Stress and Aging

Stress and aging are definitely connected. You've heard (and maybe even said yourself) "This problem is giving me gray hair!"

It's not just a saying. We all recognize at a gut level that stress, especially the wrong kind of stress, can make us look and feel older.

How does this happen?

Although we're learning more and more about the reasons for this every day, we do know at least part of why it occurs.

The Effects of Stress

Stress triggers a number of changes in your body, including:

• It plays a major role in the leading causes of death including heart disease, cancer and infections
• When you're stressed, you sometimes eat 'comfort foods' that create age-related damage such as oxidation.
• You burn through important stress-fighting nutrients like B-vitamins and magnesium more quickly, meaning they aren't as available to help prevent mental focus problems. This may also be a factor in the 'gray hair' issue.
• Stress lowers your resistance to catching colds and other infections by lowering your immune system
• When you're stressed you don't tend to take care of yourself as well - you might skip exercising, drinking enough water or pampering yourself like you usually do.

Of course, stress doesn't just age you outright. You don't go to sleep one night and the next morning look 15 years older.

No, the effects of stress are more gradual and sneaky. Even so, if it goes on long enough, you will definitely age quicker.

Fighting stress and aging go hand in hand. There are specific ways to reduce the negative impact of stress along with improving your quality of life

But before we go into it more, you should know that not all stress is bad.

Huh?

You can divide stress into 2 general categories - bad stress (the kind we've been talking about) and good stress. Since we've spent this much time on bad stress, I'll just say that good stress happens when you are doing something you love, but intensely.

Examples include creating something that has deep meaning for you or participating in a hobby or sport that you love.

How You Can Battle Stress... and Win

Since stress and aging are so connected it pays to at least reduce the negative effects of stress even if you can't change outward circumstances.

Here are some specific things you can do:

• Make sure you get regular exercise - exercise goes a long way towards relieving tension and improving how your body handles stressful situations.
• Take your supplements, especially B-vitamins and enough magnesium.
• Learn how to relax. I'm not talking about becoming a couch potato, but rather about practicing specific techniques, such as deep breathing to help you de-stress. By practicing when you're less stressed, it will be easier for you to use these techniques when you're feeling overloaded.

Find more techniques for stress-free aging here.

Learn more about how you can reduce the effects of stress and aging.