19 Apr Stressed Out Over Summer?
Stressed Out Over Summer?
School getting out causes a lot of changes for many households. Getting your children to do household chores while they’re home is next to impossible, you’ve got 4 baseball games, 2 basketball camps and 3 swim lessons all in one week, the family vacation causes you more stress than relaxation, and the kids want to go to the pool every moment they don’t have something else going on!
During times of stress, our bodies activate our adrenal glands to produce cortisol. This cortisol is intimately linked to our adrenaline and noradrenaline (AKA our fight or flight response). The cortisol response to stress is extremely valuable, especially if we are truly in a life or death situation. When we are stressed over psychological situations, we are rarely fighting for our lives or starving to death. Unfortunately, our bodies formulate the same response whether we are frantically trying to prepare the family for the huge list of summer activities or crouched and hiding from a hungry tiger. When hiding from a tiger, we require our bodies to bring more blood flow to our muscles, shut down our GI tract and reproductive organs and heightened our senses. These responses are imperative to surviving the possible tiger attack. While preparing for summer, none of these responses are beneficial to making the transition a bigger success. Instead of fighting or fleeing, we sit and stew about the oncoming change.
It happens to all of us, especially during changes in lifestyle. For this reason, we need to be prepared to handle the stress responses that are sure to accompany the many events planned over the next couple months. The following strategies can help you survive the upcoming summer without the residual damage that can happen:
Exercise: When we are stressed and preparing to fight or flight, the best thing you can do for your body is to be active. Find a physical release for your stressors, whether it is walking with a friend, kickboxing, yoga or a 10 – mile run. Find a release and create time to move your body.
Diet: One of the toughest stressors for your body is managing blood sugar. When you eat a simple carbohydrate or sugar, blood sugars rise. This rise is temporary and blood sugar levels will eventually crash leading to a stress response and a craving for sugar to return blood sugar levels to normal. Protein is the answer to keep blood sugars regulated. Eat protein every time you put something in your mouth. Limit simple sugars & carbohydrates.
Hormone balance: Having your hormones balanced (specifically your progesterone and DHEA), allows your body to formulate stress responses when necessary even when the adrenals glands are struggling to keep up with the demand. Now is a great time to test those hormone levels to make sure you are ready for the stressors ahead.
Adaptogens: These herbs help regulate the production of cortisol in the body and can be very helpful in keeping the sleep cycle regular and your energy up. One of our favorite adaptogen products is Cortisol Calm.
Glandular support: Occasionally, the hypothalamus and pituitary shut down the adrenal glands, so cortisol stops its usual production. Without cortisol, you lose the motivation and energy to rise and complete the tasks required. Adrenal gland can be supplemented in the short term to give some energy while the rest of the body recovers.
Proper supplementation: When your body makes a lot of cortisol it uses up a lot of vitamins. The most important of these is vitamin B5, aka Pantothenic Acid. It is really challenging to get a substantial amount of B5 from food. We suggest supplementing with Dr. Wilson’s Super Adrenal Stress multivitamin or straight pantothenic acid 500mg.
Summer is full of sometimes crazy schedules and poor dietary options. Don’t let stress get the best of you. Take time to focus on yourself so you can be the best version of you!