Dr Marilyn Glenville PhD is the UK’s leading nutritionist specialising in women’s health.  Dr Glenville is the former President of the Food and Health Forum at the Royal Society of Medicine and a registered nutritionist.  She is also author of internationally bestselling books including ‘Fat Around The Middle’, ‘Getting Pregnant Faster’, ‘Natural Solutions to The Menopause’ and ‘The Natural Health Bible For Women’.  Dr Glenville has clinics in Tunbridge Wells, Dublin and London.

STRESS

The stress response in human beings developed so that we could either fight or flee from an animal or attacker. Under stress you need more energy so your body releases adrenaline and cortisol, hormones that release sugar from your body’s stores.  This creates extra energy.  Your eyes dilate, your senses are heightened, your vascular system opens up and your heart beats faster.  As energy demand is high, it is diverted from other systems in your body and can have a negative effect on:

  •  Hormone levels – particularly interferes with progesterone because adrenaline blocks these hormone receptors in our body. This is a huge factor in fertility both for men and women but for women when stress lowers progesterone which is a key hormone for maintaining a pregnancy there is the risk of miscarriage.  For women stress can also cause more testosterone to be produced and can lead to male symptoms such as hair growth (hirsutism), weight gain and acne and irregular menstrual cycles and lead to PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome).
  • Digestive system – when your body thinks it is about to be attacked, digestive function is compromised because let’s face it, eating would be the last thing on your mind if you were to be attacked by a tiger! Also, if the nervous system is in fight or flight mode dealing with invading bacteria and yeast is not top of the priority list and bloating and flatulence and other digestive problem can occur.
  •  Sleep – stress hormones flooding the blood are going to interfere with your normal sleep pattern and a sign is often waking up in the early hours and waking quite abruptly, perhaps with a sweat.
  • Immune system – the adrenal hormone cortisol is an immune suppressant in the long term and if immunity is compromised your body is more susceptible to getting ill and then it becomes a vicious cycle. Lowered immunity makes you more susceptible to conditions like thrush, cystitis, mouth ulcers and recurrent colds.
  • Nervous system – leading to low moods and depression and panic attacks.
  • Energy (and an extreme example chronic fatigue or ‘adrenal exhaustion’)
  • Interfere with bones/joints – in times of stress, calcium is released from your bones, because stress in the ‘old days’ meant you were either going to fight of flee.  Injury would have been a potential hazard and the body uses calcium under these circumstances to enable your blood to clot at the site of injury.  In modern times the stress response is provoked daily but injury does not follow.  The calcium once released from your bones is not used and the body cannot return it so easily to the bone so it deposits it into the muscles and tissues.  Within the muscles calcium is used to help contraction and magnesium is used for relaxation.  An imbalance between the two, with high calcium and low magnesium may lead to stiff contracted muscles and therefore painful joints.

Nutrients

 When you are under stress you use up a lot of your B vitamins especially vitamin B2 and B5, as well as vitamin C. These are all water-soluble vitamins, so your need to eat them in your diet on a day to day basis (or get them from food supplements) because they are not stored in your body.  One of the best sources of all the B vitamins are wholegrains, green leafy vegetables and nuts and seeds.

The other nutrient that prolonged stress depletes is magnesium.  Magnesium is known as the calming mineral, often referred to as ‘Nature’s Tranquilliser’!!  It helps to relieve anxiety and relax muscles.  Magnesium deficiency is often reflected by waking up in the early hours of the morning and not being able to get back to sleep again.   Magnesium is found in green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds.

Siberian ginseng is a very supportive herb as it regulates the production of cortisol.

Essential fats from omega 3 (oily fish and some in walnuts and flax) are needed for every cell in your body and help the cells ‘communicate’ with hormones whether it be stress hormones or brain chemicals like serotonin.

Controlling blood sugar swings

 Balancing blood sugar is essential in lowering stress because the crashes in sugar levels which happen through the day (due to go long periods without food and not eating the right foods) stimulates more adrenaline and cortisol to be released. This is because these stress hormone, apart from helping you to run away from a tiger can also mobilise your glucose (which has been stored as glycogen in the liver) back into the blood stream. This is why you can feel more jittery, irritable etc when blood sugar plummets!

  •  Eat every 3 hours
  • Include some protein every time you eat, i.e. fish, eggs, quinoa, tofu, beans, nuts and seeds and natural bio yogurt. This slows down the release of sugar and thus keeps levels more stable
  • Limit caffeine to one cup or avoid it if you can and never drink caffeine on an empty stomach because it is a stimulant and gets straight into the bloodstream and triggers cortisol release
  • Eat a serving of dark green leafy vegetables/salad daily
  • Snack on dried fruit (organic) and unsalted nuts and seeds
  • Replace white rice and bread with brown and wholemeal for fibre content and B vitamins

 Nutritional Supplements

These are essential along with a healthy diet to support the adrenal glands and nervous system.  Certain vitamins and minerals can also help reduce stress levels.   These include the B vitamins especially  B5 for stress relief and energy, magnesium, nature’s tranquiliser for relaxation and sleep, chromium for blood sugar balance, Siberian ginseng which acts as a tonic to the adrenal glands and  L-theanine for reducing stress and anxiety).  A good supplement I use in the clinic which contains all these nutrients plus more is called Tranquil Woman Support (which is also good for men) to help you take back control of your life (see www.naturalhealthpractice.com).

Exercise

When the stress hormones, cortisol and adrenaline are released into your blood stream, your body expects you to run or fight for your life (perform some sort of physical activity). But when you are stuck in a traffic jam and late for an appointment there is no physical activity happening. You just have to sit and stew and there is no physical release for the hormones.

Exercise or physical activity has never been more important. If you are chronically stressed, exercise MUST become one of your priorities. By simply making time for exercise in your life, you offset the complex and potentially damaging fight or flight response. It’s not hard, but it is important.

For more information on women’s health visit www.marilynglenville.com.  Marilyn is presenting a number of training days for exercise and fitness trainers, these days are must for any trainer. For more information visit www.drummondeducation.com/workshops.   If you are interested in a personal consultation, you can contact Dr Glenville’s clinic on 0870 5329244 or by email: health@marilynglenville.com