New Science of Stress: Why We Need Stress to Thrive and How The Right Stress Improves Health, Increases Life Span & Can Cut Your Cancer Risk in Half
Mar 18, 2025
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Sharon Horesh Bergquist, an award-winning physician and lifestyle medicine researcher, shares groundbreaking insights on stress. She reveals why we actually need stress to thrive, differentiating between good and bad stress. Discover the five essential stressors that boost your immune system and longevity while cutting cancer risk. Learn how embracing manageable stress enhances resilience, and why avoiding it might lead to illness. These practical habits could transform your health and wellness journey—stress can indeed be a catalyst for personal growth!
Embracing beneficial stressors like high-intensity exercise and intermittent fasting can significantly enhance resilience and overall health.
Optimizing stress rather than avoiding it enables individuals to leverage health benefits, enhancing emotional growth and physical well-being.
Lifestyle choices, such as diet and exercise, can account for 75% of aging outcomes, empowering personal control over health journeys.
Creating supportive environments that facilitate healthy choices is crucial for maintaining positive lifestyle habits and reducing reliance on willpower.
Deep dives
The State of Metabolic Health
A significant portion of the American population, specifically 93%, struggles with poor metabolic health, which often manifests as decreased energy and increased health issues as individuals age. This decline in health can be attributed to a 'use it or lose it' principle, emphasizing the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle to preserve both physical and cognitive function. Engaging in regular physical challenges can enhance one’s resilience and overall health, demonstrating the potential to double one's health capacity through intentional stressors and recovery. Rather than aiming to eliminate stress from our lives, the focus should be on optimizing stress to improve both mental and physical health.
Reframing Our Understanding of Stress
The conventional belief surrounding stress has often been negative, highlighting its detrimental effects without recognizing its potential benefits. Recent insights suggest that not all stress is harmful; in fact, certain types of stress can enhance resilience and support health, especially when perceived within a supportive environment. Stress can activate beneficial biological responses, contributing to emotional growth and resilience when viewed as a proactive challenge rather than a burden. By changing perspectives on stress from avoidance to embrace, individuals can leverage its benefits for improved health outcomes.
The Role of Good Stressors
Five key stressors have been identified as beneficial for mental and physical wellness: exposure to plant chemicals, high-intensity exercise, temperature extremes (heat and cold), intermittent fasting, and mental challenges. These stressors can trigger hormetic responses in the body, which activate protective pathways that enhance cellular repair and reduce disease risk. For example, high-intensity exercise not only improves cardiovascular health but also boosts energy metabolism at the cellular level, while exposure to extreme temperatures can fortify physiological resilience. Incorporating these stressors into daily life can significantly enhance health and well-being without requiring drastic lifestyle changes.
The Science of Aging and Control
Understanding the aging process reveals that while genetics plays a role, an overwhelming 75% of aging outcomes are under individual control through lifestyle choices. Recent advancements in cellular biology have pinpointed key pathways involved in aging, which can be influenced by choices such as diet and physical activity. Engaging in regular exercise, maintaining a nutritious diet rich in plant-based foods, and stimulating mental challenges can effectively slow down the aging process and enhance quality of life. This empowers individuals to actively participate in their health journeys and make choices that foster longevity.
Implementing Stress Management Techniques
Individuals are encouraged to adopt techniques that introduce beneficial stress into their lives while managing harmful stressors effectively. Simple lifestyle modifications, such as setting regular meal times and gradually integrating higher-intensity workouts, can yield substantial health benefits. Developing a personalized approach that incorporates both stress management and resilience-building practices will enhance day-to-day functioning and overall well-being. Importantly, each person's experience with stress and resilience is unique, necessitating a tailored approach to health optimization.
Building a Supportive Environment
Creating a health-promoting environment is essential to foster better lifestyle habits without relying solely on willpower. When individuals set up their surroundings to facilitate healthy choices, they significantly reduce the barriers to maintaining those habits. This might include prepping meals in advance, maintaining a clean living space, and surrounding oneself with supportive communities. The key takeaway is that by consciously structuring environments that promote healthier behaviors, individuals can create positive feedback loops that reinforce their new habits.
Balancing Health Goals and Everyday Life
Health optimization is not an all-or-nothing venture; making small, consistent changes can lead to significant improvements in health and well-being over time. It is important to allow for flexibility in routines, especially when faced with social commitments or personal challenges, as this can help maintain overall health without inducing unnecessary stress. Practical approaches, such as prioritizing sleep and hydration, can complement efforts to build resilience against life's stresses. Ultimately, striking a balance between optimal health practices and realistic lifestyle choices will foster sustainable health habits.
Guess what? You actually need stress to stay healthy! The key is understanding the difference between good stress and bad stress.
Sharon Horesh Bergquist, MD, award-winning physician & researcher on lifestyle as medicine reveals the 5 crucial stressors you need to embrace today to slow down your aging and boost your immune system. Want to feel more energized, fight disease, and improve your mental health immediately? Discover how the right stress can actually help you build resilience, add 10-15 years to your lifespan, and reduce your cancer risk by 50%! Plus, learn why avoiding stress could make you more vulnerable to illness, and why acknowledging fear is the first step toward massive personal growth. These simple practices could help you reduce anxiety, reduce bad stress, and keep you feeling positive and motivated. Don’t miss these game-changing habits that will put you on the path towards wellness and a healthier lifestyle today!
