Stress levels are at an all-time high. As a result of this, most health professionals agree that we are facing a health crisis that has the potential to yield serious health and social consequences for years to come.
75% of adults feel stress regularly with anxiety and fatigue as the most common symptoms.
24% of adults experience stress levels above 8 out of 10.
1 in 3 adults will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in life.
Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to life experiences. Everyone experiences stress on a daily basis to varying degrees. Anything from everyday work and family responsibilities to serious life events like a new health diagnosis, war or the death of a loved one can trigger increased stress levels.
Stress levels are at an all-time high. As a result of this, most health professionals agree that we are facing a health crisis that has the potential to yield serious health and social consequences for years to come.
75% of adults feel stress regularly with anxiety and fatigue as the most common symptoms.
24% of adults experience stress levels above 8 out of 10.
1 in 3 adults will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in life.
Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to life experiences. Everyone experiences stress on a daily basis to varying degrees. Anything from everyday work and family responsibilities to serious life events like a new health diagnosis, war or the death of a loved one can trigger increased stress levels.
Finances
Work + job stability
The economy
Relationships
Health challenges
Housing
Stress is more than just mortgage payments, difficult conversations and struggling to find work life balance. In fact, you may very well be stressing out your body and mind more than you know.
The hidden stressors can often be the most detrimental—things like poor nutrition and diet, imbalanced exercise programs, lack of sleep, not drinking enough water, having a negative mindset and a lack of social connection.
These unhealthy habits that have become a trademark of the modern lifestyle result in an accumulation of chronic stress that can activate the stress response.
When you experience stress, the body releases stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which trigger the "fight or flight" response. This response prepares the body to deal with the perceived threat by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration, as well as diverting energy resources to vital organs and muscles.
For immediate, short term situations, stress can be beneficial to your health. It can help you cope with potentially serious situations by causing your body to release stress response hormones that generate physical responses, like those mentioned above, which in turn, help ready your muscles to react at a moment’s notice.
What you might not realize is when your stress response doesn’t stop firing and your stress levels stay elevated for longer than is necessary for survival, it can take a toll on your short, and possibly long-term health, throwing your body into overdrive, putting constant pressure on your nervous system and leading to hormone imbalance.
This constant stress response contributes to common complaints like weight gain, low energy, digestive issues, anxiety, high blood pressure, depression, sugar cravings, headaches, skin challenges, low sex drive and much more serious illness. In fact, leading health professionals estimate that as much as 90% of illness and disease is stress related. This epidemic of stress is a strong contributor to both high medical costs and poor medical outcomes.
We know not all stress is bad. For example, lifting weights exerts stress on the body, but this physical stress helps build our strength and releases positive hormones that help us feel better and actually relieve built-up stress. However, when stress festers without release or we find ourselves in a constant state of stress, this normal part of life can suddenly become a danger to our mental and physical well-being. Let’s look at how extended stress can affect various aspects of our body and mind.
BUT, before you begin to stress over the effects of your stress, there is good news - research shows that there are ways to naturally improve your ability to respond to stress.
Science universally recognizes that your lifestyle plays a large part in determining your well-being. Living a balanced lifestyle that includes good hydration and sleep, daily movement, a nutritious diet, and healthy mental habits, such as gratitude journaling or meditation, along with strong social connections can go a long way in mitigating and preventing the negative effects of chronic stress.
Science (along with centuries old knowledge) have also shown us that certain plants called adaptogens have a natural ability to help the body manage stress hormones, like cortisol, and restore balance to the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. At Solle, we prioritize these unique plants in our herbal formulas for these reasons and encourage customers to pair them with healthy lifestyle habits for unmatched, protective benefits for their current well-being, as well as with their future longevity.
The first step in any health journey is taking inventory of where you're currently at. Take our 5-minute quiz to learn more about your personal stress resiliency and get immediate results that will provide insight into your current state, as well as simple recommendations you can implement to improve your score.
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