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Several years ago we started noticing that the majority of patients in our OB-GYN practice were suffering from stress and stress related illnesses. This prompted us to launch an investigation into the latest, ground-breaking research on stress and how women can more effectively fight it.
The result is So Stressed: The Ultimate Stress Relief Plan for Women, our new book that identifies four different "Stress Types" and their very different personality traits.
Stress levels peak during the holiday season. Below, we help you to identify which of the four stress types best describes you. We also offer practical ways you can reverse the effects of stress by changing your diet, exercise and relaxation routines. Read on:
If the holidays tend to…
To combat you should:
To combat you should…
- Make you turn to food for comfort
- Leave you feeling deeply fatigued, achy and full of pains
- Make it difficult to get out of bed in the morning
To combat you should:
- Go nuts over chocolate To boost your brain and calm stress eat a handful of walnuts and a piece of dark chocolate. Walnuts are full of omega-3s, essential fatty acids that elevate the mood, and tryptophan, an amino acid that when combined with dark chocolate, provides your brain with the soothing effects of the beloved anti-stress messenger, serotonin.
- Reset your internal clock: A good night’s sleep – the best stress reducer– can be easily compromised when holiday traveling finds you in new time zones. Eastward travelers should expose themselves to bright light in the early morning and dim the lights in the evening. If you are going west, expose yourself to sunlight in the late afternoon and evening and try to stay awake until it gets dark. Strategic exposure to light can help you reduce the effects of jet lag or avoid it all together.
- Eat fish Foods that are rich in the essential fatty acids we call omega-3s lift your mood. A daily dose of a fish oil supplement or if you’re vegetarian, flax seed oil, will also do the trick.
- Keep Good Company: Pause often to spend time with friends and family. Appreciate them actively. The joy we get from bonding with loved ones comes from oxytocin and dopamine, important neutralizing hormones in the brain that provide major stress relief for women of your type.
- Make your mind spin out of control when you consider all you have to do
- Drive you into a constant state of panic about time and deadlines
- Leave you lying awake at night ruminating over finances and to-do lists
To combat you should…
- Drink tea: Warm up with green or white tea instead of coffee. Caffeine from tea creates a sense of calm alertness, less jarring than caffeine in coffee. You might also try Kombucha, a naturally fermented tea rich in probiotics. It is immune boosting and could help stave off illness during a time when we are vulnerable to colds and flu.
- Put the Pressure on: After a long day on your feet fighting holiday crowds, give yourself a deep foot massage with lavender oil. The pressure from the massage will release oxytocin – a hormone that is capable of buffering your fight or flight response – into your brain and body. The sweet
