A New Year, A New You—Dealing With Holiday Stress

I hate to sound like a Scrooge (because I truly love the Holiday Season), but it’s interesting to note that when New Year Day rolls around, “reduce my stress levels” is second only to “lose some weight” among the most popular New Year resolutions. This is encouraging, not only because stress is associated with a higher risk for many diseases, but also because of the many very effective, very easy-to-follow strategies that can help control stress.

The link between stress and disease is partly due to the fact that stress generally encourages us to eat more and exercise less – which is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing when we’re under stress. It also appears that these higher stress levels also cause a direct change in the body’s metabolic machinery – so brain cells shrink, immune cells shutoff, and both mood and energy levels plummet. Think about it – this means that holiday stress is making us feel moody, fatigued, bloated, confused, irritable, and sick – not exactly the type of “holiday cheer” you’re probably looking for in your stocking…

A key culprit in these metabolic changes appears to be an imbalance between body’s primary stress hormone (cortisol) and its primary anabolic (building) hormone, testosterone. Cortisol is one of the hormones involved in the body’s “Fight or Flight” reaction to stress – so in this way cortisol is a “good” thing. But prolonged exposure to cortisol, such as those that we’ll all experience during this holiday season, are most certainly a “bad thing” because of the growing link between cortisol and health problems. Even worse than simply being exposed to elevated cortisol, however, is having an imbalance between cortisol (too much) and testosterone (too little) – because that imbalance appears to be at the heart of the epidemic of depression and fatigue that we see (in men and women) across all parts of our modern society.

So how do we deal with this? There are many ways to reduce stress, but remember that strategic supplementation is a positive step towards healthy metabolic balance – which can also lead to better mood and less fatigue. In one particular clinical study that I conducted over the Holidays and presented at the peer-reviewed American College of Sports Medicine Scientific Conference, people who started the Holiday Season being “Tired, Stressed, and Depressed” – were able to significantly improve their feelings of well-being (+20%), mood (+40%), energy (+41%), and mental focus (+14%) by maintaining normal metabolic balance. So keep up with your supplementation regimen and enjoy the rest of the Holiday Season!

Dr. Talbott received his Master's degree in Exercise Science from the University of Massachusetts, his Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry from Rutgers University, and is a graduate of the Entrepreneurial Masters Program from the Sloan School of Business. Dr. Talbott has published over 200 articles and 7 books on nutrition, health and fitness. He has served as a nutrition consultant and educator for elite-level athletes in a variety of sports, including professional triathlon, the NBA, the US Ski and Snowboard Association, the Performance Enhancement Team for USTFA, and US Olympic Training Centers. Website: http://shawntalbott.com

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