STRESS & THE BODY RESPONSEHOW TO BUILD BIOLOGICAL RESILIENCE

Stress is a natural body reaction to events that make you feel

threatened or upset your balance in some way. Our bodies

respond to stressful situations mentally, physically and

emotionally.

When we say things like "this is stressful" or "I'm stressed",

we might be talking about:

❖ Situations or events that put pressure on us – for

example, times where we have lots to do and think about,

or don't have much control over what happens.

❖ Our reaction to being placed under pressure – the

feelings we get when we have demands placed on us that

we find difficult to cope with.

Stress does not always have a negative effect; some stress

is motivational. If something challenges us but it is also

rewarding, it has a positive effect on us.

What is stress?

Adrenal Glands and HormonesThe Hypothalamus stimulates Adrenal glands, via the Spinal Cord and

the Pituitary gland, to produce hormones.

Adrenal glands are small, bean-shaped glands located on top of both

kidneys. They are composed of two parts — the cortex and the

medulla — each responsible for producing different hormones.

The hormones secreted from the cortex are steroids, generally

classified as glucocorticoids (e.g., cortisol, which controls the

metabolism of fat, protein and carbohydrates, influencing the

production of energy, the thyroid’s hormones and immune system as

well as suppressing inflammation. Cortisol regulates blood pressure;

increasing blood sugar and decreasing bone formation. This hormone

also controls the sleep/wake cycle) and mineralocorticoids (e.g.,

aldosterone, which controls minerals and water balance in the body

and helps regulate the blood pH).

Those substances emanating from the medulla are amines, such as

epinephrine (fight-or-flight mode) and norepinephrine.

What happens in our Body?

Symptoms of Over-StressBrain and Nerves: Headaches, feeling of despair, lack of energy,

sadness, nervousness, anger, irritability, trouble concentrating,

memory problems, difficulty sleeping, mental health disorders

(anxiety, panic attacks, depression, etc.)

Heart: Faster heartbeat or palpitations, rise in blood pressure,

increased risk of high cholesterol and heart attack

Stomach: Nausea, stomachache, heartburn, weight gain,

increased or decreased appetite

Pancreas: Increase risk of diabetes due insulin resistance.

Intestines: Diarrhea, constipation and other digestive problems

Reproductive Organs: for women – estrogen dominance, irregular

or painful periods, reduced sexual desire.

For men – impotence, low sperm production, reduced sexual

desire.

Other: Acne and other skin problems, muscle ache and tension,

increased risk of low bone density and weaken immune system

(making it harder to fight off or recover from illnesses)

Managing stress

In our daily activities we face unpredicted short and long-

term stressful events called stressors, which are either

internal (e.g., hurtful memories and internal injuries) or

external (e.g., pathogen infection, excessive heat or cold,

nutrition deprivation, physical and emotional traumas)

But whatever the stressor is, it's likely that you can learn to

manage your stress better by:

❖ Managing external pressures, so stressful situations don't seem to happen to you quite so often.

❖ Developing your emotional resilience, so you're better at coping with tough situations when they do happen and don't feel quite so stressed.

How to deal with pressureIdentify your triggers and address some of the causes

❖ Issues that come up regularly, and that you worry about, for example paying a bill or attending an appointment.

❖ One-off events that are on your mind a lot, such as moving to a new house or taking an exam.

❖ Ongoing stressful events, like being a career or having problems at work, not having enough work, activities or change in your life can be just as stressful as having too much to deal with.

Organise your time:

❖ Making some adjustments to the way you organise your time could help you feel more in control of any tasks you're facing, and more able to handle pressure. You could try to identify your best time of the day, make a list, set smaller and more achievable targets, varyyour activities, try not to do too much at once, take breaks and take things slowly, ask someone if they can help.

Accept the things you can't change:

❖ It's not easy, but accepting that there are some things happening to you that you probably can't do anything about will help you focus your time and energy more productively on things you can improve.

How to build Emotional Resilience

Taking steps to look after your wellbeing can help you deal with pressure, and reduce the impact that stress has on your life. This is sometimes called developing emotional resilience. Resilience is the ability to bounce back and adapt to stress, while maintaining a stable mental wellbeing.

