3 Easy Ways To Beat Stress

3 Easy Ways To Beat Stress

There are many ways in which chronic stress has been linked to overweight and obesity. If you’ve ever given in to emotional eating or the craving for “comfort food,” you know firsthand how stress can affect the way you eat.

Additionally, being under chronic stress causes the body to activate biological pathways involving stress-related factors and stress hormones such as cortisol, which also cause the body to hold on to extra weight more easily.

1. Spend time with your pet

Having a pet reduces reactivity to stress and people with pets (including cats, dogs, and even fish, goats, chimpanzees, and snakes) have lower resting heart rates and blood pressure at baseline, indicating a more relaxed baseline state.

The American Heart Association (AHA) released a scientific statement delineating the many cardiovascular benefits of having a pet.

These include maintenance of heart health as well as reduction of risk factors that result in cardiovascular diseases, like high blood pressure and chronic stress.

2. Listen to music

You probably don’t need a scientist to tell you that you feel better and less stressed out when you’re listening to your tunes. But research has been done in this area, and it confirms that listening to music can reduce stress in daily life. It can even make you more efficient and improve your academic and work performance.

3. Take a walk

Research has shown that walking outdoors, in particular, is associated with improved mood and clearer thinking. Daily exercise has been associated with all sorts of health benefits, from stress relief to the prevention of chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Research has borne out the health benefits of a daily 30-minute walk: in the Nurses’ Health Study, for instance, those who walked briskly or otherwise achieved moderate-intensity exercise for at least 30 minutes every day had a low risk of sudden cardiac death during 26 years of follow-up.