As the world is stuck at home and experiencing the fallout of coronavirus, many of us are feeling stressed out and even wondering if stress can make us sick. With an overwhelming amount of information pouring in on how to deal with these negative feelings, it can be hard to wade through what’s actually legitimate.
As a team that’s passionate about creating products with balance in mind, we know a thing or two about how to deal with stress when it rears its ugly head. Read on to find answers to your most pressing questions during this time, as well as a natural solution that we swear by.
How Stress Affects Your Health
The big question today is: Can stress make me sick? And the short answer is yes.
The American Psychological Association puts it this way, “[human] bodies are well equipped to handle stress in small doses, but when that stress becomes long-term or chronic, it can have serious effects on your body.” So, while stress is often not the direct reason for illness, an overload of it can suppress the immune system and cause you to get sick more easily as well as slow down recovery time. This means that it is incredibly important that you don’t let stress take over, especially when faced with an extended period of time when your stress levels may be higher than usual — the sweeping changes brought about by current stay-at-home orders being a prime example of this.
According to the US National Library of Medicine, getting sick can become a concern once you begin to show signs of stress. Think about it. When you’re feeling particularly wound-up you often don’t sleep well, don’t eat healthfully, and don’t exercise. This can lead to a multitude of side effects, including headaches, fatigue, digestive problems, and more. Each of these, in turn, can make it harder for your body to fight off infection, putting you at a greater risk of getting sick.
Tips on How to Destress Effectively During a Pandemic
So how can you destress? It’s hard enough to unwind when you’re just trying to deal with everyday stress — let alone the deep financial, emotional, and physical strain that the coronavirus pandemic has brought to so many of us. The key here is finding ways to offset your body’s natural fight or flight response in order to shift yourself into a slower gear.
Stress-busting activities like carving out some time for a morning meditation practice or pausing to take a few deep breaths when you’re beginning to notice yourself becoming overwhelmed are self-help cliches for a reason — they work. If you can’t seem to make either of those practices stick, keep trying self-soothing techniques until you find what feels good to you. This could be as simple as doing a few stretches before bed to slow down your mind and body or calling a friend who always makes you laugh. Or, it could be as elaborate as putting together an at-home spa night or meal plan for the week full of foods you know help you feel naturally focused and energized.
Natural Remedies for Stress
In addition to making lifestyle changes and implementing routines designed to help you unwind, natural remedies can also help your body fight stress in a way that provides more holistic, long-term results. According to the INM Center, “… alternative treatments such as herbal medicine focus on prevention and treating underlying problems, not just symptoms.” What this means is that plant-based products, such as CBD, work with the body’s self-healing capabilities to actually enhance the recovery process.
The power of CBD, in particular, comes from its anti-inflammatory properties, which can help to regulate baseline levels of inflammation, freeing up the immune system to fight off sickness and infection. When your body is in stress mode, it produces fewer endocannabinoids — which are molecules thought to help support the nervous system. CBD can help fill in those gaps by mimicking the endocannabinoids produced by the body, and binding to cannabinoid receptor sites. This allows your body to shift back into balance, allowing you to better deal with stress of all kinds.
How to Incorporate CBD into Your De-Stress Routine
At B GREAT, we offer a diverse selection of CBD products to fit your lifestyle. Our Stress Relief Bundle helps relieve stress inside and out with B GREAT Hemp Oil and B GREAT Hemp Balm. A dropper or two of our hemp oil tincture in the morning is the fastest way to give your body the cannabinoids it needs to stay balanced, which can help you feel more cool, calm, and collected. The Balm can be rubbed onto your skin to spot-treat physical stress, as CBD can help relieve muscle aches and pains when applied topically., Together, this powerful duo can give you a full-spectrum hemp experience that helps alleviate tension caused by everyday stressors.
When you begin to regularly incorporate products such as Hemp Oil, Hemp Balm, and even the B GREAT Relax Shot (which combines CBD and melatonin to help you sleep) into your routine, you may notice a greater overall resilience to stress. It’s the perfect way to give yourself a bit of extra self-care when you’re feeling particularly frazzled. This will allow you, now and in the future, to adapt to the situation at hand and focus more on the positive rather than the negative. And remember, don’t hesitate to reach out with questions, concerns, and thoughts during this anxious time. We’re all in this together.
"These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease."