Coping With Stress
When we are under stress, our health and wellbeing are often the first things sacrificed.
The fight or flight response that was programmed ancestrally for survival strategy in life-threatening situations is now our default setting, all due to the over-stimulation of daily life.
This brings constant activation of stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, taking a huge toll on our bodies.
Natural Clinic Clinical Guide to Coping with Stress
Book your appointment with a qualified practitioner who will…
Work with you to determine underlying drivers of stress, including dietary, environmental, and physical stressors
Assess for, and treat nutrient deficiencies that may be exacerbating the stress response
Provide expert dietary and lifestyle coaching to reduce the cortisol response, and engage your parasympathetic nervous system
Give you access to practitioner-grade nutritional and herbal medicine tailored to you to alleviate the effects of stress
Book now to stress less.
Book AppointmentTo learn more about how stress affects the body, and how you can take steps each day to reduce the impact of stress, read on for our Natural Clinic Clinical Guide to Coping with Stress.
Natural Clinic Stress Consult: $75
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30-minute naturopathic consult to treat any physiological drivers of stress, and assist stress adaptation in the body.
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Facilitation of further testing, where appropriate.
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Access to practitioner-grade products.
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Prescriptions for custom-made products designed especially for you:
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Liquid herbal formulas
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Compounded creams
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Compounded nutritionals
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Written treatment plan, including dietary and lifestyle advice, to help you stay on
track
Natural Clinic Clinical Guide to Coping with Stress
When it comes to stress, nobody is immune, and the effects are varied and widespread across individuals. While stress is somewhat glorified in our fast-paced, hustling society, the long-term effects of stress can be detrimental.
Stress as an acute, or short-lasting response can be beneficial in improving our mental and physical capacity to perform. The more chronic ongoing stress however is associated with accelerated aging, reduced immunity, increased systemic inflammation, and hormonal imbalances.
Every disease and pathological process in the body is worsened by chronic stress.
If you feel like stress is exacerbating your health symptoms, speak to one of our practitioners today.
Book Appointment
STRESS: WHAT IS IT?
Our stress response is tied up with our autonomic nervous system, which functions to direct our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. These are opposing systems, meaning only one state can govern the body at a time.
SNS initiates a fight or flight response in a reaction to stress and stimulates the release of stress hormones from our adrenal glands. These hormones include epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisol, and they:
- Direct nutrients to the muscles
- Increase heart rate and blood pressure
- Slow digestion
- Dilate pupils
Chronic underlying stress can mean that the body is in a constant state of control by the SNS system, passing through the stage of adaptation and entering the body into a state of exhaustion. Overstimulation of the SNS system evidently affects nutrient absorption, weight, energy, and upregulates inflammation. Then, adrenal fatigue and adrenal exhaustion come into play.
Also known as the “rest and digest” mode, the PNS takes control over the autonomic nervous system to switch off the fight or flight response. This response:
- Lowers blood pressure
- Promotes digestion
- Encourages healing
- Calms the heart and breathing rate
Essentially, when you are under the direction of the PNS system you are reaping the benefits of relaxation and recovery!
Physical signs that you are stressed:
CAUSES AND TRIGGERS
- Emotional stress, including but not limited to:
- Physical stress, including but not limited to:
- Financial stress
- Pressure to perform
- Workplace pressure
- Environmental stress, including but not limited to:
If you, like most, are feeling stress is taking a toll on your body speak to one of our practitioners today.
Reduce your stress to improve your health.How your diet plays a role
Nutrition and stress form a two-way communication system. When you a highly stressed, you begin to crave foods high in sugar, salt and fat. These foods in turn cause biological stress on the body and perpetuate the cycle. Your diet needs to replenish stores of the nutrients that are depleted with stress.
Include magnesium rish foods
Support a healthy sress response: wholegrains, dark-green, leafy vegetables, almonds, cashews, dried beans and legumes.
Increase food containing Vitamin C
Support your adrenal glands and immune function in sressful periods: citrus, capsicums, berries, tomatoes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower.
Top up your stores of B vitamins
These are increasingly needed for stress responsesL liver, red meat, seafoog, poultry, eggs, legumes, dark-green, leaf vegetables, nuts and seeds.
Include zinc-rich foods
Zinc is used rapidly in periods of high stress, and is needed for adrenal gland function: red meat, oysters, pumpkin seeds, almonds, oats, poultry, cashews.
Natural treatments to manage your stress
Adaptogens to increase mental capacity against stress and fatigue, provide neuroprotection against stress-induced oxidative damage, and increase stress adaptation and resistance.
Vitamin C plays a critical role in a healthy stress response and is needed for the synthesis of cortisol and catecholamines. It also provides antioxidant protection against stress-induced oxidative damage and aging.
Magnesium is the vital, key nutrient in regulating the physiological stress response, and magnesium deficiency enhances susceptibility to stress and stress-related health effects. It is important to continually maintain magnesium stores in the body, with supplementation necessary due to insufficient levels in today’s soil.
Dark chocolate (ideally 70% dark or darker) reduces cortisol levels, reduces production of adrenaline and noradrenaline to induce feelings of relaxation, and provides antioxidant benefits against stress.
Greens powder containing chlorella, which is studied to reduce stress-related adrenal activation, slow nervous exhaustion, and acts as a potent, biological modifier in the immune response to protect against stress. STRESS: WHAT IS IT?
Zinc to stabilize serum cortisol levels over time, to regulate neurotransmitter function in the face of stress, balance blood sugar levels, and support adrenal glands in times of stress.
Stress Less Nutritional Compound
We can compound your very own, individualised nutritional formula with nutrients and therapeutic dosages to improve your stress adaptation and induce feelings of relaxation.
