Quite frankly, I was shocked. Yesterday on my call with Patti Milligan, MS. RD. nutrition and supplement expert I mentioned that exercise and healthy eating are not enough, most of us should include some supplements depending on our bodies needs, the environment around us, our levels of stress. Patti jumped in there and said, “I don’t want to be an alarmist but that’s the worst toxin we have.” What is? “Stress” she answered emphatically.

The worst one? Like so many women I tend to down play stress as it shows up day to day. Granted I also don’t have anything chronically eating at me–or at least I’m not awake to it. Toxic stress includes, never getting a good night’s sleep, a long frustrating commute, a disruptive colleague or unreasonable boss, an abusive relationship with anyone you interact with, chronic illness or pain, and so on. 

Here’s what Patti shared. First off picture some rock salt or even Kosher salt, it’s course and jagged right? This is the shape of a stress hormone. As it floats through the bloodstream, it nicks at the edges of the arteries. These nicks require patching up, think small band aid on a paper cut. The band aid in this case is cholesterol, the cholesterol builds up due to more and more nicks and you get clogged arteries. You can also get a heart attack, a stroke, or that final disco dance.

But wait, there’s more. Stress aggravates the immune system which means we are more susceptible to illness and bugs. It’s also extremely fatiguing when the immune system is always on high alert. A clinician told Patti that after a stressful event or after chronic stress the body is like a post hurricane event on land. There is a disaster with lots of clean up and relief help needed. 

Our B vitamins are the sacrificial lamb in the body’s stress management program. Why care? B vitamins are important for brain function, neurotransmitters firing, nourishing the adrenal glads and modulating stress.

What else can we do to help manage stress in the body? Maintain an even blood sugar level throughout the day. This requires you to eat 4 – 6 times per day. Hydration is #2 but not just water, cellular hydration which includes making sure you have the right electrolyte balance which will in part come from eating plenty of vegetables and some fruit, not drinking sugary bevs or eating too much salt.

#3 is take care of yourself. Look around when you start to feel squeezed–and I’m not talking about getting into your high school jeans. If you feel pressure from life look around and see what the cause is. What can you do to relief some of the pressure? Exercise is great, a long soak in the tub helps some, talking to a friend is also helpful. Do these things get to the root of the problem tho? No. It’s important at this age to get that stuff handled and out of your life. How to do it? Get yourself a coach, a support system, do some research on how others have done what you need or want to do.

Some stress is ok but clearly the stress that’s chronic is something we’ve got to pay attention to.