Body Response and Nutrition Changes in Stress, Page 3

Effects Of Stress On Body & Metabolism

There is an important relationship between nutrition and stress. Prolonged stress adversely affects nutritional status and needs. Conversely, nutritional status can affect the amount of stress we carry and our ability to cope. Stress and poor nutrition… one compounds the other!

Changes occur in hormone balance when stress impacts the body. It is possible that almost any stress can influence nutritional balance. This is because stress causes a general arousal that increases the body’s metabolism, or the rate at which the body changes food supplies to energy.

Stress hormones tend to increase the metabolic needs of the body because they can accelerate heart rate, increase muscle tension, elevate blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, and cause a number of other metabolic changes. Stress can accelerate your body’s use of carbohydrates, fats, and protein. As that usage changes, there can be a resulting increase in blood sugar, free fatty acids, and protein loss from muscle tissues to compensate for increased energy needs.

The increased metabolism can also speed up the use and excretion of many vitamins such as vitamin A, C, E, K, and B complex, as well as minerals such as magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, chromium, selenium, zinc, and potassium. If the body’s nutrient stores are low, stress can deplete reserves to an even greater degree.

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