Got a tight work project that needs to be handed in tomorrow and you’re only half-way to the finish line? Or are you constantly fighting with your spouse or a close friend, resulting in relationship friction? What about when your salary covers your expenses, but you’re not able to save? These are all stressful situations that may cause anxiety, jitters, headaches, and/or tummy troubles.
Fortunately, there are things that you can do, or have done for you, that will help alleviate stress to put you in a better condition to combat it. Let’s explore the types of lifestyle changes and other interventions that could work as stressbusters.
Who Suffers from Stress?
Apparently, the large majority of us suffer from stress on a regular basis. Some statistics show that nearly as many as 80% of American adults are in that category. The American Psychological Association reports that around three-quarters of adults (76%) claim they have experienced health impacts due to stress in the prior month and only slightly less (72%) said this stress has led to additional health impacts, such as feeling overwhelmed, experiencing changes in sleeping habits and/or worrying constantly.
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The American Institute of Stress says that “stress follows us everywhere.” A 2024 report found that 77% of employees believe work-related stress has negatively affected their mental health. And no one seems to be immune from stress. Children, young adults and teenagers, adults and seniors, families, people who work, people who don’t work—all experience stress of some sort.
The question becomes who are the 20% of our population who don’t feel stress on a regular basis—and how do the rest of us get to that place?
What is Stress?
The World Health Organization says that stress is a natural human response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our lives, defining stress as a state of worry or mental tension caused by difficult situations. It’s the way we respond to stress that helps determine the impact to our overall well-being. And make no mistake: poorly managed stress can be killer, leading to high blood pressure, stroke, heart attacks, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Then there’s also the anxiety and depression, chronic headaches, muscle pain, fatigue, diarrhea, ulcers and IBS that can accompany stress.
But not all stress is bad. In fact, our bodies sometimes need stress to deal with fight or flight situations that present threats. The key is understanding the different types of stress and learning to properly manage stress.
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What are the Different Kinds of Stress?
There are different theories, and different names, for the different types of stress we experience. Here are the three types of stress that you’re likely familiar with—and then we’re adding a fourth that you may not have heard about before.
- Acute stress is the type that shows up, and goes away, quickly. It can be a response to ordinary activities, like a disagreement with your boss or watching a scary movie. It can also be an unexpected fight or flight situation (which may also create longer term trauma), such as a car accident or being mugged.
- Episodic acute stress happens when you experience ongoing acute stress in your daily life all the time, leaving you with little, if any, opportunity to be stress-free. It can be situational, like experiencing illness or being a caregiver for a loved one. It can be job-related — healthcare workers, military personnel (especially soldiers on the front lines) or traffic controllers are some who experience this kind of stress in their daily lives.
- Chronic stress is stress that appears insurmountable and never seems to end. It’s long-term, lasting weeks or months, or longer, and can result from serious stressors that aren’t solved, such as an on-going divorce (or a long lead up to the divorce), money worries, being stuck in a work situation that makes you dread doing your job. Chronic stress, especially, can lead to the serious health problems we mentioned earlier, if your stress is “poorly managed”—meaning you’re ignoring or not finding a way to address and handle your stress.
- Eustress is the positive, energizing stress you feel when you’re challenging yourself. As this article explains, it can benefit you emotionally, psychologically, and physically. You can experience eustress when you’re on a really good date, or presenting a creative advertising campaign to clients, or pushing yourself to complete your first marathon.
Tips for Managing Stress, Especially Chronic Stress
There are all sorts of ways to manage your stress and it’s important for you to find the ways that work for you. Perhaps the most obvious is the one that’s most annoying when people tell you to do it: just relax. But the fact is there are ways that you can train your body to relax, to release stress, to just breathe. Here are three relaxation-based stressbusters: yoga, meditation, massage.
This one will not surprise you but may cause you stress—that is until you figure out it can work. See a talk therapist. There are many kinds of therapists but when it comes to managing stress, a cognitive behavioral therapist (whether it’s a psychotherapist, social worker or a psychologist), is one who can not only help by encouraging you to release your stress by talking about it but should also be able to give you practical ways to manage your stress through behavioral coping mechanisms. Practicing mindfulness is a popular catchphrase these days, and one that can be beneficial with the right therapist who is well-versed in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). In some cases, medication may be appropriate, and a psychiatrist can not only address the causes of your chronic stress but will also be able to work with you on finding appropriate medication, if needed.
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Then there are the lifestyle changes, and there’s no shortage of those. Be physically active, a practice that will not only help your energy levels, and help you maintain a healthy weight, but will also release endorphins that can reduce pain and enhance your outlook on life, among other positives. Improve your sleep routine, by picking a time to go to bed and a time to wake-up and stick to it, night and morning.
Choose prayer, if you’re so inclined; turn off the news if world events and politics are causing you added stress; reach out to real-life friends and spend less time on your phone with anxiety-provoking social media; enjoy your hobbies, and take up a challenging, new one; and get out in nature (don’t forget to wear your sun-screen). And if work is your biggest stressor, read tips here or consider looking for a different job or a different career.
Does Nutrition Play a Role in Stress?
