Women_Health_and_Fitness_Magazine_October_2016

PHOTOGRAPHY: THINKSTOCK

thrive

CALMER

Chameleon

IN A SOCIETY THAT DEIFIES BUSYNESS AND DOING,

STRESS IS INEVITABLE. BUT BY UNDERSTANDING

STRESS AND TAKING THE BULL BY THE HORNS,

YOU CAN FIND CALM AMID THE CHAOS.

Words: David Goding and Evelyn Lewin

Stress has become the Interweb era’s pet

peeve, fuelling an explosion in services and

practices geared to treating it. Emerging

evidence supporting the scope of meditation

in treatment for everything from cancer to

MS and fertility issues is only making stress’

star shine brighter.

In 2013, 73 per cent of Australians

reported that stress was having at least some

impact on their physical health according to

the Australian Psychological Society.

“When we’re stressed, a message goes

down to the adrenal gland that releases

adrenalin and cortisol,” says psychologist Dr

Nicola Gates (brainandmindpsychology.com).

“This gets our heart racing and creates muscle

tension and causes blood pressure to increase,

and a number of other physiological changes,”

she says.

Stress has also earned notoriety for

promoting body fat gain and inhibiting fat

loss. The English Whitehall study, which

tracked workers over 14 years, found that

those who reported chronic work stress were

more likely to develop metabolic syndrome,

a cluster of health issues often sparked by

excess abdominal visceral fat. Women with

chronic work stress were over five times more

likely to be affected as men. The culprit? Stress

hormone cortisol.

“When you’re stressed your adrenal glands

release more cortisol, which makes you

store fat in case you have to go for a lengthy

time without food,” says Timothy Crowe, an

associate professor in nutrition and exercise

sciences at Deakin University. “This build-up

can occur rapidly in our most active fat cells

in the abdomen – where it can predispose you

to problems with insulin and diseases such

as type 2 diabetes. The release of cortisol can

also affect hormones that increase appetite.

“This can lead to comfort eating and make it

hard for some people to control their weight,”

Crowe says.

Less obvious stress-related adaptations

change the way the body functions, gradually

degrading body parts and systems.

“Chronic stress – long-term stress – can

ultimately compromise brain function,” says

Gates. People suffering post-traumatic stress

disorder, for instance, can develop permanent

memory problems. Stress is also a major risk

factor for depression, anxiety and dementia.

STRESS V ANXIETY

Stress is a common precursor to the

potentially crippling anxiety, which affects an