Why do we stress? Help Brains Cope Stress
Every one of us experienced stress in his life. Accordingly, stress is a natural response to a situation we cannot handle or cope with. We have many sources of stress, for example:
- Jobs problems, especially during and after lockdown.
- Consequently, lack of money or reduced income increases our stress.
- Family and social problems. Health problems such as Mental Health, Chronic disease or others. Suddenly many families struggle with their issues, and lockdown highlights everything.
How does it work?
What happens in our brain when we stress, and how does it affect our body? Help Brains Cope Stress
When we automatically advertise a stress situation, we increase our brains’ “cortisol” (hormone). That will affect different areas of our brain and body. Firstly, it will affect one side of the brain, called the “Hippocampus”. That is in charge of our memories and learning. After that, we will have other effects on our bodies, such as insulin resistance. As a result, insulin will struggle to help glucose in the bloodstream.
Consequently, a low glucose level in the brain is associated with a low mood level. However, a high amount of stress can lead to chronic diseases. Sometimes, help and support from family and friends can be enough. And however, in some cases, stress can become a big problem. At this point, we cannot cope with it, and we need help. In other words, we will need professional help.
Like we said, in any case, when our body adverts stress, it can respond in different ways, such as helping Brains Cope with Stress.
- Emotional reactions: difficulty to focus, burnout, sadness are just a few, isolation and other symptoms.
- Physical reactions can include back pain, chest pain, headaches, and stomach problems.
Most of the time, stress will affect any aspect of our life. Some people will have straight the help he needs, and others will try to cope with antidepressant, alcohol and other drugs such as cocaine or heroin. That is is not going to work. Illegal drugs or alcohol will suppress your feelings and emotions for a short time. People will realize that they cannot use any more drugs or alcohol, accept their addiction as a disease, and ask for the help they need. This process can take from months to many years of life.
In this case, the best thing we can do is seek help from our GP. Our GP further a proper investigation can refer us for mental health and tell us why we stress. Also, they can find out if our stress is associated with diseases such as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), Anxiety, Depression, Heart Issues, High Blood Pressure, IBS or other conditions.
How can we cope with stress?
We need to give up on isolating ourselves and coping by using alcohol and illegal substances. As we said, it is not going to work. Instead, we have different ways to cope with it:
- Removing or reducing the source of stress. We can start to love ourselves and take away from our lives toxic people or stay away from unhealthy work environments. Help Brains Cope Stress
- Organizing our time. Making a schedule of every task we need to do will help manage our time, and consequently, you will have less stress.
- Meditation and mindfulness. Dedicating 30 minutes a day to meditation and mindfulness will help you relax and control your thoughts.
- Talking to someone. Our technology keeps us connected with everyone. In reality, it disconnects us from real life. Switching your mobile data off for 1 hour and calling a friend or anyone able to listen will help you distract and enjoy a genuine call.
- Eating Nutritional Meals. You might be surprised to know that 95% of serotonin (the neurotransmitter responsible for mood and appetite) is produced in our gut. Besides, our brain uses most glucose of any other part of our body. We should replace junk meals and energy drinks with healthy slow-release food with plenty of sugar. Here, a The Purple aubergine, we can help you with that.
Besides, we will give you ten ideas of nutritional snacks to cope with stress. Help Brains Cope Stress
We should avoid refined foods, sugary and confectionery, and focus on nutrients that boost our mental health. That means nutrients rich in zinc, manganese, vitamin C, and Good Fats.
Meats such as lamb, beef are excellent sources of zinc and can give up to 44% of daily intake. Oily fish such as sardines, mackerel, or herrings brings a higher value of zinc, minerals, and good fat such as Omega-3 and Omega-6. We also can find the minerals and vitamins we need in fruits such as Oranges, blueberries, Papaya. Besides, vegetables too as spinach, green leaves. The list did not finish yet as we have other good fat sources such as dairy and milk products. However, here ten snacks can help you against stress. Help Brains Cope Stress
- Granola with blueberries and Flaxseeds.
- Eggs baguette with mixed green leaves salad.
- Fruit salad topped with yoghurt.
- Greek Salad topped with grilled Sardines.
- Sweet potato salad with spinach and mackerel.
- Club Steak Sandwich with sweet potato fries.
- Lamb kebabs and grilled vegetable wraps with Lentil Crisps.
- Avocado and Salmon salad dressed with vinaigrette.
- Protein shakes, Vitamins Supplements.
- Purple aubergines stuffed with couscous and Mediterranean vegetable.
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