THE ROAD TO HEALTH SERIES: Stress Destroys the Body. Take Good Care of Yourself by I. Wierzbicka

Diet and physical activity are the basis of a healthy lifestyle but we often forget about another very important factor which affects our health condition and accompanies us every day. The factor is stress. It gives us the motivation to act, but too much is often the cause of many health problems. Today we have another article by Iwona Wierzbicka in the series “The Road to Health. Do you know that…?” She writes how stress can have a negative effect on our entire body.

 

A little stress, a single “adrenaline shot” from time to time, can be energizing. It’s just like a workout. When you plan how to alternate regular training and recovery phases, your muscles will strengthen and grow. But if you decide to do a whole month of training in one day, you won’t achieve that effect (easy!). What’s more, you will overtrain and probably receive injuries. The situation is similar when it comes to stress. Stress stimulates the body to act, and the cortisol produced during a stressful situation is neither bad nor good. On the other hand, if this state continues for a long time or becomes chronic, it has a destructive effect on the body.

 

What are the immunological effects of our response to long-term biological stress that may be triggered by psychological, physiological or physical stressors (including exercise)?

 

• Deregulation of the adaptive mechanism

The body doesn’t mobilize, adapt or strengthen as in the case of a short-term stressor, and even begins to react in the opposite way, as if it was saying: “I give up.”

 

• Effects of pro-inflammatory cytokines

For this reason, markers of inflammation are not always visible in basic research results. However, pro-inflammatory cytokines from blood can be measured. In the long term, they damage tissues and muscles, disrupt communication between hormones and receptors, and lead to neurodegeneration (this is also one of the mechanisms of dementia).

 

• Suppression of the immune-protective cell response (weaker body immunity)

 

• Increased susceptibility to certain types of cancer (by suppressing the immune system)

 

• The occurrence of errors in the immune system (when it attacks its own tissues instead of attacking pathogens)

 

Interdependence of the systems in our body

Some organisms may respond to chronic stress with a mock disease response: then the body simulates a disease to “force” the owner to rest and slow down. Therefore, stress may lead to a reduction in physical activity, social interactions, and sexual activity. There is an increased reaction to pain, sometimes pain in different parts of the body, eating disorders, depressed mood. 

Stress can lead to immunosuppression, making you more susceptible to disease. Temporarily, there may also be smaller susceptibility to disease. It all depends on the type of hormones that affect the body. Adrenaline can keep us going, but at the same time reduces the body’s immunity (background effect). The result will be illness after the greatest stressor has subsided, for example after a divorce, during holidays, on days off from work, after you’ve finished a project. Does it sound familiar? Are you sick when you have a day off?

Scientists also argue that as we get old, our immune system ages, too. As a result, older people are less able to respond properly to vaccines, are less resistant to long-term stimuli, and their immune systems are less flexible. Therefore, they should strive to reduce chronic stress even more through proper nutrition and lifestyle.

 

 

Loss of self-regulation by the immune system as a result of long-term stressors is characteristic of autoimmune diseases. The immune system treats its own tissue as an enemy (like bacteria and viruses), attacking and destroying it. We see this in diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, lupus, Hashimoto’s disease, alopecia areata (and many others). Immune responses can also be exaggerated, as with asthma. 

 

What else can stress cause?

• The HPA axis (hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal glands) is stimulated, which results in disturbances in the entire endocrine system;

For some people it can be excessive androgenization, for example hirsutism in women, PCOS, hair loss on the head; for others, hypothyroidism; men may be testosterone deficient; one may also suffer from the syndrome of burned out adrenal glands, i.e. chronic fatigue, reluctance to act, aggressive and emotional reaction to stress.

 

• The level of cortisol rises 2–5 times;

As a result, the body’s immunity decreases, blood glucose levels, and consequently insulin levels rise, the risk of weight gain is much higher.

 

• The release of catecholamines (neurotransmitters: noradrenaline, adrenaline, dopamine) increases;

This leads to an accelerated heart rate, sodium retention in the body (swelling), decreased intestinal motility (constipation), narrowing of the skin vessels (hypoxia, ischemia, decreased skin barrier resistance), increased glucose levels (usually due to muscle tissue degradation).

