Did you know, ‘’greater the stress, greater is the degenerative (function and structure of body organs gets impaired) effects on cells!
The American institute of stress investigated this degenerative process and concluded that most health problems are caused by stress.
Also, researchers at Heidelberg university subjected a young doctor for an interview & made it stressful for him to solve the problem. After 30mins they took his blood sample, and they came to know that antibodies (our protective soldiers) reacted in same way as they react to any virus or bacteria etc. In short during stress, our protective body soldiers, though try to protect us but they also cause the killing of our healthy body cells (this was their observation).
Thus, if antibodies (protective soldiers) aren’t guided well could kill healthy body cells which could lead to premature ageing. This summary must’ve led you to believe that Stress is detrimental to health.
For that reason, lets understand how our body reacts under stress: When stressed, an alarm goes off in our minds and is stimulated to release cortisol and adrenaline (hormones) which prepares the body & mind for stress.(Adrenaline raises pulse and respiratory rate, prepares muscle for action and prepares body to react to perceived danger; Cortisol increases blood, sugar and dopamine, which gets us ‘charged up’ and allows us to face challenges; High doses of cortisol and adrenaline at moments of danger kept the body healthy). As frightening as this sounds, stress isn’t all that dangerous, In fact ‘’INTENSE STRESS IS AN ENEMY OF LONGEVITY although SOME STRESS IS BENEFICIAL’’
Dr. HOWARD FRIEDMEN, A PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, discovered that people who maintained a low level of stress, who faced challenges and put their head and soul into work in order to succeed, lived longer than those who chose a more relaxed lifestyle and retired early.
Stress in the right amount is certainly necessary, Israeli neuro-scientist, Shlomo Breznitz, argues that the brain needs loads of stimulation in order to stay in shape. Nevertheless, when the brain develops ingrained habit’s, it does not need to think anymore, things get done quickly and efficiently automatically, often in a very advantageous way and this creates a tendency to stick to routines without any stress (although this isn’t healthy) and the only way to break these practices is to confront the brain with new information. When presented with new information, the brain creates new connections and its rejuvenated, this is why it is so imperative to expose ourselves to change, even if means stepping out of our comfort zones and feeling a little anxious. Thus, Dealing with new situations, learning something new every day, interacting with new people, shortly put, undergoing tiny amounts of stress seems to be the essential anti-aging strategy for the mind.
This must have helped you understand, encountering a little stress could become one of the anti-aging strategies…Doesn’t mean you burden your brain with much stress, like any other thing, it is only beneficial in moderation
‘’ if you keep your mind and body busy, you will be around a long time.’’ – WALTER BREUNING
