Dr. Brian Fertig is a well-respected, qualified diabetes doctor in Piscataway, NJ that can provide the latest treatment plans backed by over 30 years of experience. He is well versed in the relationship between metabolism and stress and is a leading expert on metabolism.
Metabolic health is one of the most critical aspects of overall health and well-being. Stress is one of the leading dangers to physical and mental health. The impact of metabolism and stress combined can significantly affect your short- and long-term health journey. It is essential to examine metabolism and anxiety and what we can do to help our metabolism.
Stress affects people differently. Some lose weight, while others gain weight. When you’re under stress, your body reacts by releasing hormones. These hormones (epinephrine and cortisol) respond to stress, often categorized as “fight or flight.” Cortisol taps into your energy, including energy forms of glucose, protein, and fat, to give your body the energy it needs to react to stress or a stressful situation.
The brain is an area worth understanding when thinking about metabolism and stress. The human brain is exceptionally demanding in terms of metabolism and stress. Approximately 20% of the calories consumed by the foods we eat are devoted to our cerebral faculties, with most provided in the form of glucose. The brain’s energy dependency requires a high degree of harmonization between the elements responsible for supplying and metabolizing energetic substrates. However, chronic stress may jeopardize this homeostatic energy balance by disrupting critical metabolic processes.
Not just the brain but muscles as well
Metabolism and stress also affect your muscles. Muscle breakdown from a single incident may not have a notable effect on your metabolism, but long-term chronic stress (particularly high-stress jobs) might affect metabolism, as well as other chronic diseases.
Also, necessary to understand regarding metabolism and stress is that cortisol causes an increase in insulin resistance. This happens when your cells become unresponsive to insulin, which can lead to a rise in blood sugar levels. Cortisol may also favor the development of central obesity. In obese patients, mental stress elicits responses that differ widely from those of healthy individuals. In healthy individuals, mental stress increases heart rate but decreases vascular resistance in skeletal muscle. This results in a moderate increase in blood pressure and an acute increase in insulin-mediated glucose disposal.
Tips for coping with stress
Stress is an inescapable fact of our daily lives, and we all must learn to deal with stress in the healthiest ways possible, especially when considering the connection between metabolism and stress. Here are a few tips to help you relax and de-stress:
- Stay away from toxic TV or news shows. Take breaks from the news stories, including those on social media. It’s good to be informed, but constantly hearing about a traumatic event or events repeatedly can be upsetting. Try limiting when you “check in” with your phone or TV to watch or check news sites.
- Take care of yourself. Eat healthy, exercise, get plenty of sleep, and give yourself a break if you feel stressed out.
- Make time to unwind and build in some time just for you. During this time, completely disengage from the day-to-day and do something you enjoy.
Dr. Fertig deeply understands the relationship between metabolism and stress. He promotes a medical approach that takes insights from the world of physics, which he feels can help practitioners quantify therapies with precision. He combines physics and biology context and learning to offer an approach that blends the best of art and science.
Patients and healthcare experts globally can buy “Metabolism & Medicine” through Amazon to learn how metabolic disruption can lead to disease.