Resilience can be learned:

Give yourself a break

❖ Learning to be kinder to yourself and forgiving yourself when you

feel you have made a mistake.

❖ Reward yourself for achievements

❖ Resolve conflicts if you can. Speaking to a manager, colleague or

family member about problems in your relationship with them can

help you find ways to move forward.

❖ Get a change of scenery, even if it's just for a short time.

❖ Take a break or holiday. Time away from your normal routine can

help you relax and feel refreshed.

Build your support network

❖Friends and family. Sometimes just telling the people

close to you how you're feeling can make a big difference

– and they might be able to help you out in other ways

too.

❖Support at work, at university or college, such as your

tutors, student union or student services or peer support.

Sometimes sharing your experiences with people who've

been through something similar can help you feel less

alone.

❖Specialist support: If you feel like you need some

professional support, you can speak to your holistic

therapist, psychologist or GP.

How to build Emotional Resilience

Make some lifestyle changes:

❖Practise being straightforward and assertive in communicating with others.

❖Use relaxation techniques, like having a bath, listening to music or taking your dog for a walk.

❖Find balance in your life. Try planning to focus some of your energy on other parts of your life, like family, friends or hobbies.

Look after your physical health

❖Get enough sleep. Getting enough sleep can help you feel more able to deal with difficult situations.

❖Be active. Even making small changes such as going for a regular walk outside may help you to feel less stressed.

❖Eat healthily. What you eat, and when you eat, can make a big difference to how well you feel.

How to build Emotional Resilience

Stress and Diet

One of the best ways to get a message to your body that is not

under stress (so that it produces less adrenalin and cortisol), is to

control your blood sugar levels.

Stress induces one to eat more and to crave more sugary food, to

break this vicious circle we need to:

❖ Eat little and often.

❖ Don’t skip meals, especially breakfast

❖ Eliminate sugar and refined carbohydrates, as these increase

anxiety

❖ Add protein to each meal

❖ Eat essential good fats

❖ Do not eat on the run or in front of the TV

❖ Avoid caffeine, alcohol, soft drinks and fruit juices

❖ Avoid lactose, gluten and other allergens as they may increase

cortisol production.

❖ Stop dieting: calorie restriction sends an alarming message to

your mind and body, sending them into survival mode and

holding on to body weight, slowing the metabolism and

increasing cravings. Instead, improve your diet with more real

and dense nutrition rather than “cutting calories”.

Vitamins❖ Vitamin C prevents the increase in cortisol levels,

reducing the signs of physical and emotional stress. The

more cortisol we make, the more vitamin C we use, and

under stress we excrete more vitamin C in the urine.

Individuals with vitamin C deficiency show three times the

level of stress hormones. Vitamin C is water soluble and it

is transported into the cells with the help of insulin.

Cortisol increases the level of glucose in the bloodstream.

Prolonged stress may cause insulin resistance. Vitamin C

and glucose, being structurally similar, might compete to

enter the cell, so insulin resistance might prevent your

body from utilising Vitamin C and glucose correctly,

increasing inflammation, immune deficiency and free

radical damage.

❖ Vitamin D and cortisol are made both from cholesterol, as

many of our hormones are, so during stressful times a

supplementation of Vitamin D might be essential. Vitamin

D can block the action of a specific enzyme needed to

make cortisol; thus it is essential to fight stress.

Vitamins

B-complex can support individuals who suffer from the

effects of stress:

❖ Thiamin (vitamin B1) is a protective nutrient for the

adrenals and it can decrease stress-induced cortisol

response.

❖ Niacinamide (vitamin B3) can increase REM sleep and

decrease wakefulness in people who have insomnia.

Also, B3 helps to shunt tryptophan to serotonin.

❖ Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) deficiency can result in

compromised adrenal function. B5 can blunt an

overactive cortisol response to stress.

❖ Vitamin B6 improves neurotransmitter formation

(GABA, serotonin, and dopamine).

❖ Folate is essential for the formation of BH4, which is

necessary for formation of serotonin, dopamine,

norepinephrine, and epinephrine.

❖ Vitamin B12 helps reset circadian rhythms for improved

sleep and for normalizing cortisol peaks.

