HIDDEN Stressors That could be Affecting Your Health
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Do you ever wonder about any hidden stressors that could be affecting your health? Do you even know what a HIDDEN stressor is?
What is a HIDDEN Stressor?
A hidden stressor is pretty much the underlying cause at the root of just about every illness out there. I’m talking about thyroid issues, diabetes, acid reflux all the way to blood pressure issues and many more.
HIDDEN stands for Hormone, Immune, Digestion, Detoxification, Environmental and Neurotransmitters. All of these things contribute to the function OR dysfunction of your body. These hidden stressors may bring upon symptoms of certain illnesses that many of us are suffering from.
Bring on the Symptoms!
When your body is in a state of dysfunction you can guarantee that you will find you have some kind of symptom. Whether it be a constant headache, indigestion, sore joints or whatever you may be feeling that is NOT normal. When we have symptoms showing up, we don’t quite feel like we’re supposed to. I can assure you that these symptoms are NOT normal and come with some kind of HIDDEN stressor.
Symptoms don’t always tell the full story and sometimes they actually show up a little too late. When we have symptoms of any kind we tend to look for relief and therefore, we head to our doctor to help us out. Generally, we will tell the doctor our symptoms and he or she will pull out a little square pad of paper and write out a prescription to help with our symptoms.
We head home and take the pills hoping for some relief from the symptoms. Sometimes the pills work and other times they just don’t so we may head back to the doctor for a stronger prescription or a different one that, again, may or may not help us or give us any relief. if it works, we’re good to go and if not sometimes the next step may be some kind of surgery which really never addresses the ROOT CAUSE of WHY we are having the symptoms.
We have to realize that it’s not about the symptoms or even a diagnosis, its more about getting out bodies to function properly and at ease. It’s about working on the HIDDEN stressors and balancing out the issues behind the root cause of it all.
Hormones
Let’s talk about hidden stress on our hormones and what it can do to your health. The main stress hormone, called cortisol can be a good thing when it shows up in response to a small quick stressful moment. It’s our flight or fight response and it returns to normal once the stressful situation is over. However, if there are too many stressful moments and our cortisol levels are constantly on the rise, it tends to “tap out” and can cause a few health issues.
In stressful situations, your cortisol and adrenaline levels can go into overdrive if there is too much stress going on. We all have day to day stressors but sometimes it can really take a toll on our bodies and our health if we cannot take a little “time out” every once in a while. When these stressors are always present and you constantly feel under attack, that fight-or-flight reaction stays turned on.
The long-term activation of the stress-response system can disrupt almost all your body’s processes. This puts you at increased risk of numerous health problems, including:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Digestive problems
- Headaches
- Heart disease
- Sleep problems
- Weight gain
- Memory and concentration impairment
That’s why it’s so important to learn healthy ways to cope with the stressors in your life.
Immune System
With your hormones being stresses and out of whack, that leads to your immune system. A weakened immune system can not only lead you susceptible to just the common cold but to many other issues arising in your health. Do you ever wonder why some people get sick all the time and others may have a little cold here or there for like 2 days and be fine? It may be a little HIDDEN stressor causing the immune system to weaken.
Chronic stress can cause inflammation which could wreak havoc on your immune system It can be linked to an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines, a type of immune cell that is typically part of the body’s defense system when you have an infection. (1) This could lead to autoimmune issues.
The good news is that stress management techniques such as meditation have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects, lowering cytokines in the body. Whew, that could help take care of some of the stress on your immune system.
Digestion
There can be many things that stress your digestion and when your food isn’t digesting the way it is supposed to and being absorbed by your body, it’s called leaky gut and it can cause a whirlwind of problems on the functions of your body.
When your digestion is not healthy, neither is your gut. This type of HIDDEN stress may cause a decrease in blood flow and oxygen to the stomach, which could lead to cramping, inflammation, or an imbalance of gut bacteria. It can also cause and irritate gastrointestinal disorders, including Irritable bowel syndrome and Inflammatory bowel disease.
Stress on your gut really slows the digestion process causing a lot more than just stomach issues. It can lead to inflammatory illnesses, autoimmune disease, skin issues and much more.
Detoxification
When it comes to detoxification we are talking about what actually happens not only to the food in your stomach and how it is digestions but, we are also talking about whether or not a few other organs are functioning properly in the detoxing process. This means your liver, skin, lymph system and your colon.
Is your body detoxifying correctly and keeping in the good and detoxing the bad? That is so important when it comes to your systems being in function or dysfunction.
Environmental
Did you know that environmental toxins can be huge HIDDEN stressors on our system? There are over 80 thousand chemicals or more out there in the environment. Many of us use these toxins each day when we shower, put on lotion and make-up. You’d be surprised what’s in your laundry detergent and household cleaners. These toxins can really disrupt our system. It’s wise to do a little research and find out which ones to avoid and what you can switch them out with.
When your body is stressed these environmental toxins can break down the normal function of quite a few systems in the body. Your thyroid levels can really fluctuate with environmental toxins and that’s just naming one little system that can lead to many more dysfunctions down the road.
Neurotransmitters
This is where it all kind of starts and stops because we are talking about messages your brain is sending out to your body and if one system os off a little, these messages are not transmitted to our bodies correctly.
Your hormones could be off and cause the messages to get confused which can cause many other issues along the way. There are many transmitters in our gut that talk back and forth to your brain so if your gut is leaky you can guarantee there will be some type of dysfunction going on in your body.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I hope you have learned a little something about your body and the way all of these systems work together to be in function or dysfunction. A system that is stressed could be a pathway from a state of ease and health to DIS-ease and unhealthy. Our bodies have so many connected systems and if just one is off a little tiny bit, it could lead to another issue elsewhere.
It’s always good to do your research on these things and the HIDDEN stressors affecting our health and wellness. when you know better you do better and it’s so important to have some knowledge of things like this because we are our own best advocates!!
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