Stressors characterized
Coping with holiday stressors first requires recognizing what stresses the body.
Stress factors can be broadly characterized as psychological, psychosocial, and physical (1).
Psychological stress can be emotional (fear, frustration, anger, grief), or even cognitive stress like worry, guilt, jealousy, or anxiety (2).
Psychosocial stress can include relationship issues, loss of employment, loss of a loved one, or even financial struggles like bankruptcy or home foreclosure (3).
Physical stressors include being sedentary or overexertion, experiencing trauma like an injury or a surgical procedure, external factors like environmental pesticides, heavy metals, and EMFs, and internal factors like an illness caused by a virus, bacteria, or fungus, as well as nutritional deficiencies, dehydration, and food allergies (4).
When stress persists over weeks or months it becomes chronic and can damage our health leading to conditions like anxiety, depression, and cardiovascular disease (4).
Symptoms and effects of chronic stress
When stress persists and becomes chronic, we can have problems concentrating, experience fatigue, mood swings, and headaches, become irritable or anxious, and have muscle tension, sleep and digestive disturbances, and appetite changes that can lead to further complications over time (5).
Cardiovascular disease
Hypertension
Diabetes
Obesity
Weakened immune function
Depression
Anxiety
Burnout
Coping with holiday stress
Here are a few strategies to reduce stress and keep it from becoming chronic over the holidays.
· Get exercise each day. Movement produces chemicals in the body that boost our mood and reduce stress, so incorporate appropriate daily physical activity, like walking, biking, or swimming (7).
· Breathe deeply from the diaphragm to trigger the relaxation response and encourage chemicals and brain signaling for muscles and organs to slow down while increasing blood flow to the brain (8).
· Consume whole foods that contain stress-reducing nutrients like magnesium (kale, Swiss chard, spinach, brown rice, cashews, and white and black beans), vitamin C (strawberries, potatoes, raw cabbage, Brussels sprouts, mango, and kale), potassium (potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, apricots, coffee), zinc (raw oysters, herring, legumes, beef, turkey, ricotta cheese), selenium (Brazil nuts, ricotta cheese, sunflower seeds), and B vitamins (raw oysters, salmon, yogurt, eggs, broccoli, lentils, beans, green leafy vegetables, almonds, strawberries, chickpeas, rice, mushrooms, tuna, potatoes) (9).
· Get enough quality sleep and do your best to stick to a sleep routine. Studies show that being consistent with bed and wake times each day and getting enough quality sleep has health benefits as it reduces the risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (10).
· Consider adaptogenic herbs. Certain plant compounds found in holy basil, ashwagandha, and gotu kola can normalize the stress response, reduce anxiety, and increase mental function (11).
· Limit time on social media. Reducing technology “noise” can limit the stimuli that overwhelm during the busy holiday season (12).
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