Stress affects your body – from head to toe – here’s what to know about the toll it can take, plus how to mitigate the effects.
If it seems like you’re hearing that every year our stress levels are getting higher and higher, you’re not imagining things. A recent survey reported that 41% of Americans are at peak stress levels. Politics, work, family, relationships, inflation… you name it and we’re stressed about it.
For many, stress rears its ugly head in the form of an occasional sleepless night where we find our minds racing into the early morning hours. Or maybe it looks like an afternoon of reaching for a pint of ice cream. But behind the scenes, this constant stress is doing things we probably aren’t thinking too much about.
Stress is a funny thing in that it can have immediate effects that can pop up from time to time and buzz off. But it can also accumulate, wreaking extra havoc on our bodies when experienced over the long term. And stress affects all systems of the body – including the musculoskeletal, respiratory, endocrine, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, nervous, and reproductive systems.
What happens to our bodies when we’re stressed
Our stress response is a natural, automatic process triggered by situational stressors or changes within our environments. The human body is designed to experience stress. It’s what kept our ancestors safe by revving them up to motivate them to flee from a wooly mammoth – and fast.
When we feel threatened, rushed, or in danger, our nervous system catapults us into a state of fight-or-flight. And in some cases, these short bursts of stress, known as acute stress, can even be helpful. For instance, if you check your calendar and notice that you have a big project due the next day at work that you haven’t even started, your adrenaline can kick in and flood you with hormones that can help you to get focused and power through. Or if you find yourself driving and see a deer suddenly dart in front of your car, your hormones will rev and signal potential danger to react to.
When something threatens us, our brains send out a distress signal that activates the sympathetic nervous system and tells the adrenal glands to pump epinephrine (the adrenaline hormone) into the bloodstream. From there, an entire chain of commands occurs. Your heart beats faster, your blood pressure increases, and small airways in the lungs allow for faster breaths that bring in more oxygen. You’ll also experience a temporary increase in your senses - like your ability to see. Meanwhile, adrenaline in the body causes the release of glucose (blood sugar) and stored fats in the body, which flow into your bloodstream to give you more energy. If the perception of danger continues, cortisol is released from the adrenal glands.
The problem with chronic stress
Once removed from the stressful situation, acute stress will typically subside with the body returning to its normal state. But when there is consistent exposure over a period of time, stress can turn into chronic stress. And when stress occurs regularly, it can cause damage in the body, like the following:
It can cause migraines
When stress strikes, the muscles in the body gear up to protect themselves against injury and pain. In periods of chronic stress, this tension persists, this can result in headaches and aches and pain throughout the body. In fact, stress is often a commonly reported trigger of most migraines. Stress-related inflammation can also make existing conditions like arthritis more painful.
It can put a big strain on your heart
Stress can increase inflammation in the body and all that inflammation can cause plaque to build up in your arteries. This can lead to coronary heart disease, heart attacks and even heart failure. A constant increase in stress hormones can cause the heart to have to work harder, which can damage the heart over time. And prolonged exposure to stress can increase your blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and triglycerides.
It can alter the structure of your brain
The inflammation from chronic stress can damage brain cells. Stress can increase your risk of mental health conditions like anxiety, depression and PTSD. It can also impact your ability to get a good night’s sleep, leaving the brain unable to detox at night and increasing the buildup of plaques in the brain tied to neurodegenerative conditions and cognitive decline, potentially accelerating the progression of conditions like Alzheimer's. And stress can cause structural and functional changes in the brain, particularly in areas that handle cognition and emotional regulation.
Note: A comprehensive whole body MRI by Prenuvo can provide clearly detailed brain imaging, offering insights into how stress may affect your brain over time.
Related: Prenuvo AI-Assisted Study Uncovers Correlation Between Lifestyle and Brain Volume Changes
It can increase dangerous belly fat
When we get stressed, it activates cortisol. And continuous bouts of extra cortisol can cause the body to store more visceral fat. This is the fat that hides behind the abdominal wall that is hard to see unless you take a deeper look – like with Prenuvo’s Enhanced Screening whole body scan with body composition analysis. In normal amounts, this fat protects the organs but too much of it can lead to diabetes, heart disease or stroke.
It can make it harder to get pregnant
In one study, women who had high levels of stress hormones in their saliva took 29% longer to get pregnant. And other studies have found that after conception, stress can also reduce the chances of a successful delivery. Stress can also disrupt hormone production, such as testosterone, affecting sperm production and sperm quality. In addition, stress can put a big damper on your sex life, affecting both your performance and ability to get in the mood.
