Our mental, emotional and physical well-being are
closely interrelated. For example, stress can trigger a cascade of
physiological effects with a broad range of negative health implications.
It can raise blood pressure, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke,
increase vulnerability to anxiety and depression, weaken the immune system, leaving us more susceptible to viral and bacterial
infections and accelerates the aging process. Thus
managing stress is essential to our health and wellness.
To turn the other way round, we can use physical
and mental ways to reduce our stress level.
Physiologically,
stress triggers a number of
neuroendocrine responses including increases in serum concentrations of
corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and cortisol. And so we can use this as
an indicator whether our way to reduce stress level is effective or not.
In
a recent study published in The Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine,
it was found that saponins, an extract
from Tribulus terrestris, which is a herb used in traditional Chinese medicine
as a tonic to combat the effects of stress, can change the behavior and
neuroendocrine responses in laboratory rats which had been subjected to chronic
mild stress. All of the behavioral and neuroendocrine changes caused by chronic
stress were significantly reduced. This indicates saponins might have the same
effect on human being as well.
Mentally, it has long been shown that meditation lowers the cortisol level
in the blood, suggesting that it can lower stress and hence decrease the risk
of diseases that arise from stress.
Other ways to reduce stress include doing exercises, positive thinking and
sharing your worries with your friends.
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