The Effects of Stress on How you Feed Yourself

If you have been living on planet earth the last couple years, it’s become apparent that stress levels have grossly risen. We had our lives shaken up and flipped upside down and were expected to put it all back together all on our own. In the meantime, the effects of the stress we have all been trying to balance has shown up on our hips, waistlines and behinds.

Long-term stress increases the stress hormone cortisol chronically. This can manifest as cravings for fatty foods, sugar and refined carbohydrates.  I don’t think I have ever had a client under high stress craving broccoli and celery. These cravings can be intense and when we feed ourselves high sugar foods it can lead to one of the first symptoms you might notice if you are wondering if you have high cortisol levels – Gut Issues.

Stress decreases digestive juices and absorption of nutrients. Symptoms can lead to stomach cramping intestinal bloating and eventually inflammation of the intestinal system and problems like irritable bowel. When stress is acute and strong heartburn and gastro-esophageal reflux can occur making eating and digesting less than fun.

The second symptom of chronic high cortisol levels is weight gain and weight gain that is stubborn and unmoving when “diets” are attempted. High cortisol and all those cravings equate to weight gain around the middle (sometimes referred to as “central obesity”) and on the face (sometimes referred to as “moon face”).

Another common symptom that people with high cortisol experience is the feeling of being wired but tired. The anxiety they experience prevents them from sleeping at night but getting up in the morning feels like an intense struggle every day. No matter how much sleep individuals with high cortisol get they rarely feel rested. Many use copious amounts of caffeine to keep them going which in turn washes much needed water soluble B-vitamins and minerals from the body in turn contributing to the exhaustion.

When wired and tired the daytime tiredness is severe but one of the cruel jokes of Mother Nature is that high cortisol levels prevent proper sleep at night so even when seven to nine hours are set aside for a proper night’s sleep, getting to sleep is near impossible and on the nights when sleep does come quickly, it is hard to stay asleep. Have you ever been so exhausted that you are ready to sleep at 6pm only to finally lay down to sleep and have your entire to-do list keep you up till the wee hours of the night? Have you ever found yourself fall into deep sleep only to be woken up for no apparent reason at all 3am? These symptoms should make you think about cortisol.

Finally, one of the hardest symptoms to talk about is the lack of sex drive/ low libido. This isn’t a topic many people just come out and discuss in every day conversation but for those that have high cortisol chronically it may be an under lying concern that isn’t getting addressed.

Symptoms of high stress and high cortisol inform us that there is something off with the ability for our nervous system to switch from the sympathetic “fight or flight” mode to the para-sympathetic “rest and digest” mode. It can take a new focus and concerted effort to actively switch off the stress and work to relax. Getting out in nature, meditation, deep breathing and working on a sleep routine are all important steps to take to work on bringing down the stress. The world we live in no longer seems to give us many opportunities to just relax so we must make our own opportunities. When is the last time you soaked in an Epsom salt bath? When did you just take 20 minutes to yourself to just breathe?

Want to get even healthier? Are you dealing with chronically high stress levels? Could you use some support figuring out what foods and habits you could add to your everyday to support normalizing your stress hormones? Curious about how health coaching can help you make healthy changes? Let’s talk! Schedule an initial complimentary consultation with us today—or pass this offer on to someone you care about! Visit www.noshoesnutrition.com and sign up for a FREE consultation.  We work with people from all over the world individually or in groups so don’t let anything hold you back!