Absolutely, nutrition plays a role in stress. And it’s a chicken and an egg sort of situation. What you eat can lead to chronic stress—for example, if you’re eating too much added sugar, saturated fats, and/or white carbs (also known as refined carbohydrates), your cortisol levels will likely go up. Stress is among the many problematic things that can result from high cortisol levels.
That’s the chicken, here’s the egg. When you’re stressed, your body’s response is to react by releasing more cortisol to deal with the stressful situation. And when you’re stressed, you might look for solace in comfort food, mindlessly eating things that are linked to stress.
It’s a vicious cycle: does eating a poor diet lead to chronic stress or does chronic stress lead to eating a poor diet. Probably a little of both.
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On the other hand, eating a healthy diet, one that focuses on a balance between the food groups can help you prevent stress. Pick natural sugars (like fruits and vegetables), monounsaturated (avocadoes, nuts, seeds) or polyunsaturated fats (fatty fish, like salmon and others with omega-3 EPA and DHA), and whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat bread, oats, corn, quinoa).
A healthy diet also limits processed foods, fast food, unhealthy fats and sugary drinks (like sodas). Avoid trans-fats. Eat nutrient-dense foods, those that contain vitamins, minerals and other healthy nutrients—and give you a bang for your buck, calorie-wise.
And speaking of calories, balance them with physical activity which burns them, and be aware of general guidelines for how many calories are recommended for your age, weight, level of activity and more. If your goal is to lose weight, you may need to lower your calories (don’t go too low) and increase your physical activity. For more individual advice about calories, speak with a nutrition specialist, such as a registered dietitian.
How Can Omega-3s Help with Stress?
Yes, getting enough omega-3s in your diet, especially EPA and DHA (two of the main types of omega-3s) found in fatty fish or fish oil supplements, is one way to help manage stress. Here’s how:
- Inflammation is one of your body’s responses to stress, but too much inflammation can raise your stress levels. Omega-3s have anti-inflammatory properties and lowering inflammation is an appropriate response for managing stress.
- Omega-3s can also lower your cortisol levels and as you’ve just read, high cortisol levels on a consistent basis can lead to chronic stress which is bad for your health.
- Some research has shown that omega-3s can help elevate your mood and reduce some of the symptoms associated with stress, such as anxiety or some types of depression.
For example, Harvard Health Publishing reported on a meta-analysis pooling results from 19 different studies totaling 1,200 people, with most of the studies comparing omega-3 supplements to placebo. The results found that those people taking high doses of omega-3s (up to 2,000 mg daily) demonstrated the best results in terms of having the highest reduction in anxiety symptoms. (The study authors advised that additional trials are needed to support these results.)
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This randomized, controlled clinical trial evaluated the impact of omega-3 supplements on cellular aging-related biomarkers after a laboratory speech stressor. In the population of 138 sedentary, overweight, middle-aged participants, the groups received either 2.5 grams/daily of omega-3, or 1.25 g/d, or a placebo for 4 months. In comparison to the placebo group, both of the groups supplemented with omega-3 experienced reduced overall cortisol levels throughout the stressor situation, with the group at the higher omega-3 levels having a significant 19% lower overall cortisol level.
Further, the higher dose supplemented-group experienced a lowered overall proinflammatory IL-6 geometric mean throughout the stressor by 33%.
Not all the results found benefit, but the study authors found potential promise, suggesting that “by lowering overall inflammation and cortisol levels during stress and boosting repair mechanisms during recovery, omega-3 may slow accelerated aging and reduce depression risk.” They called their findings preliminary, with more research needed.
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Which Dietary Supplements May Help Relieve Stress?
In addition to omega-3s, here are three other dietary supplements that may help with stress. Remember, dietary supplements are not intended to replace a healthy diet, but rather to supplement one. Talk with your doctor about whether—and if so, at what dose—these dietary ingredients/supplements may be appropriate for you in managing your stress.
- Ashwagandha—an adaptogen found in a plant used for centuries in Ayurvedic Medicine. Some research indicates that ashwagandha extracts may lower stress, anxiety and cortisol levels and other evidence suggests it may aid in several aspects of sleep, especially in people with insomnia, according to this government fact sheet.
- Magnesium—a mineral that may help lower your cortisol levels by lessening or blocking the neuroendocrine pathways that send cortisol to your brain. Further, according to this article, magnesium can help regulate your brain’s neurotransmitters, which jump into action when you feel stressed.
- L-theanine—an amino acid found in tea leaves, like green tea, white tea and matcha. According to this post, research shows that L-theanine supplements can elevate your levels of GABA, dopamine and serotonin, helping with relaxation and reducing anxiety levels. The article points to a randomized trial that found healthy adults who took L-theanine over a four-week period had a decrease in stress-related symptoms.
Bottom Line: It’s a pretty simple bottom line. Chronic stress is a danger to your health. It’s important to engage in activities and lifestyle habits that will help properly manage your stress. Focus on a healthy diet (including dietary supplements when warranted), movement and exercise, a proper sleep routine, and other stress-reducing lifestyle practices.
Here are some other interesting articles: Stress Reducers, Relaxation Techniques, All About Stress, 11 Types of Stress. Here are some organizations with relevant information: American Psychological Association, The American Institute of Stress, Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
