The biggest barrier to recovery and healing is stress – the activation of the flight or fight mechanism. It is called the sympathetic nervous system. When you are in sympathetic dominance, you have high levels of cortisol and high levels of adrenaline. Both are produced by the adrenal gland.
Why does stress trigger the fight-or-flight mechanism?
The activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the activation of cortisol was not designed to go more than 90 seconds. The problem is nowadays it is on all day long. Our environment, our life, is filled with things that keep us in stress mode. When the body is in flight-or-fight, it is preparing for emergency survival, running away from something or fighting. You will not heal a hundred percent if you are in this mode.
Symptoms of chronic stress and fight-or-flight mode
Many people have the switch turn on and they just cannot turn it off. This prevents the sleep, which has an entire cascade of additional things that can happen.
It will also release glucose. Your body has stored glucose as glycogen it is going to release glucose when you have high levels of cortisol. Another name for cortisol is glucocorticoid. It is a glucose-controlling hormone.
It will activate insulin that is why a lot of times people become diabetic when they have stress for too long.
When you are in flight or fight mode, you are not going to be able to recover, your digestion is not going to work that well, the speed of wound healing is less, you retain sodium and you will dump potassium. The more stress you have the more that you just will lose potassium.
Chronic stress destroys something in your brain called the hippocampus. The hippocampus has to do with memory, learning and locating your self in time and space. For example, you forgot where you put those keys, or where did I park? You are studying something but it is just not quite going in. It could be from the stress affecting this brain structure.
Stress is the main activator or disease and especially infection. It is almost impossible to get sick if you are stress-free. It is virtually impossible to have a disease if you do not have any stress. Take a look at anyone who had a disease or an infection, they had stress right before that happening. Chronic stress causes cortisol to be resistant. It is very similar to insulin resistance – you can have cortisol resistance. Your body is pumping out more cortisol but it is not really working and because cortisol is an anti-inflammatory that function does not work anymore and you just become one big ball of inflammation. Being in the flight of fight mode too long can increase your risk of heart attacks. It can even cause a loss of bone formation.
Cortisol can affect bone formation as well as caused a loss of collagen formation. What part of your body is collagen? It is in your ligament, tendons and cartilage – your joints. The joints become a big problem plus they are going to be inflamed. The biggest symptom to know if you are in this situation is to look at your tolerance to stress. You may find that you have a great difficulty in babysitting five kids for more than eight hours that might get on your nerves. You have low patience for very slow drivers in front of you but it is your ability to have patience, which is the best indicator for strength of your adrenal gland. Your ability to be calm in chaos would indicate a very strong adrenal.
How to lower stress levels and prevent fight-or-flight
Here are a few things you can do. The more stress that you have the more you are in flight or fight the more you should exercise. This is a really good therapy for a lot of people – walking, hardcore exercise just more exercise.
Of course, Healthy Keto, fasting, which is very important, and acupressure. That will really put you in a state of relaxation.
To learn more watch The BEST Acupressure Technique for Stress Relief https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5eWshrxBCY
Vitamin B1 is the most important nutrient to take for this condition. Nutritional yeast helps, take a lot of it. Potassium very important, it is a physiological relaxer, it calms the nervous system down. Magnesium is very important.
Breathing – there is a great technique to affect your nervous system. When someone is in a state of stress his or her exhalation is very fast or shortened. Do this, breathe in slowly and breathe out slowly at the same rate – four or five seconds in and then four or five seconds out. If you practice that you it will actually pull you out of the flight or fight mechanism.
A vacation is very therapeutic. Do not take things so serious. People that are in stress mode are very serious you need to be the opposite of serious you need to be playful. You need to be carefree, you need to be relaxed, and you need to pull yourself out of this excessive worry and thinking and analyzing and solving problems 24/7.
This Post has been condensed from Dr. Berg’s video, The #1 Barrier to Healing and Recovery is Chronic Stress – Fight or Flight Mode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWnfwLX2Bno
Dr. Berg is a chiropractor, who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting, is the author of the best-selling book The Healthy Keto Plan, and is the Director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media. He has taught students nutrition as an adjunct professor at Howard University.
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