there is an entire aisle in the local grocery store devoted to antacid? Because your body is reacting to stress, proper digestion cannot take place. What about the cold and flu aisle? That’s right. Our immune systems are suppressed much of the time because of prolonged periods of stress.

What does too much Stress Cause?

Every condition prevalent in our society today has a component of stress at its base. From heart disease and diabetes to the obesity epidemic and cancer, stress has made its contribution. The question is not what does chronic stress cause, but what does it not cause? Many health care professionals suspect that chronic stress is the only cause of many unwanted symptoms and conditions in some people and the effective management of stress can improve if not completely eliminate many diseases.

Managing Stress

Since stress is a fact of life, we must learn to appreciate its functions yet manage its harmful effects. Some simple stress management strategies are outlined here:

• Live within or below your means. Financial stress usually takes a long time to recover from and can be responsible for causing stress in other areas such as relationships. Making sure that you live within your means is an easy philosophy to adopt and can help simplify life immensely.

• Pray or meditate for a few minutes once or twice a day. Prayer and meditation are proven techniques that evoke a relaxation response.

• Exercise. Exercising is a natural outlet for expending excess energy caused by a “fight or flight” reaction. Exercise is also a natural antidepressant and mood booster.

• Eat nutritious live food. Junk food consists of empty calories that will eventually add to your stress level by showing up in places that you don’t want it. Live whole food such as raw fresh veggies, raw fruit and nuts will give your body the nutrients that it craves and will help you to a restful state of mind.

Professionals agree that the effects of chronic stress are far reaching and that these extended periods of stress are not only unnatural but also unhealthy. Learning how to recover from episodes of high stress and being able to bounce back to a natural state of prolonged relaxation is the one thing that people today can do to improve their overall health and wellbeing.