How Chronic Stress Shaves Years Off Your Life

This Labor Day, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the ingenuity, perseverance, and spirit of America’s workforce. Their daily efforts build our nation and fuel our progress.

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When it comes to stress, there’s good and bad news.

The bad news is that chronic stress is associated with an increased risk of conditions like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

And ultimately, it can shave years off your life.

One study estimated that chronic stress can accelerate the aging process by 9 to 17 years. Another suggested that it can shave nearly three years off your life.

The good news?

You can REVERSE the damage caused by chronic stress.

A recent study explored how stress impacts your body on the cellular level.

It revealed that stress shortens your telomeres, which are the protective caps on the ends of your DNA.

Shorter telomeres = older biological age.

The good news is that it’s possible to lengthen your telomeres, effectively REVERSING the adverse effects of chronic stress.

Here are four science-backed ways to do it:

1. While chronic stress shortens telomeres, exercising appears to cancel out these effects. Exercise slows the decline in telomere length and could even increase the length of your telomeres.
2. Sleep is a surefire way to fight back against stress. When you don’t get enough sleep, telomere length decreases.
3. Eating a healthy, whole-food diet can fight stress, reduce inflammation, and protect the health of your telomeres.
4. Believe it or not, having a healthy social network is also vital for your telomere length and, ultimately, your longevity. This could be why this is a common lifestyle trait among centenarians.

This isn’t rocket science—but it IS solid, science-based evidence for how stress impacts your health (and what to do about it).

And that could lead to a longer and healthier life.

P.S. Supplements to support stressed-out adrenals.

SOURCE:

Yegorov, Y. E., Poznyak, A. V., Nikiforov, N. G., Sobenin, I. A., & Orekhov, A. N. (2020). The Link between Chronic Stress and Accelerated Aging. Biomedicines, 8(7).