Holiday Stress

Photo by RDNE Stock project: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-slicing-meat-on-table-5848011/

I recently wrote about it being the season of high sugar consumption. Well, there’s something else we tend to “binge on” during the holidays, although it’s a bit more outside of our control than how much sugar we eat.

I’m talking about stress. In addition to just the normal day to day stuff we all have to deal with, the holidays often bring increased time with family (whom we may or may not get along with), increased financial pressures related to travel, gift buying, etc., and various other stressful situations.

You probably are at least somewhat conscious of the effects that additional stress has on your mood and emotions, but there’s a bunch of things that happen in the body in response to stress to make you feel less than your best both physically and mentally.

The physiological effects of stress are numerous and complex, so I’m going to hit the high points and mainly focus on cortisol.

Cortisol is often called “the stress hormone,” and sometimes people take that to mean that elevated cortisol causes stress, but higher cortisol levels are an effect of stress, not the cause of it. Elevated cortisol is essentially the body’s way of handling a crisis and in brief bursts, it works pretty well.

The problem comes in when stress is intense and prolonged – like say, the period of weeks running from late November through the first part of January.

Prolonged elevated cortisol has several negative effects on the body/mind. These include:

• Increased blood sugar and insulin resistance resulting in increased body fat.

• Increased sodium and water retention, adding bloating to the increased fat.

• Decreased immune function leading to a greater chance of getting sick.

• Decreased potassium, resulting in increased blood pressure and a tendency to get muscle tightness and cramping.

• Increased stomach acid production, resulting in reflux/heartburn and potentially gastritis and even ulcers.

• Depression and/or anxiety.

I think it’s safe to say that having prolonged, elevated cortisol is not a lot of fun!

So, what can we do about it?

Number one on my list is regular, moderate exercise – preferably something you enjoy so that you’re more likely to make time for it during this busy time of year. If you are under a lot of stress, it’s best not to go with extremely vigorous exercise – at least not on a frequent basis – as this can further elevate cortisol and backfire on you. You can bump up the intensity when the stress hopefully settles down a bit.

Walking, swimming, bicycling, even low-intensity resistance training are all good. Again, I recommend doing something you like (or at least don’t hate) so that you are more motivated to stick with it. At least 30 minutes three times per week is recommended, but every bit counts, so do what you can work it into your life and shoot for at least that minimum level of activity.

Another important stress controlling lifestyle factor is getting adequate sleep. At the very least, allow adequate time to sleep. You’re not going to get seven to eight hours of sleep if you’re only in bed for 5 (you’d be surprised how many people will try to make that work though)! Stress can reduce the quality of your sleep, but some exercise and the tip I’m about to discuss can often help improve it.

I also suggest using “adaptogens.” Adaptogens are various supplements that help regulate what’s knows as the “HPA axis,” which is the relationship between the hypothalamus, the pituitary, and the adrenal glands. Basically, the HPA axis is the interaction between your nervous system and the adrenal glands, which are the glands that manage the body’s responses to stress.

Adaptogens help the HPA axis function better and moderate its responses to prolonged stress, such as cortisol production.

There’s several adaptogens that are popular, but I’m going to focus on two that have considerable research supporting their use: ashwaganda and Korean red ginseng.

Ashwaganda gets a lot of good press and for good reason (and not just because it sounds kind of like Wakanda from Marvel’s Black Panther movies - Ashwaganda forever!). It has been shown to reduce cortisol and at the same time appears to increase strength and endurance and enhance mood and emotional stability.

For several years, ashwaganda has been widely considered to be the best of the adaptogens, but new research is suggesting that the old standby of ginseng might be even better. Specifically, Korean red ginseng is showing to be quite effective in reducing cortisol and fortifying the body to handle both physical and emotional stress.

For ashwaganda, the usual dosage recommendation is 250 to 500 mg per day.

The recent research on Korean Red ginseng has been done using in the range of 1500 to 4500 mg per day.

If you try either or both, I suggest you start by taking an amount at the lower end of the dosage range early in the day (breakfast time) and then perhaps experiment with taking an additional dose in the late afternoon. In some cases, adptogens help with sleep when taken late, but for others, it wakes them up and interferes with sleep, so I recommend starting with a low dose early and see how it goes. You can always bump up the dose or take a second one later in the day if you like the results.

Both ashwaganda and Korean red ginseng have the potential to bother one’s stomach (another reason to start towards the lower end of the dosage range at first), but this can often be solved by taking them with a small amount of carbohydrate (preferably not something sugary, but if that’s what you’ve got...).

It is thought that carbs enhance the absorption of adaptogen supplements through interactions with the microbes in the gut, so if you want the benefits without the temporary stomach upset, it’s worth trying them with some carbs in your stomach - assuming you’re not on a ketogenic diet.

Finally, if the stress is overwhelming you, take a moment to pause, take some deep breaths, and realize that the thing (possibly a family member) that’s stressing you out is probably not as big of a problem as it seems on the surface. And if it is a family member, you just have to get through a relatively short period of time in close proximity to them and then you can put some distance between you again… until the holidays roll around next year!

Until next time…

George F. Best, D.C.