Living with stress has become a way of life for many people. Whether you are in a demanding job with constant pressure, a challenging graduate program in a competitive academic environment or living frugally as a retiree trying to make ends meet, stress is ever present.
Along with emotional and psychological issues, stress is one a large factor in creating physical illnesses. One of the main things that stress does is that it shuts down the immune system and increases inflammation. When the immune system is down, your body is more susceptible to infections and is slower in healing wounds or preexisting ailments. When inflammation is increased in the body, a number of negative side effects can occur. Inflammation has been linked to arthritis, asthma, kidney failure and even heart attacks.
Studies have also shown that stress reduces your body’s ability to metabolize and detoxify itself. In the body there are enzymes that break down certain fats and detoxify your system from toxins. This process is hindered significantly by stress. Unfortunately, stress is also responsible for increasing the body’s desire for fattening and high sugar foods. This creates a negative cycle of increasing the toxins in your body but impeding the body from doing away with them properly. So instead of grabbing a spoon and stress eating a pint of ice cream, put the ice cream back in the freezer and grab a crisp apple.
Fortunately there are a variety of methods to help reduce stress and prevent its negative effects. Here at Whole Body Health, we use acupuncture to clear energy blockages caused by stress and allow the life energy, or Qi, to flow through the body. Through the use of ultra thin needles, the Chinese healing art of acupuncture involves painlessly targeting specific points just below the surface of the skin to stimulate those parts of the body that effect the Qi energy. Acupuncture is an extremely effective method of relieving stress from the body. Visit our website for more information on acupuncture: https://austinwholebodyhealth.com/what-is-acupuncture/
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