Invest in a product designed for you- a product not available anywhere else.
Speak to one of our practitioners for access to your very own custom nutritional formula to reduce feeling of tension, overstimulation and normalise your cortisol levels.
The benefits:
- Ease & convenience of taking only one supplement
- Your body is unique to you. Your medicine should also be unique to you.
- Avoid the inconcenience of supplements in your protocol running out at different times.
- Dosing is specific to your metabolic needs & deficiencies.
- Formula can be adjusted over time to support each stage of the healing process.
Speak to one of our practitioners.
Book NowLet us help you relax
Book your Natural Clinic Stress Consult for professional advice.
Georgia Fugar
Clinical Naturopath
Book a Consult with GeorgiaAreas of interest
- Women’s health
- Skin disorders
- SIBO
- Gut health
- Mental health
Georgia is a passionate naturopath with particular clinical focus on supporting mental health, hormonal disorders, gut health and auto-immunity. With a long-standing interest in human biochemistry and its interplay with nutritional and herbal medicines, Georgia uses a range of standard and functional testing to determine the root cause of patient symptoms and provide treatment that is highly tailored and clinical.
Thorough education around all symptoms, disease pathophysiology and treatment options can be expected from a consultation with Georgia, reflecting the importance of education as the first tool to achieving any health outcome. Continuous appraisal of progress throughout treatment protocols ensures that you leave feeling supported and confident in the healing process.
Georgia aims to correct imbalances on the deepest cellular and biochemical level to ensure healing occurs from the inside out.
Tayla Lovering
Clinical Naturopath
Book a Consult with Tayla LoveringAreas of interest
- Digestive
- Skin health
- Mental health
- Migraines
- General health
- Fertility + pregnancy + post partum
Tayla is a qualified Naturopath with a passion for gut health, hormonal health (both males and females), fertility and mental health. Tayla combines clinical case taking, pathology and functional laboratory testing to get to the root cause of your symptoms. Her approach is truly wholistic and she will spend the time to uncover the uniqueness of your health.
A remarkably empathic practitioner with a real gift for making patients feel supported. Tayla understands how overwhelming it can feel to embark on a healing journey and focuses on simplifying this for you in a step-by-step manner, whilst also making changes that fit you and your lifestyle. Tayla has a particular passion for establishing a healthy foundation for her clients, so they can avoid traveling down the same path that led them here.
Tayla is happiest when amongst nature and when communicating with fellow humans. Tayla grew up on a farm on the beautiful Kangaroo Island of South Australia and quickly learnt the value of nature’s healing powers after her time at boarding school where she noticed nutrition and lifestyle choices began reflecting poor health.
Annie Stewart
Clinical Naturopath
Book a Consult with Annie StewartAreas of interest
- Sports performance and recovery
- Digestive conditions
- Mental health
- Men & women's health
Annie is a qualified Naturopath who considers herself a bit of a “professional generalist”. With experience treating a wide array of conditions, Annie particularly finds those more challenging multifaceted cases fulfilling. Her adventurous curiosity is what drives Annie to get to the underlying cause of disease adopting a truly holistic approach with each patient.
With 5+ years of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under her belt, Annie has a keen interest in helping athletes reach their sport performance goals and draws on her competition experience to achieve this.
Evidence based medicine underpins all of Annie’s clinical decisions. She regularly uses standard pathology and functional testing to establish base line health parameters, which are then used to refine her treatment approach for each client. Application of nutritional and herbal interventions with an emphasis on lifestyle and dietary education can be expected in a consult with Annie.
Diana Boot
Compounding Pharmacist & Nutritionist
Book a Consult with Diana BootAreas of interest
- De-prescribing – helping you to reduce your need for prescription medications
- Mental health
Digestive health
Women’s health
Diana is the Co-founder and Clinical Lead of Natural Chemist. She has practiced as a community pharmacist for over 30 years and as a Nutritionist for 12 years. She is continually learning to update her knowledge and is on track to graduate in 2023 as a Naturopath.
Diana is a rare combination of empathy, balance, maturity and knowledge. She listens and asks sensitive questions. She provides answers about what’s behind your presenting symptoms and she offers feasible, evidence-based solutions to help you regain optimal health.
Diana’s approach is truly integrative. Her training and experience put her in a unique position to advise what combination of conventional/mainstream and natural/alternative treatments are best for your situation.
Diana is also the senior partner in two independent community pharmacies in Sydney. She launched Natural Chemist in 2014 with her husband and business partner. Their goal was to work out how to take the level of service provided in their physical pharmacies and make it available for more people. Diana is supported by a wonderful and growing team of qualified professionals; all with the same dedicated focus on quality health outcomes.
Natural Clinic Stress Consult: $75
-
30-minute naturopathic consult to treat any physiological drivers of stress, and assist stress adaptation in the body.
-
Facilitation of further testing, where appropriate.
-
Access to practitioner-grade products.
-
Prescriptions for custom-made products designed especially for you:
-
Liquid herbal formulas
-
Compounded creams
-
Compounded nutritionals
-
Written treatment plan, including dietary and lifestyle advice, to help you stay on
track
References:
Panossian, A., & Wikman, G. (2010). Effects of Adaptogens on the Central Nervous System and the Molecular Mechanisms Associated with Their Stress-Protective Activity. Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland), 3(1), 188–224.
Marik P. E. (2020). Vitamin C: an essential “stress hormone” during sepsis. Journal of thoracic disease, 12(Suppl 1), S84–S88.
Kwak et al. (2012). Beneficial immunostimulatory effect of short-term Chlorella supplementation: enhancement of Natural Killer cell activity and early inflammatory response (randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial). Nutrition Journal, 11.