Fact or Fiction? Understanding Stress

Persistent stress is a health concern, and the reason why healthy people practice good stress management. See if you can separate fact from fiction when it comes to stress. Facts were collected from respected sources like WebMD, BBC and other organizations that review research carefully, and you can find answers below.

Fact or Fiction

1. Stress can turn hair gray.

2. Stress affects fertility in both men and women.

3. Stress makes fat cells grow.

4. Stress prevents growth in children.

5. Too much stress can actually kill brain cells.

6. Stress during pregnancy can put a child at greater risk of having problems with stress.

7. Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew and other caffeinated drinks actually increase your stress level.

8. Just breathing properly can reduce stress.

9. Eating dark chocolate can reduce stress.

10. Exercise, in addition to reducing stress, is literally able to lengthen the life of your cells.

 

 

Answers

1. Fiction. However, stress can cause hair loss. In fact, telogen effluvium (hair loss) can begin up to three months after entering a stressful period.

2. Fact. Stress may account for 30% of all infertility problems.

3. Fact. The stress hormone cortisol not only causes abdominal fat to accumulate, but it also enlarges individual fat cells, leading to what researchers call “diseased” fat.

4. Fact. Chronic stress can impair the developmental growth in children by lowering the production of growth hormone from the pituitary gland.

5. Fact. Chronic stress floods the brain with powerful hormones that are meant for short-term emergency situations. Chronic exposure can damage, shrink, and kill brain cells.

6. Fact. Additionally, chronic levels of stress place a fetus at greater risk for developing stress-related disorders and affect the fetus’s temperament and neurobehavioral development.

7. Fact. Caffeine, and other stimulants, increase production of the fight or flight chemicals that occur when you are stressed.

8. Fact. Breathing involves keeping a balance in your blood stream between CO2, carbon dioxide, and Oxygen. When you breathe too quickly, your balance between these two chemicals gets shifted in negative ways. Keeping this balance right actually reduces your body’s reaction to things, causing the stress to have fewer chemical effects.

9. Fact. Research has shown that dark chocolate reduces stress hormones such as cortisol and other fight-flight hormones. Additionally, cocoa is rich in antioxidants called flavonoids.

10. Fact. Exercise releases telomerase, which protects the part of DNA that determines how long each cell is going to live.