How our bodies were designed to handle stress…
Stressed is a word thrown around at the moment, but that’s because we all are in some way…
Stressed is related to all of these situations:
– kids not getting ready
– kids not eating their meals
– traffic build up
– work commitments
– own business
– financial concerns
– bullying
– rejection
– chronic illnesses
– screen time
– intense training session
– over training
– toxic foods
and the list goes on.
Here is a list of what happens inside your body when you stress. Now remember back in the day our ancestors only came across their prey or where preyed on occasionally, not everyday!
Our ancestors didn’t stay up late at night watching Netflix or didn’t have the concerns of the peak hour traffic.
However we have many more stress signals yet our bodies are made exactly the same these days as they were hundreds of years ago:
Here’s a summary to back to the days when we were fresh on earth and the saber-tooth tigers were preying on us, our bodies were designed to do the following when that tiger was around:
Digestive system stops
-eating whilst reading an email that upsets you, or scoffing down food before a meeting that you know will be intense, you cannot rest and digest food whilst fight and flight system is active.
-If you’re eating in the car in any traffic conditions, your body is on alert the whole time.
(you might be eating the most nutritious meal, but your body will not digest while it’s in a stressed state. Your food will then not be digested and turn to unwanted fat in the body. If this happens day after day, your health will suffer).
Release an acid under our skins
-So that we are not tasty to the tiger when it bites into us.
-This acid relaxes and loses some of the elasticity in our skin and therefore that’s how our skin ages quicker. (Like people that get high stressful jobs, they can look older within a year of being in the job due to the stress. Smokers, the stress the tobacco is putting on their lung and airway systems, it stresses them – it’s the same pathways).
Our blood would thicken
– This is so that we wouldn’t bleed out straight away.
(that’s why if you’re stabbed in the back you will die quicker than if you were stabbed in the gut, because you would have had time to see it coming and your body would have prepared itself).
(or note if you give blood in a scared or stressed state your blood donation takes longer, that’s because your blood has thickened because you’ve signaled a stress)
Good blood circulation is essential to maintain a healthy body.
Your circulatory system is responsible for delivering oxygen and nutrients to your cells and is used to filter out waste and carbon dioxide from your body.
Without this system working properly, you can develop a wide range of health problems, many of which can be fatal over time.
If blood flow thickens it can lead to low blood circulation, it can also slowly do damage to major tissues and organs which can lead to additional health problems which can also be dangerous.
Bowels and bladder empty quickly
– so that you are lighter to run
(like the nervous toilet stop you have to make before a major presentation or a marathon/major event).
Immune system goes on the back burner
-when you’re trying to stay alive the immune system will shut down.
(you cannot have your two nervous systems on at the same time (like a light switch) so you’re either resting and digesting or you’re fight and flighting.)
Please be aware of these responses and try where you can to reduce some stressed situation.
If you’d like help with any lifestyle changes, reduced toxic foods, train smart, and have some alternative meal choices to prevent eating in the car then please reach out here.
If you are feeling run down all the time, then infrared saunas are a fantastic way to improve your immune system.
All the package information is right here for you.
Here’s to a less stressed 2019…
Kerrie xo
