Being Healthier

S is for Santa … S is for Stress

The Most Wonderful Time of The Year…. or Is it ?

Bring on the holidays and bring on the food, which both can usually bring on the stress too! Stress, food and mood are all related more than you might think, with hormones and neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine working together. I think I found my new favorite field of Neuroendocrinology. Even though several studies indicate weight gain around the holidays is a myth, several others indicate the lbs of Americans creep up every year with legal eating season to blame.

Stress is perceived differently for each person but our brains are all wired similarly. Though each person is unique in how their stress is manifested externally, our biological responses to stress, food and mood are generally the same internally speaking. The brain has the ability to selectively activate different responses, commonly known as fight, flight, or defeat responses. If our stressor appears to be from a challenge, often the hormone norepinephrine comes out to“fight” the challenge. If the stressor is more from feelings of a “loss of control”,  the “flight/anxiety” hormone is released, epinephrine.  When the stressor is building up over time, throughout the holiday season hustle and bustle or overtime at work, we start to get into the “defeat” response and cortisol enters the picture.

Anyone get paid to work overtime during the holidays?

The stress hormone, Cortisol, works overtime during the Legal Eating Season. Cortisol is responsible for targeting specific sources of energy like carbohydrates, fat and protein for specific responses to the physiological demands of stress. We should really give cortisol a break- literally. Unfortunately cortisol does not reflect the reward on your body like overtime is reflected on your paycheck.

One effect of cortisol is to signal your liver to release stored energy. When you are trying to run a race, this is a great thing to access energy from carbohydrates. “Hey you, produce more sugar, the Muscles need it!”. Unfortunately, this excess sugar production can increase blood pressure especially if we are producing sugar that we don’t need for physical demands rather, as a response to prolonged stress.

CORTISOL 1   vs. OUR HEALTH (0)

The excess sugar is essentially excess energy waiting around since you are mentally stressed not physically. Okay, maybe you needed to physically fight for the last and only “Tickle Me Elmo” in stock in a three state proximity but most likely norepinephrine took care of you in that situation. Unless your burning the energy with physical activity, all this energy is sitting around with no place to go. Our body stores the sugar as fat because that is what our body is trained to do, convert and store energy. This energy from the stress release of cortisol is specifically stored as excess abdominal visceral fat. Read “excess abdominal visceral fat” as -  A BIG FAT SANTA BELLY.

 

CORTISOL (2)  vs. OUR HEALTH (0)

Cortisol really likes the enzymes that specifically help our fat cells mature in the abdominal region. You are starting to hate cortisol, aren’t you? Don’t hate the player… hate the game. Prolonged stress can also suffocate the immune system because cortisol evokes an anti-inflammatory response. Not all anti-inflammation is created equal. If we suppress the anti-inflammatory immune response, we make ourselves more susceptible to colds and flu. Obviously not ideal with cold and flu season coinciding with the holiday season.

CORTISOL (3)   vs. OUR HEALTH (0)

We have societal pressure like getting the perfect present, going to parties, scheduling family time, you name it. More prolonged stress = more cortisol = more encouragement for our bodies to store fat. Add in colder weather, the start of a nasty bug and put some tempting chocolate chip cookies and eggnog in front of us and….

CORTISOL (4)   vs. OUR HEALTH (0)

Womp Womp. Treats like cookies, cakes, eggnog and irish coffees’ give us a happy warm feeling inside. Literally, these tempting holiday wonders increase your body heat because they are energy dense. They are full of refined carbohydrates too which signal to your brain that you need less dopamine (you become more content) and also signal the release of another hormone, insulin. Insulin encourages our body to… store energy! Since your body can only store a limited amount of carbohydrates (as glycogen) in muscles, it must be stored as fat. Around and around we go, Rocking Around that Christmas Tree!

CORTISOL (5)   vs. OUR HEALTH (0)

Stress isn’t all bad and neither is cortisol but reducing stress can reduce cortisol and that can reduce the negative effects of stress on our health. I can’t help reduce the number of gifts you have to buy or the number of sick people at the mall or the amount traffic and longer lines. I do, however, have ways to keep your stress levels to a minimum when it comes to food, mood and weight management. There are tempting options everywhere at anytime so just remember… S-A-N-T-A…

1. S- Self-monitor. Self-monitoring is one of the most important components to managing behavior, which means its important for keeping stress in check, keeping your diet in check, keeping your weight in check, keeping YOU in check. Check Yourself … before you wreck yourself!
2. A- Adjust. Adjust your typical eating patterns to account for the treats. Balance out your 12 days of cookies by eating lighter lunches or dinners loaded with fruits and vegetables. Accounting and adjusting for treats means better quality fuel and less chance of packing on the pounds, and that means less to stress about!
3. N- Nix Negativity. Negative thoughts can create obstacles and just further feed the stress cycle. Restructure your thoughts: develop strategies to prevent negative thoughts, replace negative thoughts with positive, remind yourself to be and see the positive.
4. T- Take Control. Eat what you truly want, eat your favorites, do what you want to do as opposed to what you feel you must. When you take the reigns, you are better able to dodge stressors that come your way!
5. A- Access.  Keep healthy options stocked in your kitchen at all times. Snow storm or not, you are busy and want to have access to healthy options as opposed to fast food greasy convenience. Being stocked up takes meal-planning stress out of the picture too.

 

There are plenty of other ways to manage stress, holiday eating, holiday planning, and weight. Your mood is connected to your perception of stress, which is more important than the stressor itself in many cases. Here are some mood-boosting nutrients that you might want to keep stocked especially during the holiday season:

• Omega-3 fatty acids, found in salmon, flaxseed, flaxseed oil and walnuts.
• Tryptophan, found in turkey, soy, red meat and dairy.
• Magnesium, found in avocados, nuts and green, leafy vegetables.
• Folic acid, found in fruits and green, leafy vegetables.
• Vitamin B-12, found in dairy foods, meat, shellfish and fish.

How do you handle the pressure and stress of the Holiday Season ?

Is it really The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

I say YES! I LOVE the holiday season but Christmas shopping does stress me out. I plan out specific gifts in advance, go with a close friend, and reward myself after with a few treats!