 

• The glucose and insulin metabolism is disturbed;

 

• There is intestinal dysbiosis (reduction in the amount of “good” intestinal bacteria, development of pathogens, malabsorption, and consequently inflammation in the body);

 

• There is atrophy, damage or dysfunction of the intestinal villi (manifested in problems with the absorption of nutrients, which in simple terms means that the body does not absorb food);

 

• Pro-inflammatory cytokines appear;

They cause: inflammation, neurodegeneration, muscle damage, increase in histamine levels, swelling, hives, allergic reactions, redness, runny nose, constipation or diarrhea, intestinal overflow, clearing throat in the morning

 

• The production of thyroid stimulating hormones decreases (the symptoms include: subclinical hypothyroidism, fatigue, cold feeling, problem with defecation);

 

• The conversion of inactive to active thyroid hormones decreases (similar symptoms as in the case of hypothyroidism, despite the lack of results in the laboratory test results);

 

• The number of visits to different doctors increases due to various ailments (various sources estimate that up to 75 percent of all health problems are caused by stress);

 

• The risk of auto-aggressive and allergic diseases in a child increases (stress crosses the placenta during pregnancy);

 

• The production of digestive juices is disturbed

Too much can be produced during stressful situations, which leads to ulceration, but more often too little, which leads to indigestion, heartburn, acid reflux, and thus – dysbiosis in the intestine and the inability to absorb nutrients.

 

 

Which factors stress the body?

When you know where the problem is, you can implement the solution. Go for it!

• No rest.
• Imbalance between work and rest.
• Constant stimulation (texting, likes, social media, phone notifications, checking your phone).
• Watching and listening to the news.
• Lack of movement (we refer here mainly to using your own body in various forms of movement, such as walking, gardening, manual tasks, etc.).
• Excessive physical activity or too strenuous training units.
• Evening workouts.
• Gym workouts after or before work, if you spend most of the day indoors.
• No contact with nature.
• Processed food.
• Foods that cause stomach disturbances (you feel that what you eat is harmful, and yet you still eat it).
• Sweets (those with sugar and sugar substitutes).
• Beverages with artificial coloring (but also flavored waters that do not have color, but are beverages).
• Coffee, tea and other psychostimulants (energy drinks, stimulant supplements, for example with caffeine, guarana, pre-workout supplements).
• Alcohol (even if it seems to de-stress you).
• Thoughts: sadness, regret, bitterness, worry – if they last long or appear on a regular basis, for example every day.
• Chronic dehydration.
• Irregular mealtimes (“If I find the time, I eat, but it is not always possible”).
• Rushing through life.
• Noise.
• Electromagnetic field.
• Pulling all-nighters.
• Restless sleep, not getting enough deep sleep, going to bed late.
• No uniform circadian rhythm (always different times for certain activities, only one more project, going to bed at different times).
• Closed rooms.
• Isolation from the ground (walking only in shoes).
• No interpersonal relationships (in real life).
• Artificial light.
• No exposure to sunlight.
• Air pollution (for example smog).
• Allergens [if someone suffers from allergy, they should give their body a break, remove allergens (introduce a diet), install filters at home.].

 

Many practical ideas on how to deal with stressors, how to live a healthy life, how to implement the principle of balance, i.e. 3 × 8, and many other tips that are invaluable to health, can be found in my latest book “How to Strengthen Immunity. Diet, Lifestyle, Mind, Supplements” published in 2020 by Wydawnictwo Zwierciadło ?

 

Bibliography:

1. Belowski J. Prolaktyna, hiperprolaktynemia, http://www.endokrynologia.net/content/prolaktyna-hiperprolaktynemia [25.05.2020].
2. Dave ND, Xiang L, Rehm KE, Marshall GD. Stress and Allergic Diseases. Immunology and Allergy Clinics of North America. 2011; 31: 1, 55–68.
3. Dhabhar FS. Effects of stress on immune function: the good, the bad, and the beautiful. Immunologic Research. 2014; 58: 2–3, 193–210.
4. Ranabir S, Reetu K. Stress and hormones, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3079864/ [26.05.2020].
5. Segerstrom SC, Miller GE. Psychological stress and the human immune system: a meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry. Psychological Bulletin. 2004; 130: 4, 601–630.

Iwona Wierzbicka

Clinical dietitian

Clinical dietitian and herbalist, phytotherapist with many years of experience in working with dietary patients. Since 2008, she has run her own Ajwendieta diet clinic. She approaches the patient holistically, i.e. head, body, diet, lifestyle, supplementation, looking for the root cause, not the symptom. She is primarily a practitioner, but also a theorist who follows the results of scientific research.