This month in the Wellness Zone - Is Your Nervous System out of Balance?

The word ‘Stress' is thrown around a lot these days but what is it and what does it mean?  One definition is that stress is an internal response, physical or emotional, to stimuli or pressures (real or imagined) that challenge our ability to adapt or cope.

Our nervous system actually has two parts, the ‘relaxation' response which looks after all the housekeeping such as breathing, digestion, reproduction, repair, maintenance etc and the ‘stress' response which was designed to help us escape the ‘chasing tiger', the ‘fright' and ‘flight' response.  Although small amounts of stress can be beneficial giving us the energy to perform, for many women these days the tiger is out there constantly stalking us. 

Constant low grade stress is common as we juggle our busy home and work lives.  If the stress response is being constantly stimulated and not allowed to recover, not only is this taking the blood supply away from those ‘housekeeping' functions involved in repair and maintenance and depleting us of essential nutrients but the adrenal glands that produce all the stress hormones can get tired and depleted and this can have many negative physiological effects on our body.  Balance between the relaxation and stress response is essential for disease prevention, anti-ageing and optimal physical and emotional health.

How do we know if we are out of balance? The Emotional Signs that may indicate imbalance:

o Getting upset by trivial things o Over-reacting to situations o Finding it difficult to relax and clear the mind o Feeling overwhelmed with all that you have to do o Mood swings- perhaps teary and depressed to angry and irritable o Easily agitated, no patience The Physical signs that may indicate imbalance:

o Difficulty sleeping at night o Wanting to sleep during the day o Headaches o Generalised muscle tension or aching o Palpitations o Anxiety attacks o Lowered immunity o Sugar cravings o Hypertension The Lifestyle signs that may indicate imbalance:

o Shopping more for things you don't need! o Watching more television than you used to o Drinking more alcohol o Eating more junk food - emotional eating!  What can we do about it?

1. Identify the ‘stressors' or triggers to the above signs and then which ones can be minimised or eliminated. Much of our stress comes from worrying about things that we have no control over - LET IT GO!
2. Remove foods that also stimulate the stress response especially sugars and refined white flour carbohydrates! Soft drinks, coffee and energy drinks all have a ‘stressful' response on the body.
3. Nourish and nurture the nervous system with healthy foods. Most women don't eat enough protein from which we get our essential amino acids which are essential for brain health and the production of feel good hormones such as serotonin.
4. MAKE the time for a family outing or weekend get away.
5. A good quality women's multivitamin with high B-group will ensure you don't get nutritionally depleted - if you are low in B vitamins, which is very common in women, you wont cope with stress and will be easily overwhelmed.
6. Magnesium relaxes nerve and muscle tissue and ~65% of women are deficient leading to symptoms such as chocolate cravings, low energy, muscle tension, headaches, emotional instability and difficulty sleeping.
7. Address any underlying health conditions - stress is the trigger to many degenerative diseases and will often exacerbate conditions such as menopause, PMS, obesity, depression, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
8. Consider counselling if you ‘see no light at the end of the tunnel'. They can often provide tools to help you find solutions and just talking to a third party who is not involved can be a big help.