Skip Past Stress

Whether caused by a job, relationships or even everyday struggles, we all experience stress. Stress is more than just an unpleasant feeling – it can seriously affect your heart health. For example, recent studies find people who worry about losing their jobs are 20% more likely to have heart disease.

When stressed, your body releases cortisol, a hormone that temporarily increases heart rate and blood pressure. However, experiencing too much stress over time can increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. Chronic stress also can cause anxiety, depression, digestive problems, inflammation, and irregular heart rates.

Additionally, stress can contribute to unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as poor diet, lack of exercise and excessive alcohol consumption. These behaviors also can increase your risk of heart attack and stroke.

Unfortunately, we can’t “cancel” stress, but we can try to identify things that overwhelm us and find ways to lower our spiked blood pressures.

While stressors vary from person to person, it’s important to take the time to reflect on what triggers your stress response. By pinpointing the specific causes of your stress, you can then develop strategies to better cope with and minimize the impact.

Luckily, there are ways to skip past stress and get back on the road to a healthy heart. Exercise, relaxation techniques – like meditation and making time for self-care – can help.

More than 75% of American adults report experiencing side effects of stress, including headaches and problems sleeping. Keeping a journal of stress triggers and reactions to them is the first step to a calmer life. Afterward, if you’d like, you can share it with a partner or therapist.

While you can implement many stress management strategies on your own, it’s important to recognize when seeking professional help is necessary. If your stress levels are so overwhelming it affects your daily life, it may be time to contact your provider. They can help you find better ways to cope.

Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to pump the breaks on sweet treats and second helpings. Next time, we’ll discuss why you should not be afraid to step on the scale. After all, there are ways to shed pounds and boost your heart health.