Stress is, unfortunately, a natural part of life. It could be an upcoming deadline, rent being due, trying to find a job, or anything else that life throws your way. It’s commonly known that stress negatively affects your mental health1, but stress also can affect your body1. Let’s explore how stress affects the body and how things like stress supplements can help regulate cortisol.
Effects of Stress
Your body attempts to maintain homeostasis and reacts in different ways. These responses are often natural but lead to different negative effects after long periods of stress. Let’s explore some common ways that stress can physically affect your body.
Tense Muscles
Your muscles naturally become tighter and tense as a result of stress. This is because your body is attempting to prepare itself for a physically stressful activity. This can lead to headaches, backaches, and general muscle aches.
Erectile Dysfunction
Stress can negatively affect your ability to sexually perform and maintain an erection2. Your brain plays an important role in developing and maintaining an erection. Stress can inhibit this ability and lead to erectile dysfunction.
Digestive Issues
Your digestive health can be negatively impacted by stress as well3. Your digestive system is suppressed while resources are sent to other parts of your body. That’s because stress triggers “fight or flight” and puts your body in a metaphorical state of survival. This decrease in digestive contractions and activity can lead to various digestive issues.
Heart Issues
Your body does many things in response to stress. One of those is an increase in blood pressure and blood flow. This is to ensure proper circulation is happening during a time of perceived crisis. However, this leads to a pounding heart and a higher risk of heart attack through elevated blood pressure. This is especially prevalent if the levels remain elevated for an extended period of time.
How Supplements Can Help
Controlling stress can be difficult. However, your body is triggered into a stress response state through cortisol1. Stress supplements like DHEA from Pellecome can help regulate DHEA in the body. DHEA is critical in balancing the effects of stress through cortisol management. Studies have shown that DHEA is at its highest at the end of stressful events and slowly decreases over time4. If you’re interested in stress supplements, then visit Pellecome.com. If you’re a health provider interested in providing stress supplements to your patients, then contact Pellecome at 888-773-9969 today.
- Schneiderman N, Ironson G, Siegel SD. Stress and health: psychological, behavioral, and biological determinants. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2005;1:607-28. doi: 10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144141. PMID: 17716101; PMCID: PMC2568977.
- Kalaitzidou I, Venetikou MS, Konstadinidis K, Artemiadis AK, Chrousos G, Darviri C. Stress management and erectile dysfunction: a pilot comparative study. Andrologia. 2014 Aug;46(6):698-702. doi: 10.1111/and.12129. Epub 2013 Jul 3. PMID: 23822751.
- Konturek PC, Brzozowski T, Konturek SJ. Stress and the gut: pathophysiology, clinical consequences, diagnostic approach, and treatment options. J Physiol Pharmacol. 2011 Dec;62(6):591-9. PMID: 22314561.
- Dutheil F, de Saint Vincent S, Pereira B, Schmidt J, Moustafa F, Charkhabi M, Bouillon-Minois JB, Clinchamps M. DHEA as a Biomarker of Stress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Front Psychiatry. 2021 Jul 6;12:688367. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.688367. PMID: 34295276; PMCID: PMC8290065.