Magnesium

The body under stress needs Magnesium to:

❖ Downgrade the cortisol response and cleanse cortisol

from the cells;

❖ Keep calcium outside the cells avoiding rigidity and

tension in the cell;

❖ Balance the nervous system and relax muscles, to

prevent mental stress associated with physical tension.

❖ Convert tryptophan into serotonin

❖ Regulate the HPA axis it is needed by maintaining

healthy GABA levels;

❖ Reduce blood pressure, by relaxing the smooth muscles

in blood vessel walls, as it can help prevent chronic

hypertension;

❖ Reduce blood sugar. Magnesium is responsible for

insulin opening cell membranes to allow sugar into the

cells;

❖ Relax large muscles of the arms and legs avoiding

cramping and restless leg syndrome;

❖ Help production of Vitamin D

❖ Zinc ions have now been shown to play a role in the neuro-

modulation of synaptic transmission as well as in cortical

plasticity.

❖ Zinc is an essential trace element with extensive effects on

neurotransmission, receptor function and second messenger

systems in the cerebral hemispheres. Zinc is stored in

specific synaptic vesicles by a class of glutaminergic found in

the cerebral cortex and limbic structures. Thus, zinc may

have critical roles in normal cognitive and emotional

functioning.

❖ Different mechanisms have been suggested to explain the

relation between zinc and ADHD symptoms, possibly through

alterations in the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin.

❖ Zinc plays a significant role with respect to the stress

response by calming and sedating, as it enhances GABA

activity in the brain.

❖ Zinc deficiency elevates the hypothalamic-pituitary-

adrenocortical (HPA) axis activity, followed by an increase of

cortisol.

Zinc

Essential Fat Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids are necessary for the normal

functioning of your brain and nervous system — mood,

memory, cognition, and general mental well-being.

Several studies support the idea that Omega 3 blunts the

stress response and effectively reduces cortisol levels in

humans, by inhibiting the activation of the hypothalamic-

pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.

Omega 3 is an essential structural component of brain

cells. Numerous studies show that supplementing with

omega-3 fatty acids significantly lowers inflammation and

progressively reduces symptoms and feelings of anxiety

We recommend supplementing with Marine

Phytoplankton, that contains the essential omega-3 fatty

acids and over 75 other nutrients, helpful to nourish and

support the adrenal glands.

Amino acids❖ Tyrosine helps make several important substances,

Adrenaline and noradrenaline hormones, responsible for the

fight-or-flight response to stressful situations, and Dopamine,

that regulates your reward and pleasure center’s memory and

motor skills.

❖ Phosphatidylserine is a fat-soluble amino acid that

powerfully lowers cortisol and improves attention and

memory.

❖ Glycine stimulates production of serotonin and helps

regulate nerve impulses in the CNS. Glycine has calming

effects on the brain and it can lower the core body

temperature, which promotes a good night’s sleep.

❖ Lysine and L-Arginine taken together, they have been shown

to significantly reduce anxiety and decrease cortisol levels

❖ Tryptophan, an amino acid that helps your body to produce

serotonin and melatonin that aids your body to regulate sleep.

Herbs and supplements

❖ Theanine is a unique amino acid found in tea. It’s

known to produce a calming effect on the brain by

crossing the blood-brain barrier and increasing the

production of GABA, serotonin and dopamine in the

brain.

❖ Rhodiola is an adaptogen herb that has been shown

to improve symptoms associated with chronic fatigue

and stress-related burnout.

❖ Ashwagandha is an adaptogen herb used in Indian

Ayurveda. It is thought to enhance your body’s

resilience to physical and mental stress, anxiety, and

depression, as well as lower morning cortisol levels.

❖ Foods, such as bananas, figs, raw chocolate, maca

and suma, facilitate melatonin production helping you

to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer if you have

difficulties falling asleep related to stress.

“I promise you nothing is as chaotic as it seems. Nothing is worth diminishing your health. Nothing is worth poisoning yourself into stress, anxiety, and fear.”

– Steve Maraboli

Thank You!

Susanna Saiu

Nation Trainer Manager for Noble Naturals

Email: Susanna@noblenaturals.co.uk

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and it is not a substitute for professional advice. All

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