“Stress is not a state of mind…..it’s measurable and dangerous, and humans can’t seem to find their off switch.” This warning comes from the award-winning neurobiologist, Dr. Robert Sapolsky, in a documentary entitled Stress: Portrait of a Killer. The film was produced by National Geographic and Stanford University (where Dr. Sapolsky is a professor) and informs us on just how dangerous chronic stress can be. Chronic stress can actually damage brain cells, cause memory loss, and shrink the brain. It even appears to contribute to a degenerative process that leads to Alzheimer’s Disease. It can accelerate aging by “shortening” our telomeres, the genetic protective structures that regulate cell aging. It can also cause belly fat weight gain, which is the most dangerous kind of fat gain, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

According to Dr. Bruce Lipton, a well-known and highly respected cell biologist at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, chronic stress is the cause of at least 95% of illnesses. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the US seem to agree, confirming that 90% of all illness and disease is related to stress. The universities of Harvard, Yale, and Vanderbilt, and others, as well as the Mayo Clinic, all concur.

Apart from serious and sometimes fatal illnesses, stress is often the source of relationship problems and general performance issues that prevent one’s success.

Stress affects the body by creating  an imbalance in the nervous system which consists of two parts: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems. The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is in charge of growth, healing, and the maintenance of the body, all of which is done automatically without our conscious involvement. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS), often called the “flight” system, plays a very important role in our health but is only meant to be used for emergencies such as a life-threatening situation or an immediate danger. When the SNS comes into play, the blood flow is completely changed, being directed away from its functions in the stomach, the brain, the kidneys and the liver, and toward the muscles to either fight the threat or run from it. These changes, which are designed to save our lives in an emergency situation, if sustained for a long period, lead to chronic stress that can cause organ damage, and affect or shut down the immune system. This can subsequently result in serious illnesses such as cancer, heart enlargement, and sudden cardiac death among others.

On a cellular level, cells that are not receiving enough nutrition and oxygen are rendered incapable of excreting waste products and toxins. They consequently cease their normal growth, healing, and maintenance activities, and close down. Research conducted at Stanford University has revealed that when these cells are open and in a mode of normal growth and healing, the body is highly resistant to illness and disease. Dr. Sinatra of the Heart MD Institute tells us that chronic stress can cause tissue inflammation, ulcers, allergies, and a diminished sex drive. The body adapts to continued stress by producing excessive amounts of a stress hormone called cortisol that, over time, can exhaust the adrenal glands, thereby accelerating the aging process.

Chronic stress is a major cause of mental illness that includes severe depression sometimes leading to suicide, chronic anxiety, and compulsive obsessive behavior patterns. Often, the medication doctors prescribe for stress, such as tranquilizers, anti-depressants, and sleeping pills, if taken for long periods, have side effects that can add toxic pharmaceutical stress to an already weakened body. There are also addiction issues.

The medical schools of UT Southwestern, Harvard University, and New York University have all released research findings indicating that Cellular Memories could be involved in the causation of disease and in its healing. Cellular memories are memories stored not just in the brain, but in all the cells of the body. In September 2004, UT Southwestern released a landmark study indicating that the healing mechanism could very well be cellular memories stored in the bodies of humans and animals, and even in plants. Negative cellular memories resonate at destructive energy frequencies that tell the cells to do the wrong thing. This, of course, creates stress in the body. The study concluded that the only hope for healing incurable illnesses and diseases in a more permanent way may lie in an approach for healing cellular memories. A clue leading to this theory came up in documented cases where people receiving organ transplants started manifested thoughts, feelings, personality traits, and even the food cravings of the donor. Many scientists now seem to be convinced that memories are stored in all of the cells of the body.

So what can we do about chronic stress and destructive cellular memories? Short-term stress in our daily lives can be reduced in various ways. A healthy diet consisting of plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, preferably organic, nuts, and the avoidance of processed foods certainly helps, as does regular exercise and exposure to sunshine, and to nature in general. Dark leafy greens like spinach, seaweed, avocado, Swiss chard, organic turkey breast which contains tryptophan, an amino acid converted into serotonin in the body, pumpkin seeds, free-range organic eggs, fermented vegetables, yogurt, wild salmon, blueberries, dark chocolate, and green tea. Foods to avoid include sugary and starchy foods, processed foods, and gluten if possible.

Walking barefoot on grass or on any natural surface is a wonderful stress reliever. Yoga and meditation help a great deal, as does listening to inspiring music or watching funny videos (laughter is truly the best medicine). For general stress, Ashwagandha, a well-known Ayurvedic remedy has remarkable stress-relieving properties and is a natural tranquilizer. It has an excellent protective effect on the nervous system and is helpful for a variety of degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Current evidence suggests that it has anti-cancer properties. Scientific studies suggest that it has the ability not only to relieve stress but to protect brain cells. It seems as if it is as effective as some tranquilizers and anti-depressant drugs but without their side effects. In one of the most complete clinical trials to date, participants given Ashwagandha reported having increased energy, reduced fatigue, better sleep, an enhanced state of well-being, and reduction of cortisol levels of up to 26%. Another important supplement for reducing stress is passion flower.

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Good Healthy Naturally, a company that offers consistently high quality products, has three very effective stress combating products. One of these, Relaxwell, is a specially formulated product that promotes healthy and restful sleep pattern, using a powerful combination of B-Vitamins and other super nutrients to

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We have written this article with a sense of urgency, because we do not think many people realize just how serious chronic stress can be. It is a potential killer and needs to be addressed on a war footing. We urge all those who read about the effects of chronic stress in this article, or learn about it from other sources, to take action immediately and pass on the message. We will be writing a separate article on cellular memories and will hopefully be able to add other methods of dealing with chronic stress and cellular memories. We wish you luck.

We would greatly appreciate any further information on how to release cellular memories provided by our readers so that we can share this more widely. Thank you!

References:

Dr. Sapolsky. 2008. “Stress: Portrait of a Killer. A film jointly produced by National Geographic and Stanford University.

Stanford University “More on Stress.”

Dr. Mercola. July 5, 2014. “Documentary Examines How Stress Kills.” website: articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archives/2014/07/05/stress-effects.aspx

Dale Kiefer. June 2006. “Ashwagandha Stress Reduction, Neural Protection, and a Lot More From an Ancient Herb” www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2006/6/report_ashwa/page01

Dr. Stephen Sinatra “Stress kills – Don’t take it lightly” Dr. Stephen Sinatra’s Heart MD Institute. http://www.heartmdinstitute.com/126-hmd-root/hmd-articles/46-when-stress-gets-on-your-nerves6

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Disclaimer: The information contained in this website is only intended to educate and inform our readers. It is in no way intended to provide medical advice or to diagnose or treat any disease. If you have a health problem, you should consult a healthcare practitioner before taking any substances for medicinal purposes.

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