Many of us live in a state of constant minor stresses. We often assume that retirement is a time when we will be able to stop stressing, but that isn’t always the case.
Whether you are approaching retirement, already retired, or trying to stay in work as long as possible, you have probably already experienced the rude awakening that is later life stress.
After the age of fifty we are just as vulnerable to stress, if not more so, than when we were younger. This is for two reasons.
There are plenty of things to stress about as we get older. The wellbeing of our children, losing older friends, money troubles, mortgages, health concerns, and simply what to do with ourselves when we are out of the rat race, are all concerns which can bring on stress.
Just because we don’t have work deadlines to worry about doesn’t mean all the other stressors in our lives are going to suddenly vanish.
Also, we adapt to stress. The same way that a teenager is immensely stressed about a date or just looking cool, or that a person in a developing nation is stressed about travelling through a dangerous area, we all adapt to the level of stress in our lives.
So, even if we are fortunate enough to have no debt, a wonderful family, good health, and have hobbies which provide good ways to spend our time, we are still at risk of becoming stressed because our perspective of what is stressful has changed.
Being stressed isn’t the bad part. Being stressed is a natural response to a bad situation, something to push us to improve our circumstances.
We are stressed whenever a difficulty is added to our lives, because otherwise we would never seek to improve ourselves. Also, our bodies are designed to handle these spikes in stress quite well.
However, the problem is when the spikes are too close together, the source of the stress can’t be got rid of, or the problem is solved but we are still highly strung. The problem is when our stress hormones don’t go down.
In theory, we should get used to our frequent stress spikes, get over the permanent stress source, or feel less stressed as soon as the problem is solved. But for many of us this is not the case.
There are many reasons why stress hormone levels may stay high, but it may be the result of an inappropriate diet. When we do not eat enough of the right minerals and vitamins, we can become stressed over small things that do not matter to us, remain stressed about things we cannot change, or remain stressed about things which have long since passed. By making sure we get these nutrients, we can promote a healthy stress response.
Antioxidants A, C & E
The antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E are wonderful for reducing stress throughout the body. This is because stress is as much physical as mental. As far as your body is concerned, if you’ve paid your electric bill but suffering from a cold, you are still stressed out.
By fighting the effects of free radicals, antioxidants encourage our cells to divide in a healthy way, maintaining the original structure of our DNA and promoting good health. And when our body is working at its best, we are less likely to feel the effects of stress.
Vitamin D3
Vitamin D3 is a powerful hormonal regulator. Vitamin D3 is essential to every process in our bodies and one of these processes is controlling how much of each hormone we produce.
Normally our body is very good at controlling hormones. For example, it will release estrogen if our testosterone gets too high, or dopamine if our cortisol gets too high. However, if we do not have enough vitamin D3 we can’t make these hormones, so even though our body knows what it needs to do, it can’t do it, a bit like having the instructions to make something but not have all the parts.
The B Vitamins
Finally, a good balances B vitamin complex is essential for immunity. B vitamins are essential to regulating and strengthening our immune system by helping our bodies to produce blood cells. These vitamins are also irreplaceable, and lost daily through our urine, so we need to consume them every day.
Otherwise, we have too few platelets, which reduces clotting speed, too few red blood cells which reduces energy levels, and too few white blood cells, which makes us vulnerable to many illnesses, including viruses and cancer.
This, all in all, also means our blood is less efficient at getting rid of leftover hormones, for example stress hormones, which means we do not destress well at all!
