There’s nothing worse than spending the entire night tossing and turning and facing the day with little to no sleep. It feels almost impossible to function or even enjoy your day. Unfortunately, stress can be the culprit. Elevated cortisol levels disrupt your natural sleep-wake cycle, so it’s no wonder you may struggle falling asleep, staying asleep, or achieving restorative sleep. It also goes hand-in-hand with racing thoughts and anxiety that make you further uncomfortable and agitated.
How to cope: Create a wind-down routine to release stress by following a guided meditation for sleep, taking a hot shower, spraying lavender on your bed, and journaling your thoughts and concerns. Doing so will help you manage nighttime anxiety. Furthermore, support your circadian rhythm (your brain’s internal clock) by using black-out curtains, grounded sheets, and white noise to create a peaceful environment.Â
3. Suppresses your immune system
Do you ever feel like you’re always sick? Everyone around you seems to have the immune system of a superhero, but you somehow catch a bug almost every month. While stress produces anti-inflammatory effects in the short run, chronic stress weakens your body’s ability to fight off bacteria. This disruption includes a decrease in the production of immune cells and cytokines, which makes you more susceptible to infections, prolonged healing times, and inflammatory conditions.
How to cope: Start your morning with a savory breakfast with protein, healthy fats, and fiber, and continue loading up on fruits and vegetables throughout the day. While we can’t get everything our bodies need through our diet, ensure you take a multivitamin and omega fatty acids. You can take it a step further with immune and cognitive-enhancing supplements like lion’s mane, turkey’s tail, and reishi, and by incorporating turmeric (wonderful for its anti-inflammatory properties) into your routine. A fan favorite is turmeric tea with black pepper (which activates the benefits), honey, coconut oil, and hot water.Â
4. Impairs your digestive system
Stress certainly does a number on our second brain, our gut. It can cause heartburn and acid reflux and affect bowel movements, causing uncomfortable issues like diarrhea or constipation. While stress doesn’t directly cause ulcers, it can elevate the risk and exacerbate existing ones.
How to cope: Each tip on this list will help you alleviate your stress, but to protect your gut even more, prioritize a healthy diet in probiotics and prebiotics. Additionally, maintain regular meal times to balance your blood sugar and give your system adequate time to digest your meals.
5. Affects memory and concentration
One of the most frustrating ways stress impacts your physical health is through memory and concentration. If you suffer from chronic stress, you’re probably no stranger to brain fog. For example, you may struggle to retrieve and remember information, make decisions, solve problems, and struggle to focus. During stressful periods, your brain becomes overstimulated, causing an impairment in your cognition and can lead to your hippocampus shrinking, the region critical for memory formation.
How to cope: It’s common to feel overwhelmed when battling stress. But to help you stay focused, create a to-do list organized from the most time-sensitive tasks to the least important. Having this roadmap to follow will help you navigate your work days with more ease. Additionally, practice a few of these brain fog remedies to improve clarity and focus.Â
6. Produces muscle tension and pain
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