It can make you more susceptible to colds and viruses
Chronic stress can make you more prone to getting sick as it weakens the body’s lymphocytes, which are the white blood cells that help to fight off infections. And chronic inflammation from stress can make it more difficult for your immune system to work properly to do its job of protecting you.
It can screw up your digestion
Ever have a stomach ache when you feel stressed? Here’s why. When your body is preparing to run from that wooly mammoth – or in the case of modern society, someone slams on their brakes in front of you, energy is diverted to other areas of your body, slowing down your digestion. Stress can lead to bloating, acid reflux, heartburn, can cause irritable bowel syndrome to flare up, leads to imbalances in gut bacteria and an increased risk of ulcers.
It can prematurely age you
When it comes to your skin, stress is not your friend. Studies have linked it to graying hair, wrinkles, collagen breakdown in the skin and dry and brittle hair and nails. Stress can also impact skin barrier function, making everything from acne to psoriasis to atopic dermatitis, and rosacea worse.
It can lead to bad habits that can cause another array of issues
To cope with stress, some people turn to alcohol, binge eating, sugary and processed foods, smoking or recreational drugs. These habits can raise your risk of other conditions, such as fatty liver disease, heart disease, and diabetes.
Related: How Alcohol Affects Your Body
How to Combat Stress and Protect Your Body
Managing stress is essential for your health. Here are some ways to help keep it in check:
Get on top of stress with a whole body scan
Stress can creep up on you, affecting your body in ways you might not even notice. That’s where Prenuvo comes in. In just one hour, a whole body scan provides a comprehensive look at every major system in your body – from your muscles to your brain – checking for hundreds of potential issues. It’s a powerful way to help catch conditions— including those stress-induced—such as tumors as early as stage 1, signs of inflammation, or issues in the liver and digestive system—often before symptoms appear.
For those looking for a deeper dive, Prenuvo’s Enhanced Scan goes beyond the traditional check-ups, offering detailed insights into body composition, including things like visceral fat, brain volume, brain health, biomarkers, and more. With these powerful insights, you can take proactive steps to adjust your lifestyle or seek medical guidance, helping you stay healthy in a stressful world.
Learn to identify what stress feels like in your body: The first step to working through stress is to understand what it feels like when you’re experiencing it. Many of us spend our days rushing around so much that we are amped up on adrenaline and can miss the signs. Physical signs of stress can include aches and pain, muscle tightness, exhaustion or trouble sleeping, headaches, dizziness, high blood pressure, clenched jaw or digestive problems. Mentally, stress can show up as anxiety, irritability, panic attacks, sadness or depression.
Look out for your stress triggers. Pay attention the next time you feel stressed. Was it because of an interaction with a friend? Being late for a meeting? Having a bigger credit card bill for the month than you budgeted for? Once you figure out what is leading to your stress, take steps to see if you can mitigate those things from being stressful – i.e. prioritize spending time with people who make you laugh, set aside more time in between commitments or put together a budget plan to help you feel more in control of your finances.
Stop trying to stop stress. Stressing about having stress only leads to more stress! In a perfect world, we’d be lying on hammocks with fancy drinks in the sun all day without a care in the world. But a life without stress is far from reality. Remind yourself to focus on what you can control versus what you can’t – and that stressors will pop up from time to time. It’s more about how you react to them versus trying to ward them all off. So next time you feel your muscles begin to tighten from a stressful situation, take a deep breath.
Do something that makes you feel better: Yoga, Tai Chi, meditation, journaling, breathwork have all been tied to stress relief. Find something that works for you and helps you to feel calmer when stress arises – whether that’s lighting a candle and reading a book or turning on your favorite television show.
Get moving: Working out can improve your mood, help you to relax, increase feel-good endorphins, enables your body to focus on something else, reduces cortisol and beyond. Next time you feel stress coming out, get outside and take a walk, ride your bike, go for a swim or head to the gym.
Catch those ZZZs. Sleep and stress go hand-in-hand. One study found adults who sleep less than 8 hours per night feel more stressed than those who get a full 8 hours. Ditch the blue light before bed, shut your curtains, make your room cool and curl up with a supportive pillow to prioritize a good night’s sleep.
Try this breathing technique: When stress strikes, take steps to calm the body down. Instead of taking fast, shallow chest breaths, aim to shift your breathing to deep abdominal breathing. Breathe in slowly, expanding your abdomen with each inhale and contracting with each exhale. Then exhale deeply. Try box breathing – inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, breathe out for 4 seconds.
Talk it out: Find a friend or family member who will lend a listening ear. Or book an appointment with a therapist. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), for instance, can help people learn to reframe their thoughts from negative to positive and can teach you coping mechanisms to revert to the moment.
.png)
.png)
