Allostasis and Management of Everyday Stress By Hannah Eucker, DO
attend to ailing children or parents, and perhaps deal with acute per- sonal tragedy. But no big deal, we all get by right? Wrong! Our soci- ety has created a culture of misconception around lifestyle choices that may be stealthily depleting your health and energy reserves. The result is a body that may still function, but may also be burdened by chronic pains, congestion, indigestion, anxiety… Get the point? This may be living but it is not healthful living and your body will eventu- ally break down.
W Homeostasis is the state of equilibrium our bodies maintain to
keep our physiologic and biochemical processes in balance. Al- lostasis is the ability to maintain homeostasis through change. It is a normal dynamic response that allows the body to react to perceived stressors through behavioral and physiologic responses. The effect allostasis has on the body comes down to one simple equation:
Stress (Allostatic Load) = Selective Vulnerability & Resiliency Factors
Propensity to Illness
Normally, a stressor is managed by resiliency factors, such as those as noted below, and the body returns to homeostasis. How- ever, if stressors persist and repetitive cycles of allostasis continually tax the body, allostatic load (AL) occurs. AL causes the body to work overtime to maintain physiologic systems. If our bodies are not able to keep up, it leads to illness and disease.
The following examples demonstrate effects of allostatic load:
• Long-term social stress in mice led to behavior changes akin to depression and anxiety. • College students practicing forgiveness after conflict had lower AL and faster return to homeostasis. • Higher AL led to decline on physical and mental measures. • Infants who lay on their mother’s chest have half the cortisol (stress hormone) levels as those who are removed.
• AL is related to people’s perceptions of demands placed upon them.
Allostatic load affects every aspect of the mind, body, and spirit. A complex interaction exists amongst these components, and you cannot affect one without affecting the others. Let us look briefly at each component for a better understanding of where allostatic load affects us and what we can do to balance the effects on the body.
Mind. This includes your thoughts and mental processes. It is
active throughout your day and is involved in perception and how you choose to respond to an event. As seen in the last point above, AL is related to the perceptions of demands. This means that two identical people who experience the same stressful event will have two very different outcomes depending upon how they perceive that stressor. Does this mean stress is all in your head? Absolutely not!
38 Natural Nutmeg June 2012
e all face it at some point in our day; irritability, moodi- ness, the perception of stress. In fact, it seems a never- ending battle at times. Our lists go on; succeed at work,
What it does mean is that you can have a very real impact on how resilient and vibrant your beautiful body can respond. Just as those college students who practiced forgiveness had a quicker return to homeostasis, so too can the act of stepping back and accepting a situation as-is rather than wishing for a different outcome. Each time you can do this, the less your mind, and thus body and spirit, will be weighed down, and the more free you’ll be to adapt and change. An easy exercise is to let go of something weighing you down each day. This may be as simple as the desire to alter the bumper-to-bumper traffic jam, or as profound as releasing the anger toward a parent or friend who ‘wronged you’ years ago. Try it. Over time, you will replace negative thoughts with a foundation of positive perceptions and improved mental health. Reinforce this with feelings of safety, comfort, and encouragement from a supportive social network.
Body. The body receives insult and toxic exposure through
various means. One of the more significant is via the gut, as many foods are now full of chemicals such as pesticides, growth hor- mones, preservatives, and radiation to name a few. It’s important to minimize toxic ingestion, and to ensureing healthy detoxification. If wastes are not properly eliminated, toxic substances accumulate in your cells, leading to symptoms such as chronic fatigue, headaches, joint pains, fertility issues, mood swings, and even learning disorders and memory loss! Healthy detoxification includes maximizing gut motility and maintaining a highly plant-based diet, with 60%-80% intake coming from raw or lightly steamed vegetables. You may require further support in the form of supplements to balance your detoxification pathways.
Our skin is another major detoxification center, and an im- portant one as it is the largest organ system in the body. Every time we sweat, we are ridding the body of toxic substances. But just as toxins can be excreted, they can likewise be absorbed. Consider your lotions, shampoos, detergents, deodorants, and cleaning agents. How many of these have known toxic components? This is where the benefits of saunas, steam baths, and hot tubs enter in. The high heat triggers the body to sweat, thus bringing toxins to the surface for elimination. Infrared saunas are particularly effective as they stimu- late the lymphatics, leading to a deeper cleanse.
Spirit. Like your mind, your spirit can become bombarded by
negative thoughts and perceptions. You can improve the resiliency of your spirit through meditation, prayer, and yoga. There are also simple things you can do such as noting your posture. My favorite example is the Charlie Brown cartoon where his head is hanging down in his ‘depressed stance’. He says “When you’re depressed it makes a lot of difference how you stand…The worst thing you can do is straighten up and hold your head high because then you’ll start to feel better.” He makes a good point! How we stand affects how we feel, so remember to stand tall with your head and chest lifted. Breath is another fundamental component to a healthy spirit. In fact, ‘spirit’ is derived from the Latin spiritus for ‘breath’. Good breath and meditation decrease rates of heart disease and cancer, improve insomnia, and decrease levels of pain. Moreover, all the
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52