Understanding Stress: Why Some Is Good, But Too Much Is Dangerous

A man holds his forehead in frustration, symbolizing the overwhelming pressures and stress of daily life.

If you’re training for an Olympic event, stressing your body for several years before the event will strengthen it to adapt to the stress of competition. But over-stressing the mind about the same event may not only help you lose – but may take a decade off your life. Even mental stress can be healthy when we are pushing the mind to remember information or figure out a process. But when the stress reaches over the boundaries of the practical – into conceived events that promote the fear response – well, this can be very unhealthy.

Stress can produce illness and premature aging

Research has found that chronically being stressed out can lend to an array of potential health conditions, including dementia, heart disease, lung disorders, diabetes, premature aging and even early death. One study, published a decade ago in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that stress causes chromosome telomeres to shorten faster. Shorter telomeres spell an earlier death, as they impair the ability of the cell to continue to divide. When the researchers calculated the consequences of this telomere shortening, chronic stress turned out to potentially shorten life by nine to 17 years.

Stress is also necessary for success

But there’s no doubt that physical stress does enhance strength, agility and performance, while mental stress can produce intellectual and educational accomplishments. And there’s nothing wrong with these. It’s not as if we will live longer on the couch relaxing.

Mitochondrial stress

The demarcation appears on the mitochondrial level. The mitochondria are the cells’ little powerhouses – they convert components like glucose and oxygen to energy – in a process generalized as cellular respiration, or the citric acid cycle. And this is necessary, even if we are still on the couch. When we stress the body, the mitochondria begin to produce more sustained energy, and that is a good thing. But the mitochondria also produce an array of byproducts, which the body must work to clear out, including lactic acid, carbon dioxide, carbolic acid and an array of other oxidized acids (H+). These acids not only produce muscle soreness, but they also produce oxidative radicals. Oxidative radicals can damage blood vessels, organs, brain cells and practically any tissue system they come in contact with.

Stress meter on high: a visual representation of overwhelming pressures and the need for effective stress management.

Mental stress boosts mitochondria into overdrive

Mental stress – anxiously thinking through events that probably will never happen – also requires lots of cellular respiration among the mitochondria of brain cells. In fact, a fearful course of thinking for 15 minutes can easily contribute acids into the bloodstream of the brain just as a 100-yard sprint might. But the difference is that the 100-yard sprint will also increase circulation dramatically – allowing the bloodstream to circulate components that neutralize acids. This includes those acids that might swamp the blood amongst the tiny capillaries around the muscles used. With mental anxiety, we might get a small bump in circulation, but not to the degree produced in a sprint. This gives those acids produced in the brain the opportunity to linger – and damage those brain tissues and blood vessels. Mental stress - worrying about things that may or may not happen - also stimulates the production of fear related hormones. These include adrenaline and glucocorticoids like cortisol, which shift the production of energy and oxidative radical byproducts by the mitochondria into overdrive.

Methylation

The body – primarily through the liver – utilizes a special process called methylation to clear out acids from the body. These methyl groups capture and neutralize oxidative acidic radicals, clearing them from the blood quickly. Methyl donors the liver uses include SAMe or S-adensylmethionine, and a process of exchange between methionine and homocysteine among other methylation processes. These systems require fuel. They require constant access to methyl groups donated from the diet. The diet can donate methyl groups in the form of amino acids like methionine, cysteine and taurine, but also from nutrients such as folate and trimethyl glycine – a phytonutrient also referred to as betaine. Pound for pound, plant foods provide the largest supply of assimilable methyl groups to the body – allowing the liver a plentiful source for attaching to acids produced by the mitochondria during cellular respiration. Best sources of methyl groups include plant foods like salads and nuts – with their array of easily assimilated amino acids, folate and phytochemicals.

A diet of calmness

A diet of calmness also helps. Refraining from running the mind through extended anxiousness will put a cap on the unloading of acids from brain cells. This leaves brain cell resources to exercise in practical ways – thinking through practical solutions, learning and so on. These practical uses of brain cells appear to have quite the opposite effect of anxiety – they strengthen brain tissues – as the brain builds new networks for memory and problem-solving. Exercises for producing calmness are well-known. They include getting enough sleep; relaxing and breathing through and after a hard workout; taking restful and reflective moments during the day; as well as practicing meditative skills such as tai chi, yoga, meditation and so on.